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Washington, D.C. – The League of United Latin American Citizens and The Maru Montero Dance Company will host a press conference to announce their partnership to present The National Cinco de Mayo Festival®: ¡Salud en Cinco de Mayo! The festival will take place on Saturday, May 5, 2012 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.at the Sylvan Theatre on the National Mall next to the Washington Monument on the corner of 15th Street, SW and Independence Avenue.
WHO:
- Margaret Moran, LULAC National President (confirmed)
- Brent Wilkes, LULAC National Executive Director (confirmed)
- Maru Montero, Maru Montero Dance Company (confirmed)
- The Honorable Vincent Gray Mayor of the District of Columbia (invited)
- Lisa Pino, Deputy Administrator, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA (confirmed)
- Mayra Alvarez, Director of Public Health Policy in the Office of Health Reform at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (confirmed)
- WHAT: Press conference to announce The National Cinco de Mayo Festival ®: ¡Salud enCinco de Mayo!
- WHEN: May 2, 2012 at 10:00 a.m.
- WHERE: LULAC, 1133 19th Street NW, Suite 1000
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Maru Montero Dance Company (MMDC) have partnered to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a festival, entitled, The National Cinco de Mayo Festival: Salud en Cinco de Mayo!
As part of that celebration, and in support of its health education initiative, Latinos Living Healthy: Salud Es Vida, LULAC will provide critical access to health resources and increase public awareness around healthy eating and the importance of physical activity. This year marks the 20th anniversary of MMDC’s commitment to foster an appreciation of Latino culture with the annual National Cinco de Mayo Festival. With support from the Walmart Foundation, LULAC is continuing its commitment to reach Latinos across the United States through a health initiative designed to educate the Latino community and expand on its community health education component to raise awareness around today's healthy food options. MMDC and LULAC are committed to celebrating the rich traditions of Cinco de Mayo with a festival that includes access to health services, healthy food options, physical activity, and dance performances.
“We felt that Cinco de Mayo provided an exciting opportunity where we could celebrate the rich traditions of the Latino community with healthy food options and physical activity,” said Brent Wilkes, LULAC national executive director. “The partnership with the Maru Montero Dance Company was based on our common goals of educating Latinos in both cultural awareness and healthy living.”
“We are proud to celebrate 20 years as a Latino dance company and producer of The National Cinco de Mayo Festival, a free, family-oriented celebration of Latino culture. We welcome the contributions of LULAC to promote better health among Latinos, and of our other sponsors, including the Washington, DC, Mayor's Office on Latino Affairs,” remarked Maru Montero, President of MMDC.
It is no random act that the obesity epidemic is predominately among the underserved and minority communities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanics are 16% (50.5 million people) of the total U.S. population, the fastest growing and largest minority group with the highest number of children under the age of 18 years. According to the Office of Minority Health, one of the most pressing issues affecting this growing segment of the population is health; disparities in access, quality of service, and burden of chronic and infectious diseases.
At The National Cinco de Mayo Festival: Salud en Cinco de Mayo! the public will have free access to:
Concert with Luis Enrique;
Opportunity to break the Guinness World Record for the largest Zumba class with Catalina Mejia, 15, proclaimed to be the youngest Zumba instructor by the Guinness World Records;
Sport drills managed by the NFL’s Play 60 campaign;
The Whitman Walker clinic and the Children’s Hospital will be providing free health screenings, such as eye, dental, and physical exams, and HIV testing;
The Department of Veterans Affairs will provide on-site physical and mental counseling exclusively for veterans, all day;
Representatives from the White House’s Let’s Move! Initiative; the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the Department of the Interior, will be informing the community about the various programs and resources that are available to the Latino community;
Dance clinics, contests, and cultural performances; and
Free cooking demonstrations provided by local chefs.
The following Federal Agencies will be present to provide information regarding the services they offer to the community:
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services:
- Office on Women’s Health; Office of Health Reform, and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services;
- U.S. Department of Agriculture:
- Food & Nutrition Services; Let’s Move Faith and Communities, and the Food Safety and Inspection Services;
- U.S. Department of the Interior & the National Park Service:
- Let’s Move Outside!, Let’s Move Junior Rangers; and
- Representatives from The First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative
About LULAC: The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights and volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 900 councils across the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit www.LULAC.org. www.lulac/cincodemayo Follow LULAC on Twitter @lulacnational (#CincoDC12) and like our fan page at www.facebook.com/lulac.national.dc
About MMDC: The Maru Montero Dance Company was formed in 1992 by Maru Montero, a former dancer with the Ballet Folklórico de Mexico. The company has trained hundreds of young people and adults and performed at the Kennedy Center, the White House and theaters across the Washington, DC area. For more information visit www.marumontero.com/cinco Follow MMDC on Twitter @MaruMonteroDC and like the fan page at www.facebook.com/#!/TheNationalCincodeMayoFestival
About Walmart: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at over 9,700 retail units under 69 different banners in 28 countries. With fiscal year 2011 sales of $419 billion, Walmart employs 2.1 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://walmartstores.com and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com
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