{"id":11739,"date":"2021-09-20T22:47:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T22:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/texas\/?p=11739"},"modified":"2021-09-22T12:24:02","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T12:24:02","slug":"hispanic-heritage-month-celebrating-culture-service-and-hunger-heroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/texas\/2021\/09\/20\/hispanic-heritage-month-celebrating-culture-service-and-hunger-heroes\/","title":{"rendered":"Hispanic Heritage Month: Celebrating Culture, Service and Hunger Heroes"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Posted by: Stacie Sanchez Hare<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

No Kid Hungry Texas is thrilled to celebrate <\/span>Hispanic Heritage Month<\/span><\/a> by highlighting stories from local Hunger Heroes dutifully serving meals to kids every day! Throughout the month, we will be showcasing the resiliency, diversity, and strength among the\u00a0<\/span>Hispanic and Latino communities, though our gratitude to these inspirational community leaders\u00a0<\/span>extends\u00a0365 days\u00a0a year.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Please join us in celebrating\u00a0these\u00a0incredible women,\u00a0who shared with us\u00a0their passion for food, family, and serving others.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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Flor Tamez (left) and Claudia Flamenco (right) are Zone Managers at Klein ISD where they support cafeteria managers in their efforts to nourish kids!\u00a0<\/p><\/div>

Claudia Flamenco <\/span><\/b>has worked at Klein ISD (Independent School District) for roughly 12 years \u2013 first as a specialist making food and s<\/span>erving kids, and now as a zone manager, where she supports six cafeteria managers in their effort to serve kids.\u00a0<\/span>For Claudia, the community has many strengths including the deep respect and trust that they have for one another. <\/span>As Claudia says, \u201cThey are dedicated to helping each other in any way possible!\u201d Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month is a tradition for<\/span> Claudia,\u00a0whose\u00a0family usually celebrates\u00a0with music and traditional food from El Salvador. When asked what she wants people to understand about Hispanic heritage, she\u00a0told us,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s important for people to know that Latinos come from different countries \u2013 not just Mexico,\u201d and that celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month is important because you can \u201cshow pride in your<\/span>\u00a0Hispanic and Latino heritage and reconnect with your roots.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Flor Tamez\u00a0<\/span><\/b>is also a\u00a0zone\u00a0manager\u00a0at Klein ISD,\u00a0where she\u00a0provides training and\u00a0support\u00a0to\u00a0six\u00a0cafeteria managers at the district,\u00a0making\u00a0it easier for\u00a0them to\u00a0nourish kids. Flor has worked at Klein ISD for 18 years and is deeply proud of the Hispanic community.\u00a0She thinks that celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month is important because she gets to talk about her roots with kids and \u201ccontinue traditions that we had when we were little and celebrating in Mexico.\u201d When asked why\u00a0it is\u00a0important for kids to have access to meals that\u00a0represent\u00a0their culture, Flor\u00a0told us,\u00a0\u201cKids get so excited when they see something from their culture on the line,\u201d and for other students,\u00a0food\u00a0can be an avenue to\u00a0experience other cultures. Flor\u2019s Hispanic hero is Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor, who she says is \u201can inspiration to Hispanics and females.\u201d She has many hopes for the future of her community, including\u00a0that it continues to grow and provide educational opportunities to students with big dreams \u2013\u00a0perhaps even\u00a0those with dreams\u00a0of becoming\u00a0a\u00a0supreme\u00a0court\u00a0justice.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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Norema thrives in her role as a cafeteria manager where her lived experience helps her connect with and serve her students.<\/p><\/div>

Norema\u00a0Pi\u00f1a<\/span><\/b>\u00a0is originally from Tamaulipas Mexico and came to the United States when she was 15 years old. She remembers struggling because she was learning a new language. However,\u00a0Norema\u00a0always enjoyed receiving free meals at school. She had the opportunity to try new foods and remembers being happy when they had food that she recognized and enjoyed. Today,\u00a0Norema\u00a0is thriving in her role as\u00a0cafeteria\u00a0manager. Her lived experience helps her connect and serve\u00a0her\u00a0students, 90% of\u00a0whom\u00a0identify as\u00a0Latino.\u00a0Norema\u00a0is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by serving foods from different\u00a0Latino\u00a0countries and encouraging students to dress in clothes from their culture.\u00a0Norema\u00a0loves what she does and believes food is\u00a0<\/span>todo,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>everything.\u00a0\u201cKids need to learn about their histories so they can be proud of who they are and where they came from,\u201d\u00a0she told us.\u00a0\u201cIt is important that others see who we are too, and that we are here\u2026that we exist!\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Evelin Hernandez\u2019s<\/span><\/b>\u00a0story has come full circle since her days as a student in Aldine ISD,\u00a0where she\u00a0now proudly\u00a0serves\u00a0as\u00a0cafeteria\u00a0manager. As a child, she thought about becoming a teacher but\u00a0says\u00a0the path she chose\u00a0is a better fit because she loves talking to\u00a0<\/span>all\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>the kids and brightening their day with a smile and kind words. Evelin believes the role of food and connecting to the community is quite powerful. \u201cIt has\u00a0a major role\u00a0because food is one way to say I love you and I care for you!\u201d She is excited to celebrate Hispanic Heritage\u00a0Month by\u00a0hanging\u00a0posters in the cafeteria of heroes in the\u00a0Latino community who represent\u00a0distinct cultures\u00a0across the Americas. Evelin\u00a0is\u00a0from El Salvador and encourages kids to see the posters and ask questions. She believes all kids need to feel part of the\u00a0larger\u00a0community, and when their cultures are\u00a0lifted up, they feel important.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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Maria is helping students celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by playing traditional Latino music from various Hispanic cultures during meal service.<\/p><\/div>

Maria Sanchez Garcia<\/span><\/b>\u00a0has been working in child nutrition for over five years and currently serves as a\u00a0kitchen\u00a0manager where she enjoys working with and encouraging others to grow both professionally and personally.\u00a0Maria is originally from Mexico and celebrates her Hispanic heritage every day. This year, she will help students celebrate by playing traditional\u00a0Latino music during meal services to celebrate various Hispanic cultures and ethnicities from Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. She also plans to celebrate with her family by getting together and sharing traditional foods,\u00a0because\u00a0\u201cFood brings our families and friends together.\u201d Maria hopes that the\u00a0Latino\u00a0community continues to grow strong and produce more leaders. To help reach this aspiration, she\u00a0mentors\u00a0colleagues so they can reach their full potential. For Maria, one positive aspect of her culture is that\u00a0Latinos have a strong work ethic. \u201cWe need to teach the younger generation the truth about our culture and work to dispel negative stereotypes that hurt our people.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Nathalie Rivera<\/span><\/b>\u00a0is a proud manager in the Cleveland ISD child nutrition department. Nathalie\u2019s family and community upbringing have developed her into the person she is today. Nathalie is most proud of the many traditions in her culture like Folklorico dancers, faith, and most importantly, food! Nathalie takes pride in offering culturally relevant meals to her students and believes that food and feeding others are a powerful way to connect across cultural identities. Nathalie looks to her mom as her Hispanic Heritage Month hero. Per Nathalie, \u201cshe has always been my backbone.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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Ludi is a manager at Cleveland ISD. Her Hispanic hero is Selena!<\/p><\/div>

Ludi\u00a0Jimenez,<\/span><\/b>\u00a0a\u00a0manager\u00a0at the Cleveland ISD Child Nutrition Department,\u00a0is proud of being part of the Hispanic community.\u00a0She\u00a0shared that \u201cbeing Hispanic is so much more than the fun, the food, and the culture.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0about our history, our struggles, our\u00a0hard work\u00a0and where we have come from. I am proud of being part of the most influential group in the world now holding some of the most important roles in our community.\u201d Ludi finds inspiration in her colleagues on the serving line and her family because they \u201covercome their hardship and come to work every day to make life better for themselves, their children\u00a0and all the children in the community.\u201d For Ludi,\u00a0celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month is important because it allows us to \u201crecognize and celebrate the many contributions and diverse cultures of the American Latino Community,\u201d and will be celebrating this year by having a\u00a0potluck\u00a0at work where her colleagues will bring traditional dishes!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

We thank each of these hunger heroes for their service and passion. Do you have a #HungerHero you would like to celebrate during Hispanic Heritage Month? Tweet them a shout-out and use the hashtag #TXHispanicHeroes so we can celebrate them too!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted by: Stacie Sanchez Hare No Kid Hungry Texas is thrilled to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by highlighting stories from local Hunger Heroes dutifully serving meals to kids every day!…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11739","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHispanic Heritage Month: Celebrating Culture, Service and Hunger Heroes - TEXAS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/texas\/2021\/09\/20\/hispanic-heritage-month-celebrating-culture-service-and-hunger-heroes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hispanic Heritage Month: Celebrating Culture, Service and Hunger Heroes - 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