WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) – Zavala Hispanic Culture Initiative will be holding its leadership and scholarship banquet on Saturday, May 9.
Zavala’s executive director, Esly Pimentel, shared that this signature event is possible with funds raised from hosting the taco fest in downtown Wichita Falls. This year’s banquet promises a vibrant celebration, including spirited performances by the Zavala International dancers and a keynote speaker focused on empowering women in the community.
The banquet sends a powerful message of unity, reaching beyond Wichita Falls’ Hispanic communities to embrace every group in our city.
“We do give away a lot of scholarships, not all of those are to Hispanic Latino students; they are to the students that you know are in need, but I think that the message within awarding certain awards that we’ll award at the banquet really resonates with the Hispanic community and recognizes people that are contributing to making change,” Pimentel said.
Pimental said the banquet will mainly honor students by awarding scholarships and recognizing community members. He emphasized that any student can apply through Zavala’s scholarship via the Wichita Falls Area Community Foundation.
“We really look at people who are out in the community making change, either through volunteer work, or through their business, being nominated by other individuals, just those people that are out there sacrificing their time,” Pimentel said.
I also spoke to Pimentel in Spanish, y él dice que el banquete va a promover liderazgo estudiantil enfocándose en la educación.
“Yo pienso que, como digo, mucho de los estudiantes que vienen son hispanos, no todos son hispanos, pero muchos sí son hispanos y nos enfocamos mucho en traer a los hispanos a este evento o a los que tengan negocios, los que nos ayudan con becas. Pero yo digo siempre que la educación es lo más importante para la comunidad y para los estudiantes de nuestra comunidad,” Pimentel dijo.
Pimentel dice que el banquete es exclusivo para estudiantes. Él dice que ellos pueden postular a becas y que un comité decide revisar las aplicaciones. Los fondos de esas becas vienen del evento Taco Fest.
“Los estudiantes pueden aplicar para nuestras becas con este programa, esas becas siempre las abrimos para aplicaciones el primero de Dic. hasta el primero de Feb,“ Pimentel dijo.
Chair of the event, Amalia Cardona, said awards will be presented to the Hispanic of the year, volunteer of the year, and business of the year. She said the goal is to encourage the Hispanic community to be involved and expand the culture.
“I have seen that the Zavala program has impacted especially our students, and they are able to volunteer and help the community instead of being out there being rowdy and doing things they are not supposed to. We are teaching them to be leaders in our community.“Cardona said
The banquet is happening at the Delta Convention Center from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
To register and buy tickets, you can click here.
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