TOLEDO, Ohio — The COVID vaccine has been in high demand among the Latino and Black community here in Lucas County.
For weeks now, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee has been trying to meet that demand.
Maria Suzana Martinez, a Latina, says the last year has been tough and it's why she's turning to FLOC.
"The hardest thing for us is well we had to stay home and everything. But we lost a lot of friends and we did lose one family member," Martinez said.
It's a major reason why she came here to be vaccinated at the Farm Labor Organizing Committee Clinic.
Baldemar Velasquez, the president of FLOC, says more than 200 people signed up for the vaccines on Friday.
"We started with a network of our own members and they were practically all Latinos. So I think that we've got a good reach into the community. And word is getting out," Velasquez said.
FLOC's been targeting Latinos and the Black community for weeks because organizers say they knew they had to.
"Because there's a lot of people that some don't speak English. Others do but they don't quite understand and they're a little shy. They shy away from it. So if FLOC comes out and explains it and brings it to our attention, then we're more, 'OK, let's do this'," Martinez said.
According to the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, more than 2,000 Latinos have been vaccinated in Lucas County and a lot of that has to do with efforts like this.
But organizers say their efforts are far from over.
"Part of the VProject, we are planning in May a 48-hour (vaccination) marathon. We're gonna do it here for 48 straight hours so that people who (are) on different shifts, make it easy for them to have access to come and get vaccinated," Velasquez said.
FLOC also aims to give hope to a community that once feared the shot.
"I'll be 84 tomorrow and I'm just thanking God that I'm beginning to see the beginning of a new year," said Barbara Macklin, who received her last vaccine at FLOC clinic on Friday.
For her, it's a promise that clinics like this are really making a difference.
On Wednesday, March 24, the V-project is planning to have a town hall geared toward the Latino Community.
It will start at 5:30 in the afternoon and will be live-streamed on the VProject Facebook page.