By Cristina Cabrera Jarro -
Photographer: ROBERTO AGUIRRE | FC
Michelle Diaz, left, a sponsor of the event, poses with Mirta Fuentes, executive director of the Leadership Center at St. John Bosco, Ruth Silva, a beneficiary of the Learning Center and now a student at Miami Dade College, and Father Arturo Kannel from St. John Bosco.
MIAMI| The Leadership Learning Center at St. John Bosco celebrated its golden anniversary Nov. 7 with a gala that helped raise over $250,000 toward its expansion.
More than 300 alumni, patrons and staff gathered at the Coral Gables Country Club to mark the occasion with dinner, a silent auction and a performance by The Culture Band and Willy Chirino.
Photographer: ROBERTO AGUIRRE | FC
Dr. Ada Armas (gala co-chair) and her husband, Dr. Jose Armas, are key supporters of the Leadership Learning Center at St. John Bosco.
“The gala was successful, but this has been a labor of love. A labor of love built by so many people,” said Mirta Fuentes, executive director of the Leadership Learning Center. “Every single person that attended the gala was there honoring the children in our program.”
Eight years ago, the Leadership Learning Center and its programs faced uncertainty due to lack of funding. The center is located at 1366 N.W. First Street, in what is known as Little Havana in Miami, one of the main entry points for immigrants from Latin American and the Caribbean.
The area’s population is 92 percent Hispanic and 55 percent report speaking little to no English. It is also one of the most poverty-stricken parts of South Florida.
Photographer: ROBERTO AGUIRRE | FC
Willy Chirino a Cuban singer and Leadership Learning Center sponsor, sings at the event.
The Leadership Learning Center strives to provide a brighter future for children and their families living in the area by offering them after school programs and homework help in all subject areas; fieldtrips; access to an in-house food pantry; and assistance for women seeking financial independence.
Currently, 144 children, ages 5-14, are enrolled in the program, and more than 500 are on a waiting list.
That list should get much shorter when the Leadership Learning Center moves into a new building now under construction adjacent to its current location, on the grounds of St. John Bosco Church. Donors Jose and Ada Armas provided the lead gift to begin construction on the new building.
The Leadership Learning Center also has been able to survive and flourish thanks to grants from the Children’s Trust and support from organizations such as Humana and MCCI Medical groups.
“The gala validates the work of the last eight years,” Fuentes said. “Whenever we needed something as simple as a poster board, people would go around the corner and buy more than we asked. Look at us now. We are growing.”
Successful alumni of the center include Carlos J. Martinez, Miami Dade County’s Public Defender; attorney Juan J. Enjamio; and, most recently, Ruth Silva, a Miami Dade College student who will be graduating summa cum laude this spring, having received nothing but As throughout her entire time at the college.
“A child just needs one person to believe in them and they will shine like the sun,” Fuentes said.
Photographer: ROBERTO AGUIRRE | FC
Mirta Fuentes, executive director of the Leadership Learning Center, listens to Ruth Silva, a beneficiary of the center and now a student at Miami Dade College. She told the center's supporters how the center helped her when her mother had cancer and she did not know what to do. At left is Father Arturo Kannel from St. John Bosco Parish and the master of ceremonies, Univision 23 anchor Eileen Cardet.
