Community

CHRISTIAN PARRA. As always, you find this young man out there in the street, in the community working to make life better for our communities. If you don’t know Parra, you should! He is the founder of PUSHING Latinos Forward and the Peoples’ Machine, as well as a member of the Puerto Rican/Latino Committee, and a ‘guest writer’ for the Buffalo Latino Village. He recently worked for the PUSH organization, leaving to work with the Citizens Action organization. He called me during the beginning of the Coronavirus crisis (this past month, March), early on a Saturday afternoon to see if I had a list of senior citizens that needed help or food. He explained that there were “too many senior citizens living alone and isolated, and we need to identify them and get to them with food and any assistance we can provide. We just can’t stay home”, he said. He, along with a group of young men and women, and assisted by his partner, Geovaira Hernandez, a Latina who is becoming well-known throughout the state for her work with climate change and environmental issues. A fundraising apparatus was organized, including social media, Facebook, and PayPal, plus direct donations. With the help of their community contacts, the group was able to go shopping for food, and have teams to make food deliveries.  They organized the project into several steps, the first was the purchase of carts; phase two was the preparation of individual care packages, and phase three was the delivery of the food to the elders and large families in the community. They even called me to see if I needed anything, seeing that my wife and I are both senior citizens, but with God’s blessing, we were ok and did not need anything. According to Parra, this effort “will continue until this Coronavirus crisis is over. We can still use support and donation so we can continue. Please help us help our senior citizen community. If you want to donate, go to Paypal or https://www.paypal.com/paypalme2/helpbuffalofunds. All the money goes directly for food. We are all volunteers, doing this for free, and we feel very good about it, knowing that we are fulfilling a vital role during the time of need.” Parra said he was grateful that many came to help, which includes Adam Bojak is running for NYS Assemblyman in the 149th NYS Assembly District. Other helpers include Eric Antony Maldonado, Avi, and Keith. For information: christianparra113@gmail.com. Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books Business Community Education Entertainment Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics LATINO COLLEGE STUDENTS FACE INEQUALITY AND CULTURAL ISOLATION AT THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK at BUFFALO March 25, 2023/No Comments LACK OF COLLEGE SERVICES FOR LATINO STUDENTS: This is in response to a story by UB Spectrum reporter, Kayla Estrada, Read More “GETTING VERY LITTLE FOR THE WHOLE,  BUT GETTING A LOT FOR THE FEW” WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN 2023 January 25, 2023/No Comments While I might appear to be biased and selective, I strongly feel the four people in the photo are the Read More The Isaías González-Soto Branch Library (formerly Niagara Branch) is a member of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library System December 25, 2022/No Comments When the Hispanic Heritage Council (HHC) moved to rename the Niagara Branch Library several years ago, with the support of Read More Load More End of Content.