CLEVELAND — With just a few days left, a celebration for Hispanic Heritage Month took place at Cleveland City Hall on Wednesday.
The event, organized by the newly formed Hispanic Heritage Committee, was filled with dancers, a DJ, and local food vendors— mostly from Centro Villa 25.
News 5 covered the opening of the community hub located in the heart of Cleveland's Clark-Fulton neighborhood earlier this year.
RELATED: A Space to Belong: CentroVilla25 is officially open and empowering the Latin community
Community Relations Board Fiscal Grant Manager Leticia Maldonado and Social Support Specialist Lydia Hernandez spoke to News 5 Photojournalist Avery Fulton, who captured the festivities.
"We really wanted to highlight all of the cultures that are Hispanic, so that's very well represented in the food that we have," Hernandez said.
The committee is made up of non-directors.
"We're all city employees from different departments," Maldonado said, adding their goals, "To try to gravitate all departments and touch all the Latino employees throughout the city and to grow our culture within different departments."
Latin countries that were represented included El Salvador, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
"I want people to take away the vibe, the culture," Hernandez said.
In terms of takeaways from the event, Maldonado wanted people to know, "There's more similarities than differences among cultures."
Margie Colon, community activist and Latin dance instructor, shared her dance background.
"I dance everything that you can think of," Colon said. "I dance Merengue, I dance Bomba, I dance Plena, I dance Afro. I dance Hip Hop, I dance Bachata, I dance Cha Cha."
Colon also added what she hopes others see.
"I want them to see us, I want them to see our culture. I want to invite you into my home," she said.
