Local events planned for the observance of Hispanic Heritage Month:

September 19, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Friday: Hispanic Heritage Celebration, 5:30 p.m., Youngstown State University’s Kilcawley Center, Chestnut Room. Student honorees are Dustin Corso, YSU student; Tanisha Lopez, East High School; Karen Labra, Austintown Middle School; and Christina Perez, Martin Luther King Elementary.

Friday: Food drive by YSU Latino Student Organization, 5:30 p.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 27 to Oct. 1, at Kilcawley Center. The community is invited to bring cans of food to the Hispanic Heritage Celebration in YSU’s Kilcawley Center, Chestnut Room. Food will be distributed to the Beatitude House and Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana. Contact Bryan Chaidez at 330-261-4997 or bpchaidez@student.ysu.edu.

Sept. 28: “The Immigrant’s Way,” 6 p.m., Newport Branch Public Library, 3730 Market St., Youngstown. Author Margaret W. Wong will discuss her book “The Immigrant’s Way – For All Immigrants by an Immigrant.”

Sept. 30: The 2010 annual Educators and Community Helping Hispanics Onward Inc. College Fair will be from 9 to 11 a.m. at OCCHA, 3660 Shirley Road, Youngstown. This is a college-access program geared to target Hispanic/Latino high school students from the ninth- through 12th-grade levels and their parents. For more information, contact Maggie McClendon, ECHHO president, at 330-941-3243. Co-sponsored by YSU’s Department of Undergraduate Admissions, OCCHA and ECHHO.

Oct. 6: Irony of the Enlightment: the Castas Paintings of Colonial Mexico, 5:30 p.m., Kilcawley Center, Bresnahan I & II. Patricia Sarro, YSU art history professor, gives a presentation on the Castas paintings which portray the various ethnic mixings or Castas that took place in 18th-century colonial Mexico. Free.

Oct. 9: Latin Wine Tasting, 5 to 7 p.m., at Five Points Wine & Bar, 9065 Springfield Road, Poland. Travel through the Latin world, savor and learn about its enticing wines. Also, delight in Latin Jazz and hors d’oeuvres. Cost is $15 per person.

Oct. 14: Immigration & Labor through the Lens of History, 5 p.m., at Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, 151 W. Wood St., Youngstown. Commemorating Columbus Day or Dia de la Raza, a documentary film will be presented which demonstrates the hardships faced by immigrants traveling to the United States, the families they often leave behind and their struggle to survive. The film will be followed by a panel discussion on immigration issues that date to before the 20th century involving various cultures. The event is co-sponsored by the YSU Center for Applied Histories, YSU Center for Women’s Studies and the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor. Free.

Oct. 29: OCCHA’s 38th annual fundraiser gala, 5:30 p.m. at The Embassy, 5030 Youngstown-Poland Road, Struthers. OCCHA, a social-service agency serving the Hispanic community, is celebrating 38 years of service to the community with a fundraiser dinner. Cocktail hour begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6:30 p.m. Donation for tickets: $50 per person. For more information, contact OCCHA at 330-781-1808.

Source: YSU Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity