If you have ever walked into FIESTA NKY on a food distribution day, one of the first things you might notice is that it isn’t very quiet. There is music playing, people laughing, volunteers teasing each other as they work, conversations happening in both Spanish and English and, more often than not, someone trying to feed someone else.
It can be a little chaotic, but that is part of what makes FIESTA feel like FIESTA.
On Saturday, October 3, FIESTA NKY is bringing that same energy to Thomas More Stadium for its annual FIESTA at the Plate fundraiser, and the Northern Kentucky community is invited to experience it.
The evening will feature dinner, live music with Paola Sciaraffia Music, dancing, raffles, split-the-pot and a batting competition that gives guests the opportunity to step onto the field and test their swing. But while there will be plenty happening throughout the night, what makes FIESTA at the Plate special is the people who will fill the stadium.
Families, volunteers, local businesses, community partners, donors and friends will gather alongside people who may be meeting FIESTA for the very first time. For one evening, everyone gets to be part of the FIESTA community.
That sense of community has become an important part of the organization itself.
Since opening its doors in Florence in January 2024, FIESTA has watched relationships form in ways that were never written into a program plan. Families who initially came for food have become volunteers. People who met during monthly distributions now look for each other when they arrive. Volunteers come early, stay late, joke while they work and have formed friendships that continue outside FIESTA’s doors.
What began as a place where Hispanic families could access culturally relevant food and community resources has also become a place where people know one another, feel comfortable asking for help and, perhaps most importantly, know they are welcome.
That community surrounds some very real needs.
FIESTA currently provides culturally relevant food to approximately 210 families every month, and that represents food distribution alone. Throughout the year, more than 3,000 Hispanic children and adults also turn to the organization for resource coordination, healthcare, mental health support, education, tutoring, employment assistance, diapers and other services.
FIESTA’s approach has always been centered on the family rather than a particular program. Someone may first walk through the doors looking for groceries and later need help finding a doctor. A parent picking up diapers may have questions about their child’s school. Another family may simply need someone who understands both the language and the culture to help them figure out where to begin.
At FIESTA, the philosophy behind that work is simple: We don’t see problems. We see people.
FIESTA at the Plate gives Northern Kentucky an opportunity to see another side of that work. It is a chance to celebrate Hispanic culture, meet some of the people who make up the FIESTA community and have a genuinely fun night while supporting the work that continues long after the music stops.
And no, guests do not need to speak Spanish, know how to salsa or have ever been to FIESTA before. They just need to come ready to eat, laugh, dance and maybe discover that their baseball swing isn’t quite as good as they thought it was.
FIESTA at the Plate will be held Saturday, October 3, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Thomas More Stadium, home of the Florence Y’alls. Tickets are $40 and include dinner.
Tickets: https://givebutter.com/c/fiesta-at-the-plate-copy-fu87j2
