Fiesta Gives Back
Yvonne Yates
This month has flown by and as I look at my calendar, I notice downtown bustling with Fiesta spirit. Looking out the window of our building on Broadway and McCullough, I see Fiesta signs up and the assembly of the parade bleachers. I can taste the chicken on a stick and the oyster shots.
Last year I gave you a brief history of Fiesta San Antonio but did you know that many of the 100 Fiesta member organizations give scholarships? My alma mater, St. Mary’s University, holds the annual Fiesta Oyster Bake, which opens Fiesta, as a way to raise funds for scholarships. The University of the Incarnate Word's Cutting Edge Fiesta Fashion Show is another example of a Fiesta event hard at work to help students receive a higher education.
Other organizations involved with Fiesta give back in different ways. For example, the Alamo Exhibition Bird Club takes exotic birds to schools for a Rainforest Education program. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Alamo Couriers Chapter (Children’s Texas History Forum) sponsors free living history programs for San Antonio-area schools.
These are just a few of the many charitable contributions that organizations in our fair city do during Fiesta. With the STARR on the horizon for many and the school year coming to a close in less than two months, take some time to have fun and challenge your students to research other organizations and see what ideas they have to give back to our city during this 11-day celebration. As I wrote you last month, in 2010 Fiesta San Antonio started to make strides to make Fiesta GREEN. What a great way to talk about Earth Day and Fiesta San Antonio.
"Be the change you want to see in the world" -- Mahatma Gandhi
Visit fiesta-sa.org/about-2/community/ to see a list of organizations that are giving back.
