The staff of CCO sat down with Brant Flores, President of the Board of Directors of HOLA (Hospitality and Outreach for Latin Americans) to discuss the recent partnership between this organization and Ivy Tech Community College.
Staff: Brant, you moved to Evansville from Chicago to establish yourself, your family, and your businesses here in southwest Indiana. Why?
Flores: Evansville is a great community where I have been able to make a difference, I love Chicago, believe me, I still go there a lot, I still have many families and friends, but Evansville gave me the necessary space to settle and grow my aspirations. I now own two companies, PMG Landscaping and Triad Demo and Dismantling, that allow me to give my family the life that I always hoped I would give them. I don’t think I would have been able to do the same without the support of the Evansville community, there are many opportunities here, I have worked hard to turn those opportunities into success, no doubt. But the support of the community has been key for my work and that of my team to take hold and successfully run the companies.
Staff: You are very involved with HOLA, in fact, you are the President of the Board. What made you get involved with the organization?
Flores: My heritage is very important to me, I am of Mexican descent, and I am aware of the hardships that my ancestors went through so my children could live in this country the way we live. When I was approached by my some of the board members to join them some years ago, I felt that HOLA was the premier Latino organization in the Tri-State area. I wanted to give back and thought this was a good vehicle to do that. Our immigrant Latino community is a family-loving, hardworking, good wholesome people that need the right chances to make their own piece of the American dream. Evansville needs more diversity, more workers and people that can grow our population contributing to this community. I believe that my Latino community is the answer, this is a no-brainer! It is a win-win for everyone.
Staff: What is the HOLA Festival?
Flores: The HOLA Festival is an annual event, and next year will be our 6th Festival at Bosse Field. It is a celebration of our heritage and a celebration of two cultures coming together in one of the oldest baseball fields in the country. The old and the new celebrating in harmony! Our sponsors allow us to bring award-winning musical bands that attract thousands of people from a 6-hour radius to Evansville and local food vendors make delicious food from all Latin American countries. We have had in the past around 8,000 people coming in and out at different hours, eating, dancing, and getting to know local organizations, restaurants, food trucks, and other vendors. We give food vendors free spaces for them to come and sell their food or items while local corporations and businesses sponsor the music and the venue.Â
Staff: Tell us a little about the new partnership with Ivy Tech.
Flores: HOLA has had a long-term relationship with Ivy Tech, in fact, the first-ever fundraiser that HOLA had was there. We were able to bring Governor Mitch Daniels and Ivy Tech put it together for us. It was a very important step for a very young organization and Ivy Tech helped us. We also made several tours of the campus where we brought many Latinos to “get to know Ivy Tech†and for many of them was transformational. This new partnership has been a long time in the making and is called the HOLA Dream Big Scholarship. We always wanted to create a scholarship for Latinos, but we didn’t have a constant stream of monies that were not earmarked for something different. With the HOLA Latino Festival, we have been able to generate and secure the annual stream necessary to commit this funding for Ivy Tech and the Latino Community. We gave $5,000 to Ivy Tech and Casey Trela (Ivy Tech’s Director of Financial Aid) is matching that with another $5,000 for a total of $10,000. These monies will be earmarked for Latinos that need help with their education and cannot get federal or state aid.
Staff: Do you have a date for next year’s festival?
Flores: Yes, we do. It will be at Bosse Field on September 24th of 2022! It will be awesome!
Staff: How do people access this scholarship?
Flores: Please get a hold of the Ivy Tech Financial Aid Office and they will love to help anyone that fits the criteria.
