Caribbean Farm workers who arrive at Niagara on the Lake to start their annual sojourn will be given a warm welcome when the fourth annual workers welcome night is hosted on May 2 by the Caribbean Workers Outreach Program (CWOP)

For over nineteen years, CWOP has provided spiritual and social support to offshore workers through church services held in May and June at Bethany Mennonite Church, special events and building friendships. It is supported by local churches and community members and has provided a great opportunity for youth groups, families and churches to experience the warmth of the Caribbean in a local setting.

This year the Workers Welcome night has been moved to Orchard Park Church on Hunter Rd. to accommodate the positive response to this year's double attraction of Newworldson and the Toronto Mass Choir.

Newworldson has been steadily gaining a diverse and devoted fan base as a result of their world tours the past three years. Their connection to the offshore workers in Niagara is a unique story and one that has contributed an important element to their repertoire.

In May 2007 Newworldson played at the first Welcome night to a very receptive crowd of Caribbean offshore workers and locals alike. Josh Toal, guitarist and vocalist with the band, had begun volunteering at the Sunday night services the previous year and became friends with a number of workers. In February 2007 he travelled to Jamaica to visit their families accompanied by his future wife Kate Andres-Toal and Jane Andres. Since then he has travelled back with Kate on two other occasions visiting families and friends they have come to know through CWOP.

In 2009 Newworldson invited the Toronto Mass Choir to collaborate on the recording of their latest CD which was released this past February. Wherever Newworldson travels, one of their most popular encores is the Jamaican medley which the band learned at the CWOP church service in Niagara and can be heard on their latest recording. The Flevo festival in Holland last August posted a video of thirteen thousand young people dancing and singing along to the chorus, a testament to their crossover appeal.

Their recent collaboration with the Toronto Mass Choir is an exciting development creating an atmosphere of sheer exuberance in the live concert setting. Karen Burke, the director of the Toronto Mass Choir, has been a Professor in the music department at York University since 2005

"There is a unique blend of different cultures here in Niagara on the Lake but we as locals have little opportunity to get to know the people we share our neighbourhoods with for six to eight months of the year. Our annual Worker Welcome night is one way we as a community can say thank you to not only the workers but the farmers as well. These are challenging times in the agricultural community. On that night we will hear roots/gospel music full of joy that was born out of very difficult times. Its message of hope is one that will resonate with everyone ~ from farmer to worker to the people that consume the food they have worked so hard to provide for us," said Jane Andres, member of CWOP.