The Harrisonburg-based college access nonprofit Scholars Latino Initiative is celebrating its first decade with an event named ¡10th Anniversary Tapas!
The event will be hosted on Sunny Slope Farm in Harrisonburg from 5-9:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 9.
The evening will feature mingling over diverse, locally sourced heavy hors d’oeuvres, wine, and beer from Three Notch’d Brewing Co.
“This celebration will reflect the richness of Latino foods and cultures in our community,” said event planner and SLI board member Sylvia Whitney Beitzel. “It will also be a time to reflect on the impact that SLI and its community of support have had on the students who are SLI scholars.”
There will also be a live music performance by Lua Project and salsa and bachata dancing led by Phillip Fusaro.
SLI’s mission is to support Latino/a/x high school students with college access through rigorous academic challenge, leadership development, scholarships and supportive mentorships. SLI scholars experience unique circumstances as in many cases first-generation college students; as talented but often invisible individuals; as children from families that are disproportionately under-resourced and disenfranchised; and as members of a growing population in Virginia and the U.S. that is underrepresented on college campuses.
Through collaborations with public school teachers and local university faculty, staff, and student mentors in Harrisonburg, Richmond, and Winchester, SLI provides college access opportunities throughout high school, plus financial support for college success.
Since 2012, SLI has provided more than $431,000 in college scholarship awards, computer awards and dual enrollment tuition assistance.
Its alumni have attended 21 colleges and universities.
“SLI understands how difficult it is for Latino families to contribute to their children’s education and produces new opportunities for Latinx students facing struggles during the college process,” said Janefer, a SLI scholar who graduated from Harrisonburg High School this year and will now study biology and medical Spanish at James Madison University. “SLI opens new doors by not only helping us pay our dual enrollment tuition to obtain college credits while in high school, but also by challenging us to serve the community without receiving anything back. It is our choice to help, and we do it with much love and dedication.”
The original SLI was founded by Peter Iver Kaufman and others in 2001 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2008, Kaufman brought SLI to the University of Richmond, and later to the Shenandoah Valley, where this organization was incorporated in 2012 and became a 501c3 public charity. Kaufman continues to serve as the program director for SLI in Richmond.
This outdoor family-friendly event is best suited for ages 12+.
Tickets are available at vasli.org/tapas through Sept. 20.
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Rebecca Barnabi
