Centro Hispano celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with annual Latino Awards fundraiser

Centro Hispano de East Tennessee, a Knoxville-based nonprofit that serves the Latino community throughout East Tennessee, will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a virtual iteration of its popular annual Latino Awards gala.

Hispanic Heritage Month is observed nationally each year from September 15 – October 15. “It serves as an important opportunity to highlight the contributions of Latinos in our country,” Centro Hispano President & CEO Claudia Caballero said. “We work with and celebrate our local Latino community every day, but Hispanic Heritage Month allows us to take a step back and honor our culture from a broader perspective. There is an incredible array of diversity within the Latino community at large. Hispanic Heritage Month provides us with a necessary space to tell our own story, refocus the narrative and celebrate our collective history and the valuable impact that generations of indigenous, Afro-Latino and Latinx people have had on the United States.”

Centro Hispano hosts its Latino Awards gala as part of ongoing Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations each year. Historically the highly anticipated event, which serves as the organization’s largest fundraiser, is a cross-cultural experience that brings the Greater Knoxville community together to recognize Latinos, Latinas and community allies doing extraordinary work to support the Latino community in East Tennessee. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Latino Awards event was redesigned in a virtual format.

This year’s event will take place on Thursday, September 24 from noon – 1p.m. and features an online auction and a streaming broadcast of live and pre-recorded programming from Centro Hispano staff, mayors Glenn Jacobs and Indya Kincannon and emcees Erin Donovan and Louis Fernandez. Tickets to the 2020 Latino Awards are free. To register for the event and to make a contribution, visit latinoawards.swell.gives.

Centro Hispano, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, offers a variety of services and critical resources through its Workforce Development, Social Impact and Youth & Family Engagement departments, including HiSET and English as a second language (ESL) classes; legal, healthcare and employment referrals; afterschool and youth development programs and more. During the pandemic the nonprofit has served as a key partner to City of Knoxville and Knox County departments and has expanded its work to include distribution of food and financial aid. Centro Hispano also offers professional translation, diversity and inclusion consulting, business development and employment services to area businesses. To learn more, follow Centro Hispano on social media at @centrohispanotn and visit centrohispanotn.org.

About Centro Hispano Centro Hispano de East Tennessee is a Latina-led nonprofit organization in Knoxville that bridges the gap between the Latino community and East Tennessee. The organization promotes empowerment and civic participation through education, workforce development, youth and family engagement and community-strengthening initiatives.

Centro Hispano’s vision is to see every Latino and Latina in East Tennessee thriving culturally, educationally and economically.