Cinco de Mayo Community Outreach Event

Participants of the 5/5/07 Cinco de Mayo Outreach Event 

On May 5, 2007 Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida, Inc. and Alianza de Mujeres Activas (Alliance of Active Women) held the first annual Cinco de Mayo Community Outreach Festival in Seville , Florida (western Volusia County ).

 The event came about through the two organizations’ collaboration on Project Vida Nueva (Project New Life), which serves domestic violence victims among Volusia County ’s farmworker community. Partially supported through VOCA (Victim of Crimes Act) funding, Project Vida Nueva provides outreach services – including crisis counseling, information and referral services, and emergency legal services – to domestic violence victims. Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida Family Law attorney, Edda Serrano, is the Project attorney. Ms. Serrano goes out to the farmworker community once a week to provide legal clinics and emergency legal help.   

 Soon after Community Legal Services launched Project Vida Nueva last October, we soon realized that members of the farmworker community needed much more information about services available to them; therefore, we organized the Cinco de Mayo event with Ana Bolanos, a leader in the farmworker community and head of Alianza de Mujeres Activas.  

Alianza de Mujeres Activas 

Participating agencies included Daytona Beach Community College, the Farmworker Association of Florida, Florida KidCare, Healthy Start Coalition of Volusia/Flagler, the Mid-Florida Housing Partnership, the National Farmworker Ministry, the Redlands Community Migrant Association,  Stetson University’s Plaza Comunitaria, United Way of Volusia and Flagler Counties, and the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.   While these groups supplied event attendees with information, a number of attorneys participated in the event, donating their time as well:  David Vedder, an immigration attorney in private practice, spoke to attendees about immigration law. Attorney David Glasser of the Daytona Beach law firm Glasser and Handel provided pro bono legal advice to those in attendance.  And Legal Advocacy Center of Central Florida attorney Roberto Cruz also offered legal advice and provided interpreter services.  

Attorneys Roberto Cruz and David Vedder speak to the crowd (left)
Daytona Beach News-Journal's Patricio Balona, MC, to the right

Disc jockey Hugo Bravo supplied music while Patricio Balona of the Daytona Beach News-Journal acted as the Master of Ceremonies. Penachos Mexican Grill of DeLand provided the food.  

Special thanks to sponsors of the event:  Blue Crystal Water; Carter Electric; CopyFax; Donna Snow Spears, LMT; Attorney Janet Martinez; and Riverside Bank.

 See you next year!