GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — When Lea Tobar was approached about starting a Puerto Rican cultural committee in Grand Rapids, she questioned whether she was too old to take on the work.
“I told him I'm too old to start something like that, you know, and he said, ‘No, you are not too old. Do it. I'll help you,’” Tobar said.
That conversation in 2014 with Roberto Torres, then the executive director of the Hispanic Center, helped launch the Puerto Rican Cultural Committee of West Michigan.
More than a decade later, the volunteer committee brings families together through cultural programs, community support and college scholarships. Its annual Encuentro de Dos Culturas celebration on Saturday, Nov. 7, will recognize community members and award six local students $1,000 scholarships.
The free event runs from 5 to 9 p.m. at Grand Rapids Community College’s Leslie E. Tassell M-TEC, 622 Godfrey Ave. SW.
Tobar said Torres saw an opportunity to bring the area’s Puerto Rican community together and create a group dedicated to sharing its culture. She began recruiting people she knew.
“So we, I called Teresa. Teresa said, ‘Let's do it.’ So we start recruiting my daughter and Margarita and other people in the community,” Tobar said.
For committee member Margarita Coto Hernandez, joining the organization helped deepen her connection to her Puerto Rican identity. She said she learned about her heritage through the women and community around her in Grand Rapids.
“So I learned my culture from these people, from this community, these Puerto Rican ladies, and I've been so proud because they brought that culture out of me,” Coto Hernandez said.
The committee has offered cultural dance programming for children, giving younger generations an opportunity to learn about their heritage through music and movement. Members also organize Christmas gifts and visits for older community members and offer support to families grieving a loved one.
Education is another part of that work. The committee raises scholarship money through a golf outing and community support.
Committee President Teresa Cruz Vega said being able to help six students this year is meaningful to the organization.
“Just to be part of the scholarships and the students that apply for those scholarships, I mean, we are blessed to be able to give six students $1,000 each,” Cruz Vega said.
Saturday’s celebration will also include legacy awards recognizing community members, Puerto Rican food and live music.
Among the traditions featured will be a parranda, a Puerto Rican form of Christmas caroling that brings people together through singing and instruments.
For Cruz Vega, who was born in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, sharing her culture is also a way to stay connected to her parents and the values they taught her.
“Being Puerto Rican is like carrying a piece of my parents in my heart,” she said.
Coto Hernandez said the relationships she has formed through the committee have strengthened her pride in her heritage.
“The love of my people is tremendous. Just because of this committee, so I'm very proud,” she said.
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