Hispanic heritage celebrated at NAS Jax

MCAC President TM1 Felecia Marcano, helped to arrange the luncheon. "I do this because I love people. I love to make people aware of diversity and the multiple cultures that we represent, to bring people together and see what each culture is all about. We celebrate each other and we come together to learn about each other's cultures. I love diversity," Marcano said.

The event began with the NAS Jax Honor Support Team presenting the colors while Valoria Volasgis sang the national anthem. NAS Jacksonville Commanding Officer Capt. Jack Scorby Jr. gave the opening remarks for the event.

"It's truly refreshing to be able to spend some time to reflect and remind ourselves of the contributions of some very significant and important groups of Americans," Scorby said.

"Throughout this month, we're going to see communities all over the country holding special events and celebrations to honor the extraordinary and historic accomplishments of our Hispanic American community."

This year's guest speaker was Maribel Hernandez, operations manager for the Overpayment Recovery Unit for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. She recently retired from the Jacksonville Aviation Authority and is very proud of her many accomplishments in moving the authority towards becoming one of the best airport systems in the world.

CTA2 Sheenah Thrasher and AS1 Justo Valverde perform a native Domincan Republic dance at the Hispanic Heritage Luncheon sponsored by the Multi-Cultural Awareness Committee at the NAS Jax Officers' Club Oct. 2.

"Thank you for inviting me here today. I'm glad to be able to speak to you about myself and some of the things that I'm doing in the city of Jacksonville. You can't celebrate and appreciate what you don't know, so I decided that I was going to be part of the solution in solving differences [in Jacksonville] instead of just running away from it," stated Hernandez. "So, I decided to become involved in the community."

Hernandez currently serves as chairman of the board for the Jacksonville Urban League, the nation's oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African-Americans and others to enter the economic and social mainstream by assisting them with achieving economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights.

She also serves as vice chairman for the Practical Academic Cultural Education (PACE) Center for Girls. "The PACE Center for Girls is a organization here that helps good girls who have had bad things happen to them. It helps them get back on the right track in getting their high school diploma and in dealing with those situations that are unfortunately not going to go away unless we help them," she continued.

The purpose of PACE is to intervene and prevent school withdrawal, juvenile delinquency, teen pregnancy, substance abuse and welfare dependency.

Hernandez closed by challenging the audience. "What I ask of you is to consider getting to know someone who is different than you. If you have the opportunity to make a difference in the community, get involved and be a part of that, because you can make an impact."

Valoria Volasgis sings the national anthem at the Hispanic Heritage Luncheon.

In 2004, Hernandez was awarded the Hispanics Achieving Community Excellence Award, and in 2005, she was recognized by Community Connections as a community leader and as an Up and Comer by the Jacksonville Business Journal.

In 2006, she received the Heart of Gold Award from Volunteer Jacksonville and the U.S. President's Volunteer Service Award. In 2007, she was selected for the "Faces" campaign of the United Way of Northeast Florida.

After lunch, two service members presented a time-honored dance that expressed the vitality and passion of the Hispanic culture. CTA2 Sheenah Thrasher and AS1 Justo Valverde performed the merengue, a dance that originated in the Dominican Republic.

In 1968, Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to declare a week in September for Hispanic observance. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan extended the observance to be held Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Each year, the Navy takes the month to specifically celebrate the contributions that thousands of Hispanic military servicemen and women have unselfishly given to our nation.

"Obviously an event like this doesn't just happen. It's the result of a lot of hard work put out by some tremendously dedicated people," said Scorby.

"So I would like to thank the Multi-Cultural Awareness Committee for their efforts in making this event a reality."