Vianey Beltran (center), Vice President of Philanthropy and Community Impact, said Latinos drive much of the city’s economy, which means the grants have far-reaching effects – not just across economies, but across generations, too.
During Hispanic Heritage Month, Fresco Marketing Luis Padilla (left) and Wells Fargo team up to celebrate Folklore with members of the community. It’s a celebration of pride and culture, helping area Latino businesses in the metro.
BY JOE ARCE AND COREY CRABLE
For the third year in a row, Wells Fargo is injecting funds into Kansas City’s small business community with a $100,000 grant, to be divided evenly among 10 Latino-owned small businesses. In the coming weeks area business will be able to apply for the grant.
Called the Folklore Grant Program, it brought Wells Fargo officials together with Latino small business owners at a celebration in late September to announce the program and recognize the lasting partnership between the financial institution and Kansas City’s Latino community.
“I’m very, very happy about this,” Luis Padilla, owner of Fresco Marketing and organizer of the event, told KC Hispanic News. “As a owner of a small business myself, I understand the challenges that small businesses can have. So I think the whole idea of the celebration is not only to celebrate, but to create a positive impact in the community. And I’m very happy and I’m very honored to work with Wells Fargo and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to be able to do that.”
Fresco Marketing, now in its fifth year of operation, works with Latino businesses and larger businesses trying to reach out to the Hispanic community.
“We want to be the connectors. Even if it’s not going to benefit Fresco Marketing, if we know that two people, two organizations can benefit from each other and from being connected, we’re absolutely going do that,” Padilla said. “We love to connect people, to connect organizations for the better.”
In opening remarks, Carlos Gomez, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City and director of the Greater Kansas City Hispanic Collaborative, offered thanks to City Councilman Crispin Rea for creating scholarships that would fund registration for the national conference of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The conference is taking place this week in Kansas City.
Padilla, meanwhile, announced Fresco’s intent to donate funds raised from ticket sales for the Folklore event to the Olathe Leadership Low Rider Bike Club, an organization designed to help at-risk students build their own low-rider bike with the ultimate goal of graduating high school.
“The idea was to provide a place where our kids could feel at home in a safe environment and they can present themselves in their culture,” said Erik Erazo, the club’s founder. “And we’ve grown to 11 chapters throughout the country, including California and New Mexico. So far, we have 100% graduation rate through our program. (Participants) are graduating and going to college. It’s been amazing. It’s a true blessing to have this support.”
Councilman Rea reminded those in attendance that Latinos’ representation at every level in a city is crucial.
“It’s not always easy being a member of our community. But right now, this moment in time is an exciting time for us. And representation, the representation you all are providing wherever you work, wherever you serve is very important. I was elected about a year ago and we hadn’t had a Latino on the city council in almost 30 years,” Rea said. “And here’s what representation has meant. It’s meant that we are putting $3 million into a state -of -the -art soccer facility and Ninth and Van Brunt in the Northeast. It means $3 million for the Tony Aguirre Community Center pool, because we don’t have a pool on the West Side.”
Still, Rea added, there’s no better time to be Latino in Kansas City than right now. “It’s an incredible time to be a Latino, to be a Hispanic member of our community in Kansas City. The Chamber Conference is very timely, and I’ve had the opportunity to talk about what it means for us and why it’s important and it ties in directly to what Luis has done and what Fresco has done with this initiative and supporting small businesses,” Rea said, “because it’s the Hispanic small business owner that is breathing new life into the empty storefronts in our urban centers they are renovating the empty storefronts and suburban strip malls that are breathing life into our rural towns.”
Yolanda Vazlan, Vice President of the Native American Community Impact for Wells Fargo, said the financial institution is committed to the Latino community.
“Our Latino neighbors are getting additional tools to grow their products, to hire more people in our communities,” Vazlan said. “And that is what we are celebrating here tonight, is the power of Latinos in Kansas City.”
And Vianey Beltran, Vice President of Philanthropy and Community Impact, said Latinos drive much of the city’s economy, which means the grants have far-reaching effects – not just across economies, but across generations, too.
“My mother, she cleaned parks for a living. My dad was a mechanic. So we are a humble community. We are a hard-working community. And I think that that is why it is so important for the next generation to say, ‘Thank you for being here,’” said Beltran, who grew up in the West Side. “’Now I’m going to take that education you gave me. I’m coming back to my community and I’m going to make sure you’re OK.’ And that it’s OK to accept help, especially in this community where we help every day.”
For more information about the grant and how to apply go to this website: frescomktg.com
