APOYO should be celebrated and supported because it allows us to demonstrate our commitment to diversity and community engagement. Many students from Ellensburg High School have also benefited from volunteering at APOYO over the years, which may be their first time on the CWU campus and serves as a valuable recruitment pipeline. In addition to the bonds of trust, so, too, are El Centro’s community partnership connections established at the Brooklane House. Through APOYO, we have made a number of community contacts who have and may become critical players in our effort to realize the mission of El Centro Latinx. It is worth summarizing the role that APOYO fills in our community, and this niche is separate from the FISH food bank. APOYO serves about 260 to 270 families a month (even more in the winter), most of whom are Latinx and for various reasons cannot go to FISH. APOYO will not turn anyone away (even after hours), they do not restrict families from getting food more than twice a month, they do not keep names in a database (only numbers), and they have a bilingual staff with 25 years’ worth of experience in dealing with the local Latino community. APOYO also provides clothing, housewares and furniture – all free. No one else in the local community fills these needs. APOYO also provides food to CWU students who may not use campus food pantries. Dr. Phil Garrison has told us that FISH food bank cannot physically house APOYO – they do not have the space. APOYO has no source of funding that would allow them to rent space elsewhere. Discontinuing their CWU lease would effectively shut them down for good. We urge you to continue supporting APOYO’s lease, and to help develop a sustainable, long-term relationship between CWU and the APOYO food bank. APOYO has provided valuable opportunities for many CWU students to volunteer and connect with our local Latino community in ways that would be impossible otherwise. To lose APOYO would sever a priceless connection between CWU and our local Latinx community. There are so few opportunities for students at CWU to genuinely connect with our Latinx community; it is so important for us to maintain—and further develop-- the fragile connections that we currently have.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Dr. Chris Schedler, Professor, English Dr. Jason Dormady, Associate Professor, History Dr. Masonya Bennett, Africana and Black Studies Dr. Stefanie Wickstrom, Political Science and Environmental Studies Pedro Cavasos, MFA, English Dr. Taralynn Petrites, World Languages and Cultures
Daniel D. Beck, Professor, Biology; Director, El Centro Latinx for Latino and Latin American Studies Dr. Rodrigo Rentería-Valencia, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, Commissioner of Hispanic Affairs
Dr. Nelson Pichardo, Professor, Sociology
Dr. Toni Sipic, Associate Professor, Chair, Economics
Dr. Michael A. Johnson, Associate Professor of
Dr. Cesar Garcia, Professor, Communication
French and Chair, World Languages and Cultures
Dr. Sterling Quinn, Assistant Professor, Geography
Dr. Andrea Herrera-Dulcet Assistant Professor of Spanish, World Languages and Culture Dr. Nathalie Kasselis, Professor of Spanish, World Languages and Culture Dr. Kristina Ernest, Professor, Biology
Dr. Susana Y. Flores, Assistant Professor, Curriculum, Supervision, and Educational Leadership Dr. Natalie Lefkowitz, Distinguished Professor of Spanish, French, and Applied Linguistic
Dr. Bobby Cummings, Distinguished Professor of
Doris Torres, Marketing Director, CWU Housing
English
and Residence Life
Dr. Elvin Delgado, Professor of Geography
Dr. Eric Mayer, Associate Professor of Spanish
CWU, El Centro Latinx for Latino and Latin American Studies, 400 E. University Way • Ellensburg, WA 98926 EEO/AA/TITLE IX INSTITUTION • TTD 509.963-3323
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