The first weekend in May is more than just a cram session before finals. The weekend will also mark a clean-up event in Hamilton, the culmination of efforts of five Miami University students working with La Voz, a Latino support group for business owners in Hamilton, on the second annual Festival del Limpieza.
Junior Kevin McLaughlin is one of the five students who has worked with several Latino business owners during the last year and a half to form La Voz as part of a two-year American Studies minor program through the Wilkes Scholars Acting Locally Program that began in fall 2006.
"Its kind of difficult to create a space where Miami students and people from the whole area can interact with the Latino community and generate dialogue," McLaughlin said. "The goal is to build a positive light on the Latino community in the area, to come together and pull resources."
The festival will then be part of Hamilton's city wide clean-up festival May 3.
"It's a Saturday that started with a committee in town that wanted to see the city cleaned up and has expanded to cover most the city," said Jim Dalzell, representative for the Hamilton health department. "A lot of volunteers go out to pick up garbage and clean up to try and spruce up city and make it look better."
McLaughlin said the Latino population in the community decided to take it a step further and turn the day into a festival.
"We were thinking of a way to take on this clean-up activity and make it more inviting and community-based, so we turned it into festival," McLaughlin said.
According to McLaughlin, participants will be given trash bags, and for every bag they bring back filled with trash, they will get a raffle ticket. After the clean up, participants will return to Jefferson Elementary where food donated from Latino business owners in the area will be served. There will also be prizes raffled, including a television and DVD player as the grand prize.
"These community residents don't have to give anything except their time," McLaughlin said. "Then we can all come together and enjoy some quality time together. It is a very positive event and breaks down some transnational barriers."
Marcos Montano, a commercial insurance agent in Hamilton and supporter of La Voz and the festival, said this event gives people in the community a chance to see the positive contributions the Latino population makes to the community.
"One of the important things we are trying to do is show the community that has been here in Hamilton for many generations that the Latino community can do something positive," Montano said.
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Montano said he thinks it is important for the Latino population to get involved and give back to the community.
"I have been participating in the non profit organizations because no matter where we are, we need to be doing something positive," Montano said. "Just because you are here, but not from here, you need to do something positive for the environment."
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