疫情下求生 非營利組織新任務

It took Stephanie Cartier nearly three years to open No Limits, a central New Jersey cafe operated by people with intellectual disabilities. That was early February. It took only a few days in March to close the 65-seat restaurant indefinitely.

史蒂芬妮．卡地爾花了近三年，才在美國新澤西州中部開設「無限」咖啡簡餐館，聘用智能障礙者服務。這家65個座位的餐廳二月初才開幕，到了三月卻在短短幾天之間就宣告不支，無限期歇業。

Customers dwindled as fears of the coronavirus increased. There was not enough cash coming in to pay the staff.

Nonprofits like No Limits are ubiquitous in the United States: built on a dream, dedicated to good works, thinly capitalized. Like so much in American life, they have been upended — perhaps temporarily, maybe forever.

社會日益害怕新冠肺炎，這家咖啡館的客人少了。現金進帳不足以支付員工薪資。無限咖啡館這類非營利組織在美國到處都有：以夢想為基礎，致力於慈善，資金有限。非營利組織就跟美國生活的諸多面向一樣被顛覆，也許是暫時，也可能是永遠。

Crucial spring fundraisers and conferences have been canceled or moved to less lucrative online venues. Donors are stretched in many directions, preoccupied with their own problems and much less flush than they were two months ago.

至關重要的春季募款活動和會議若非取消，就是改為募款所得沒那麼多的線上形式。捐款人在許多方面承受過大壓力，為他們自己的問題煩心，而且財富比兩個月前少得多。

Nonprofits that are paid by local governments said new rules against large gatherings were making their services impossible to deliver, placing their existence at risk.

接受地方政府資助的非營利組織說，禁止大型集會的新規定使它們不可能提供服務，導致生存陷入危機。

In an ordinary disaster, no matter how severe the impact, there is a border beyond which life is normal. said Tim Delaney, chief executive of the National Council of Nonprofits.“Here there is no border,” he said. “We see the first tidal wave coming in, but know there will be a second, a third and a fourth after it.”

美國非營利組織協會執行長德雷尼說，一般天災，不論衝擊多嚴重，總還有條邊界，邊界之外生活仍維持正常，「現在這裡沒有邊界，我們看到第一波海嘯進來，還知道會有第二、第三和第四波」。

Relief efforts are underway. Foundations, traditionally not among the spryest of organizations, learned from 9/11 and severe hurricanes that they could move fast. They are quickly retooling to disburse emergency money and relax reporting requirements that are suddenly impossible to meet.

救援工作已在進行。各基金會傳統上不是最活躍的組織，卻從911事件和超強颶風的經驗了解到自己可以快速行動。基金會迅速調整以撥出緊急資金，並將突然間變得不可能達到的通報規定放寬。

Bloomberg Philanthropies, Carnegie Corp. of New York, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and 23 other foundations as well as individual donors have created a $78 million COVID-19 rescue fund for New York City nonprofits.

彭博慈善事業、紐約卡內基基金會、桃莉杜克慈善基金會和其他23個基金會與個別捐款人，已設立總額7800萬美元的新冠肺炎急難基金，援助紐約市的非營利組織。

The committees deciding who gets what are making “Talmudic decisions — they are weighing equally compelling choices,” said Lorie Slutsky, president of the New York Community Trust, which is administering the new fund. “Human service agencies are on the front lines now, but the economic footprint of the arts in New York City is outsized, and we want to preserve as many of those as possible who live on fumes.”

管理這筆基金的紐約社區信託基金會的主席羅莉．史勒茨基說，決定哪個組織能得到多少的委員會，是在「計較細微末節，在必要性相當的選擇中做取捨。社會服務機構目前處在第一線，但紐約市藝文組織的經濟影響力太大了，我們想要盡可能多拯救些快要斷炊的組織」。

Nonprofits on the front lines have been forced to be nimble. Meals on Wheels People in Portland, Oregon, closed its 22 neighborhood dining locations March 13 and switched to a no-touch delivery system for its 15,000 clients. To reduce contact even more, deliveries are made only three days a week, although they include more than one meal.

處在前線的非營利組織不得不靈活應變。俄勒岡州波特蘭市「讓行動不便長者吃到飯」組織，3月13日關閉22個社區共餐點，轉而為其1萬5000名服務對象提供無接觸送餐。為了更進一步減少接觸，一周只送餐三天，不過一次不只送一餐。

說文解字看新聞【李京倫】

美國新冠肺炎疫情擴大，許多商家生意慘淡，本篇談的是非營利組織也岌岌可危。

survival（存活）是本文關鍵字。survival of the fittest是適者生存。survival instinct是生存本能。owe your survival to somebody/something則是因為某人或某物而得以存活。

live on fumes跟run on fumes同義，原本指汽車快要耗盡汽油還在行駛，引申為「在幾乎沒有或已經沒有熱情、精力或資源的情況下苦撐，硬撐」之意。

Talmudic有兩種含意，原意是「跟塔木德有關的」，塔木德是關於古猶太人宗教、生活的律法集，源自於西元二世紀，塔木德在希伯來文中的意思是教導或學習。本文用的是引申義：區分得太仔細，到了計較細微末節的程度。

stretch原意是（盡量）拉長，拉緊，引申用法不少。stretch (somebody's) patience是考驗某人的耐心。stretch the truth/facts則是說出或寫下不完全真實的話。stretch the rules則是英式英語片語，指通融某事，給人方便。

疫情下缺工 非法農工變「不可或缺」

Like legions of immigrant farmworkers, Nancy Silva for years has done the grueling work of picking fresh fruit that Americans savor, all while afraid that one day she could lose her livelihood because she is in the country illegally.

就像大批農場移工一樣，南西·席爾瓦多年來從事於採摘美國人享用的鮮果的辛苦工作，她一直擔心有天會因非法居留而失去生計。

But the widening coronavirus pandemic has brought an unusual kind of recognition: Her job as a field worker has been

deemed by the federal government as “essential” to the country.

但是，不斷擴大的新冠病毒大流行卻帶來一種不尋常的認可：她作為農場工人的工作，被聯邦政府視為國家所「不可或缺」。

Silva, who has spent much of her life in the United States evading law enforcement, now carries a letter from her employer in her wallet, declaring that the Department of Homeland Security considers her “critical to the food supply chain.”

席爾瓦一生中許多時間都在美國躲避執法部門，如今皮夾內有封雇主的信，聲明國土安全部認為她「對食品供應鏈至關重要」。

“It's like suddenly they realized we are here contributing,” said Silva, a 43-year-old immigrant from Mexico who has been working in the clementine groves south of Bakersfield, California.

席爾瓦說：「就好像他們突然意識到我們來到這兒是在貢獻。」43歲的她是來自墨西哥的移民，一直在加州貝克斯菲爾德以南的克萊門汀果園內工作。

It is an open secret that the vast majority of people who harvest America's food are immigrants in the country illegally, mainly from Mexico, many of them decadeslong residents of the United States. Often the parents of American-born children, they have lived for years with the cloud of deportation hanging over their households.

絕大多數採收美國食用農產品的工人都是非法移民，這是個公開的祕密，他們主要來自墨西哥，其中許多人在美國住了幾十年。他們通常在美國生下了子女，多年來一家人一直在遭驅逐出境的烏雲籠罩下生活。

The “essential work” letters that many now carry are not a free pass from immigration authorities, who could still deport Silva and other field workers at any time.

許多人目前所攜帶的「不可或缺工作」信件，並非移民當局所發的自由通行證，移民局仍然隨時可將席爾瓦跟其他無證農工驅逐出境。

But local law enforcement authorities said the letters might give immigrant workers a sense of security that they will not be arrested for violating stay-at-home orders.

但當地執法部門說，這些信可能會讓移工有種安全感，知道不會因違反居家避疫令而遭逮捕。

“If you have people who perceive that they may be stopped and questioned or deported because of their status, under these circumstances, having that letter makes them feel comfortable,” said Eric Buschow, a captain with the sheriff's office in Ventura County, where thousands of farmworkers labor in strawberry, lemon and avocado operations. “They can go to work. And their work is essential now.”

加州文杜拉郡警長辦公室隊長艾瑞克．布蕭說：「如果有些人覺得可能因自己身份而遭攔查、盤問或驅逐出境，有了那封信會讓他們感到放心。他們可以去工作。現在他們的工作是不可或缺的。」當地有成千上萬工人在草莓、檸檬和酪梨農場工作。

The pandemic has also put many of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's operations on hold. On March 18, the agency said it would “temporarily adjust its enforcement posture” to focus not on ordinary immigrants in the country illegally, but on those who pose a public safety or criminal threat.

這場全球大流行疫情還導致移民及海關執法局的許多行動暫停。該機構在3月18日表示，將「暫時調整執法方向」，重點不擺在普通無證移民，而是構成公共安全或刑事威脅的人。

“Those of us without papers live in fear that immigration will pick us up,” Silva said. “Now we are feeling more relaxed.”

席爾瓦說：「我們這些沒有證件的人生活在恐懼中，擔心移民局會把我們帶走。現在我們放心些了。」