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Glendale Star (AZ): Breakfast brings diversity to the table

  

Breakfast brings diversity to the table

  
By Carolyn Dryer
Celebrating diversity was the theme, and the crowd March 31 at Glendale Civic Center represented almost every kind of person imaginable. However, when keynote speaker Luis Ibarra began to speak, the crowd was one. The event commemorated the life and legacy of César Chávez and recognized outstanding community leadership for the promotion of diversity in the West Valley.

Ibarra, president and CEO of Friendly House, a community based organization serving the Valley, told the story of his childhood, upbringing and desire to make a better life for himself. He was born in the small town of Somerton, near Yuma and the border town of San Luis. His family was large with 11 sisters and five brothers.

His dad came from Juarez, Mexico, and his mother was born in Gadsden, Ariz. She is now almost 90 years old and remains a major influence in his life.

Ibarra said he had dreams about going to college and although his father could neither read nor write, both of his parents encouraged their children to go to school.

“I’m here in the spirit of Cesar Chavez,” he said. “I’m a product of his work.”

He went to Arizona Western Community College, served in the Vietnam War, then graduated from Arizona State University, and became a family therapist.

But he has never forgotten where he came from. Ibarra said as a youngster, he hated Saturdays.

“We’d get on that bus early Saturday morning and go pick cotton,” he said.

All of the money he and his siblings earned, they gave to their mother. She would then ask each what they wanted.

“I asked for 30 cents,” Ibarra said, enough for a cheeseburger at the A&W.

Along with the hard work, Ibarra said his parents also had messages. He was the first in his family to go to college and the first to graduate. He now has brothers and sisters in education and engineering.

Ibarra said, “We want a better future for our family and children.”

He touched on the subject of secure borders and immigration reform, telling the audience that some families have been waiting 10 to 12 years to receive legal status.

“Everything goes to deterrents instead of services,” he said.

Ibarra said at Friendly House, individuals served come from all ethnicities, not just Hispanics.

He added, “When immigrants are here, businesses are thriving.”

Glendale Chamber Foundation and the City of Glendale Hispanic Network hosted the seventh annual César Chávez Breakfast to celebrate diversity in the West Valley.

Ernie Ruiz, president of the city employee-based Glendale Hispanic Network, explained the eight-year-old organization’s mission. He said its purpose was to promote professional development within the organization.

Ruiz said GHN hosts an annual Hispanic Heritage Breakfast and other events “to help our employees take a little bit away today of Cesar Chavez.”

Before Ibarra spoke, a video of Chavez’s life was shown. It was narrated by Hispanic actor James Olmos. He called Chavez the Hispanics’ Martin Luther King who worked for equality, justice and civil rights for all, and who also worked to “replace poverty with hope.”

Honored with the Diversity Award from the Glendale Chamber Foundation was Rufus Glasper, chancellor of Maricopa County Community College District, a position he has held five years. He was in community leadership positions two decades prior. He was also appointed to co-chair the P-20 Council, a group created by the governor’s office to improve education in Arizona.

Chamber Foundation Chairman Martin Samaniego said Glasper has a single-minded commitment to human dignity with access and opportunity for students and staff.

“Engagement and respect are guiding principles,” Samaniego said.

Glasper shared a story similar to Ibarra’s because he was raised in a poverty stricken family, one of seven children.

He has been married 35 years, and for the first five, at the dining table, he said he would look over at his wife’s plate and say, “Are you going to eat that?”

“I do what I do because I love what I do,” Glasper said.

He said his job for the last 24 years has been to educate, “but also to advocate.”

Glasper told the audience, “Be that beacon in the Valley and our communities that says it can be done.

“The one thing that happens when you give yourself to the community, you give to your family.”

Sponsors included Arizona Public Service, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Chicanos Por La Causa, City of Glendale, Glendale Community College, Qwest Communication, and Southwest Ambulance.

The mission of the Glendale Chamber Foundation, a 501 (c) 3 organization, is to provide business and educational opportunities to support and celebrate diversity in the community.

     
Reach the reporter at
cdryer@star-times.com, or 623-847-4604.