Hispanic group donates food, gifts during holidays
‘Giving back to our community has always been a big deal,’ local woman says.
It is estimated that only about 54% of Americans realize that people born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens and have been since 1917, when the islandofficially becamea United States territory. And in the 1920s, Puerto Rican natives began to migrate to cities like New York in search of better jobs and lives for themselves and their families.
Yvonne Wathen of Centerville was just 4 years oldwhen her family first cameto theUnited States in the 1950s. She spokenoEnglishbut learned it quickly once she started kindergarten.
“Mydadwasworking for themilitary and my mom was a nurse,” Wathen said. “It was easy to get jobs then with their backgrounds.”
Tohelp“Americanize” hisdaughters, Wathen’s father insisted that they speak English at home and work to rid themselves of their accents.
“Dad felt it was more important to get rid of the accents and speak English fluently,” Wathen said. “He was very particular and sent us to private Catholic schools all our lives.”
Wathen met her husband-to-be, Mike, while working for the U.S. Navy commissary store in Brooklyn. She was 28 when she left her family in Brooklyn to follow her military husband to his different duty stations.
Today, many decades removed from that young Puerto Rican girl who spoke no English, Wathen has livedinCenterville with her Cincinnati-bornhusband for 20years. But she has never forgotten her roots and has supported local organizations that help promote Hispanic and Latino culture formany years.
“I had my own business until it closed in 2009,” Wathen said. “I said I was retired, but it really just gave me more time to do volunteer work.”
Twomonthsintoher first “retirement,” Wathen knew she needed to find a purpose for her life. As a business owner, she was already a member of the Dayton Hispanic Chamberandbecameitsfirstexecutive director shortly after she closed her business.
“I didn’t do it for the money,” Wathen said. “I neededsomestructure, and they needed some help letting people knowthey existed.”
Wathen continuedin that role for nearly four years andwhile there, she learned about another group
promoting the Hispanic culture — the Puerto Rican, American and Caribbean Organization (PACO), a nonprofit organization established in 1991.
“I saw a real need there to create more structure for PACO and create some newbylaws,” Wathen said. “It took almost eight years to get it towhere it is today.”
What started as a social “club,” geared mostly to people working
atWright-Patterson Air Force Base, hasbecome, withWathen’s involvement, an organization that promotes the rich Hispanic culture, provides charitable services, and hosts an annual festival in downtown Dayton.
“The first festival was held 20 years ago,” Wathen said. “It was designed as a celebration of the Hispanic culture inDayton, but not as a money-making event.”
Wathen decided she wanted to growthe event, which costs about $10,000 annually to host, by soliciting donations and securing sponsorships. She increased the number of vendor booths and the marketing efforts, making sure people knew that it was a family-friendly event that also included an interactive kids area.
And over the years, the festival has not only paid for itself, but also has helped raise philanthropy dollars for PACO, whose members have donated turkey dinners at Thanksgiving and gifts at Christmas to local needy families for the past eight years.
Though the festival, usually held in September, was forced to transform into a virtual event in 2020 becauseofthepandemic, PACOwas still able to purchase 700 gifts and provide Thanksgiving food baskets to 90 families this holiday season.
“Giving back to our community hasalwaysbeenabigdeal,” Wathen said. “We work with St. Mary’s (Catholic Church) and this yearwe extended it to fourmore churches. Theyfindtheneedyfamiliesandour grouporganizes everything, orders the food and purchases the gifts.”
Though PACO has about 230 members, Wathen estimates that only about 30 are active, and can be counted upon to volunteer during the holiday season. About 100 volunteers are needed each year to staff the September festival.
“PACOhas been a lot of things to a lot of people,” Wathen said. “It’s about getting people in the Hispanic culture together to connect with others like themselves. If you move to Dayton, it’s not like moving to NewYork and finding a ‘barrio.’ PACO gives people a place to find a friendwhen they need one.”
Formore information, visit Pacodayton.org