On December 20, nearly one hundred Buena Park, Anaheim and Fullerton residents gathered for the first annual Giving Children Hope Los Posadas Celebration. Organizers of this event first had the idea to do a Los Posadas celebration when they met in the We’ve Got Your Back program, a Giving Children Hope program that aims to stabilize families dealing with food insecurity.
Elia Perez, We’ve Got Your Back coordinator and Giving Children Hope staff, said this about the event, “In Latin culture, the holidays are all about food and it was so inspiring to see these families graduate from a place of not having enough food to sharing their food with others. Just to see these We’ve Got Your Back moms showing leadership in front of their families was really inspiring too. ”
The Los Posadas Celebration is a time honored tradition in Latin America which commemorates Joseph and Mary’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. According to attendees, the Los Posadas celebration used to be a staple in the community but in recent years it’s presence has faded. This year’s posada was an opportunity for families who grew up practicing Los Posadas to re-introduce the tradition to their children and their families lives.
Around 5 p.m., the families gathered at the Giving Children Hope Buena Park warehouse and sang together before celebrating over a shared meal of Pozole and tamales. There were raffle prizes and lots of fun as families sipped on champurrado and ponche. Noel, Giving Children Hope’s Parent Educator said, “The Los Posadas Celebration was a very good experience for these families to have a safe space and bring their kids to show them a little bit of their culture.”
To learn more about how Giving Children Hope is providing 5,000 OC and LA residents with a weekly meal and access to our parent education courses through our We’ve Got Your Back program, visit GivingChildrenHope.org.
