Volunteer Profiles ~ Perfiles del voluntariado
Redmond family makes volunteering a family affair
By Denise Holley
Whenever the Latino Community Association hosts a public event, it can count on volunteers like the Chávez-Romero family of Redmond to set up tables, decorate the venue and supervise children’s activities.
But their role goes beyond set-up work: María Romero sees her family as ambassadors for LCA. She and her daughter, Emily Chávez, handed out fliers about LCA at Latino Fest in Madras last September. Sometimes her husband, Gerardo Chávez, takes time away from his upholstery shop to volunteer at LCA events.
“When you talk with people, you find out that they don’t know about these services (that LCA offers),” María said. At Latino Fest, “there were a lot of people interested in the citizenship class.” María looks forward to greeting local families in May when representatives from the Mexican Consulate visit central Oregon to provide a mobile clinic. At last year’s event, people told her they wanted English classes in Prineville, she said, and she communicated their wishes to LCA Volunteer Coordinator Mary Murphy. And, as a result, this month, LCA launched its first class for English learners in Prineville.
The family is also eager to volunteer at LCA’s annual Gala de Oro fundraiser, María said. It is scheduled for May 11 at the Riverhouse in Bend.
The family began volunteering about six years ago when Emily needed braces, María said. Their orthodontist, Smile Central Oregon, offers discounted prices to families willing to volunteer with a local organization. Emily, now 18, entertained kids during LCA events and classes. Last fall, she went off to the University of Oregon on a full scholarship from the Ford Foundation and hopes to become an immigration attorney, her mother said. When she’s not studying, Emily volunteers to mentor middle school students in Eugene. Now her sister, Ashley, 14, is helping out with LCA events and office work.
María came to Los Angeles from Mexico City in 1999, and moved to Redmond 13 years ago, she said. Her mother and two older daughters and their children still live in Mexico City.
Recently, María decided to sharpen her skills in English because “I want to be able to help more people,” she said. LCA provides a volunteer tutor who meets weekly with her, a way the organization gives back to the family.
“They’re amazing, always willing to help where they are needed,” Mary Murphy said. “They love LCA.” And LCA loves their community spirit. Gracias amigos!
Latina moms help students connect to their roots
By Denise Holley 
Every Thursday, three Spanish-speaking mothers at Jewell Elementary School in Bend take on the role of teachers. They volunteer after school to teach 21 Latino students to read and write in Spanish, learn traditional Mexican songs, and feel good about their culture and themselves.
These moms form the backbone of the RAICES Spanish Literacy & Youth Empowerment Program of the Latino Community Association at Jewell. LCA also runs RAICES at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend.
“We want the students to come to terms with who they are culturally,” said LCA Program Manager Oscar González.
RAICES (pronounced Rye-Ea-Ses) means roots in Spanish. The letters also stand for Risa (laughter), Amor (love), Ilusión (hope), Cariño (affection), Entusiasmo (enthusiasm), and Servicio (service) to the community, said volunteer teacher Margarita García. “I love to support the Latino kids so they don’t forget their culture and their roots, so they can feel proud to be Latinos.”
PHOTOS: Above: Margarita Garcia (left) and Pilar Cruz teach Mexican songs to their students. Left: Griselda Franco and her students sample Rosca dd Reyes (cake of kings) to celebrate the arrival of the Magi on Jan. 6. Below: Maria Rita Rubalcava helps a student create a Christmas card. Photos by Denise Holley and Renee Sanchez.
Margarita and her friends Maria Rita Ruvalcaba and Pilar Cruz helped start the RAICES program at Jewell in May 2016.
“For me, it’s very important for the kids to continue with their first language,” Maria said. Once the kids begin learning English, they may hesitate to speak in Spanish.
Pilar, who teaches the kindergarten and first grade kids, agreed. “After a few months (in kindergarten), they prefer to speak English,” Pilar said. “They don’t know enough words in Spanish.”
Growth in both languages is essential, Maria said. “A child who is bilingual will succeed in the future.”
Margarita noted that some of the kids don’t know where their parents came from and “the efforts they made to be where they are now. We are role models for our children,” she said.
“The kids really like talking about their families,” Maria said. The teachers said they hope RAICES will bloom and grow at other schools in Central Oregon. Latino students at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend are comfortable speaking English, reports LCA volunteer teacher Griselda Franco. And so is she. But on Monday afternoons, when she gathers eight students from Mexico and El Salvador, “the whole hour and a half, they have to speak Spanish,” Franco said. “It’s challenging.”
She began teaching RAICES in September and can hear an improvement in the students’ spoken Spanish, she said. During the holiday season, the class learned why the U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving and how Mexico and El Salvador celebrate Christmas.
This semester, Franco will teach the class pronunciation and “how to put sentences together in Spanish,” she said. She believes the students speak Spanglish at home and need to communicate better with their parents. “When they’re little, they have the capacity to learn more than two languages,” Franco said.
She is majoring in early childhood education at Central Oregon Community College and provides child care for parents attending LCA English classes in Bend, she said. She also works part-time in the housing department at NeighborImpact.
These volunteer moms make RAICES happen and LCA is grateful for their work and dedication.