As scholarship applications loom, students and community members can contribute to awards by enjoying a morning of food and art on campus.
“We have expanded on a yearly basis.We have gotten bigger, more students are coming along you know they hear about it and they want to know more about applying, we encourage them to apply every year,” said La Raza Employees Association (LREA) Chair/Public Relations & Community Liaison Claudia Navarro.
The annual Dia de los Muertos Scholarship Breakfast hosted by the LREA will be held on Nov. 1 in Danner Hall.
More than 200 tickets have been sold so far, and there’s a chance more will be sold at the door. In previous years, however, the event sold out early.
The breakfast features pozole, tamales, pan dulce, hot chocolate or coffee, according to fliers for the event.
Servers are previous years’ scholarship winners and LREA members. The organization provides the drinks, but vendors supply the main dishes.
“We make the purchase from different vendors … in the past we have had different vendors for every item,” said Navarro.
Local vendors such as La Victoria Delicatessen in Stockton has and continues to provide items for the fundraiser.
La Victoria’s owner, according to Navarro, “has had a relationship with the older generation of LREA members that we’ve had.”
Delta alumni, Carlos Perez, “the one who drew the apple for Apple,” according to Navarro, will be making a donation to the breakfast’s silent auction.
The artwork will be displayed with a sheet of paper in front of each piece, where attendees write down bids.
The $300 scholarship is usually awarded to 26 applicants.
LREA sees more than 150 applicants in one year. Students can apply for the scholarship along with others through the Delta College website.
“The scholarship does have a couple requirements, and they’re pretty basic: [be of] Latin descent, they can be undocumented as well, 2.5 GPA, and two recommendation letters,” said Navarro.
The five council members of LREA review the scholarship application, so those awarded vary depending on the reviewer. Navarro said all degrees and certificates are weighed equally between students, and the population of Delta’s students who are parents are kept in mind.
LREA will bring back Ballet Folklorico de Frank Zapata, a dance performance, in Atherton that night at 7 p.m. Last year the organization was unable to schedule the dance team, but the fundraiser will return.
“We do encourage the students … to become alumni members, and basically give back to other students who are in their place now, and we have had a few that have come back and want to join as an alumni member. That’s what really keeps it going,” said Navarro.
The Dia de los Muertos Scholarship Breakfast runs from 7:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. on Nov 1.