BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Today marks Dia De Los Reyes and a group of Brownsville organizations made sure families had the opportunity to celebrate in a traditional, but safe way.
City of Brownsville Commissioner, Nurith Galonsky, said an in-person celebration was scheduled for Jan. 8, but she and the community partners made the decision to cancel to ensure the community’s safety.
“We’re doing it in a manner so that it’s less likely of spreading covid, but still honoring this important date and this important tradition in our culture,” said Galonsky.
The city of Brownsville along with the Revival of Cultural Arts (ROCA), Housing Authority of the city of Brownsville (HACB), and Down by the Border selected 150 families to provide traditional items to celebrate.
“H-E-B kindly donated all the Rosca de Reyes, hot chocolate, other gifts, and the organizations have come together to create bundles of these goods that will then be distributed to families that have been identified,” said Galonsky.
The bundles were delivered to communities and also distributed at a pick-up location at the Carlotta K. Petrina Cultural Center.
“For our community of course it’s part of our celebration, our cultural celebration, a lot of people think after Christmas day it’s over. Not for us it’s still Christmas time, it continues with the three kings,” said the director of Carlotta K. Petrina Cultural Center, Hilda Maria Ledezma.
She said hearing how the families were going to celebrate at home was fulfilling and brought her joy.
Galonsky said she is hopeful an in-person celebration can happen next year.
“We’re trying to keep the spirit going. I know it’s been difficult. These past two years have been very challenging times, but we want to keep people positive, and we want to show them that we can still have celebrations, but we need to do it in a responsible and safe manner,” said Galonsky.
