Dolores Huerta, who joined Cesar Chavez in founding what would become the United Farm Workers, will be honored and throw the ceremonial first pitch before Sunday’s Los Angeles Dodgers-Pittsburgh Pirates game at Dodger Stadium.
Huerta will receive a Community Hero Award during the Viva Los Dodgers family-friendly festival celebrating Latino culture in Los Angeles and the legacy of Latino Dodgers past and present. Viva Los Dodgers begins at 11 a.m. and is held at Dodger Stadium’s 76 station.
Families from The Dolores Huerta Foundation will attend the game, courtesy of Dodger first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and his wife Betsy. The Gonzalez family plays host to 72 fans on each Sunday home game.
Huerta formed the foundation in 2002 for grassroots community organizing. It began a Youth Leadership Program in 2008 for youth ages 12-18, with educational and recreational activities, community service and policy advocacy opportunities.
Huerta and Chavez formed the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. The organization was renamed as the United Farm Workers in 1966 following the merger with the mostly Filipino American Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee
The honor comes three days after the 50th anniversary of the National Farm Workers Association voting to join the strike by American Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee against Delano-area grape growers.
The strike and accompanying boycott would result in the area growers signing their first union contracts in 1970.
Huerta’s lobbying efforts helped lead to the passage of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, the first of its kind in the nation, which established collective bargaining for farmworkers.
