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Published on 04/27/1998 All articles from this issue

St. Joseph Center celebrates the worker

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue

Town Crier Staff Writer

Duncan Reynard headed to St. Joseph the Worker Center in Los Altos on his first visit last Friday, looking to hire two men for help with some trenching at his Los Altos home.

He found his workers. He also found a party going on.

Purple, yellow, pink and orange crepe paper streamers hung from the ceiling at the center. Purple rhododendron, yellow daisies and salmon-colored geraniums filled two vases on an altar at the head of the room.

"It's a good spirit here today of bringing people together," said the Rev. Bob Moran.

Folks were celebrating, and it felt like a fiesta. The occasion was May Day, a day that celebrates workers. It was also the feast day of St. Joseph, who was known as a man who worked with his hands.

So it was a natural for St. Joseph the Worker Center, a place that provides job training, English lessons and general support for day workers who are mostly Hispanic, to host a party.

"This is a big day, a way to make people aware of the dignity of the worker," Moran said, "of people who use their hands. You are not a second class person because you use your hands."

Moran and the Rev. Gene O'Donnell began the early morning event by celebrating Mass in Spanish.

Then community volunteers, like Los Altos resident Lynn Gordon, were thanked for their help with the center.

Now she comes in on Fridays and matches workers with employers, like Duncan Reynard.

"This is very much a family atmosphere," Reynard said.

Another part of Friday's celebration included introducing Juan Carlos Mercado, a new staff member at the center.

St. Joseph the Worker Center is located upstairs at 4898 El Camino Real, Suite 300.

Center workers can do gardening and housecleaning, among other tasks. For more information, call 962-1902.