An elaborate funding quilt allows RCMA to provide child care and educational services to migrant and low-income rural children throughout Florida.

While federal and state grants represent the majority of RCMA’s funding, Florida growers, community foundations, social service agencies and concerned individuals provide land, buildings, services and expertise to help open doors to opportunities for farmworker families.

RCMA’s Board of Directors, for example, includes both farmers and farm workers, as well as educators, lawyers, parents and health experts.

Seeing little to gain through an adversarial relationship with growers, RCMA’s founders knew that growers and migrant farm workers actually have much in common -- both are fiercely independent, intensely private, among the hardest-working people around, proud of their work and deeply concerned about their families.

Neither farmer nor farm worker wants children in the fields in lieu of proper child care and nurturing.

State and federal agencies also recognize the important role RCMA provides in delivering such services as Head Start programs, voluntary pre-kindergarten classes and primary education to children in under-served rural areas of Florida. State and federal agencies represent over 85 percent of RCMA’s funding.

Additionally, local school districts provide grants and reimbursements for certain programs and services provided by RCMA.

The United Way, community foundations, civic groups and corporate and individual donors provide vital support, as RCMA must raise $500,000 annually from local sources to qualify for certain grants. For every $1 donation, RCMA can receive up to $16 in matching funds.