To protect families and the community during the COVID-19 pandemic, Centro Hispano of Dane County announced on Thursday that they have decided to cancel its Annual Celebration Gala event this year for the first time in its history.
“Although we cannot meet in person, we also cannot afford to cancel or pause the valuable support the Gala has provided year after year to our community,” Centro Hispano said in a press release. “We have a goal to fill a ‘virtual room’ raising $50,000 by Oct. 31 as part of Centro’s first community-wide appeal – RESILIENCE.”
Raising $50,000 would be the equivalent of selling 500 tickets for the gala event, which is the major fundraiser for Centro every year and an opportunity for the community and supporters to gather to celebrate the community. This year’s celebration would have been the 31st celebration hosted in Centro’s history.
Centro Hispano of Dane County is the leading social service provider for Latinos in Dane County and has been at the forefront of the local response to the COVID-19 pandemic for the Latino community.
“These are challenging times for our community and for our world. Challenging for us all, but especially for our communities of color,” Centro Hispano said in a statement. “Data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that Latinx across the nation are suffering a disproportionate number of coronavirus cases and deaths. In Wisconsin, Latinx represent 7% of the population but almost 30% of infections from the virus and 15% of deaths.”
The RESILIENCE initiative will launch on Saturday, Sept. 19, the day that Centro’s annual gala would have occurred and will enable the non-profit agency to continue to act to alleviate the multi-level impact of the COVID-19 virus and to support its families in need by standing with them during this time of crisis and recovery.
Centro Hispano is encouraging people to share their own stories of #resilience on social media using the hashtag #micentro or to make a gift to Centro to help them achieve its fundraising goal. For more information about RESILIENCE, visit the Centro website starting this Saturday.
