Cityhood for East L.A.

Thank you to everyone who joined us last week at the Community Dinner! The event raised over $15,000, taking us closer to our goal of $134,000 to pay for our community's Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis. With a packed auditorium of more than 250 supporters, it's clear that East LA supports this study, and we have the momentum to reach our goal!

If you didn't make it out, we still need your support - make a donation at www.CityhoodForEastLA.org/donate.

See more pictures from the event at our Flickr page.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Thanks to Tamales Liliana's for sponsoring all of the dinner for our guests, and Upground for providing the lively entertainment! We extend a big thank you to our additional event sponsors: Senator Gloria Romero, Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, and Pan American Bank. Special guests of the evening included actor Enrique Castillo, Bel Hernandez of Latin Heat Magazine, and muralist Carlos Callejo. To see more contributors and event production thank yous, download our Community Dinner Program Book (PDF).

Press release (PDF) english | español

You're invited to join the East Los Angeles Residents Association (ELARA) at a Community Dinner on Thursday, November 5th at the East Los Angeles Community Center.

Thanks to your continued support over the past months, we're nearly half-way towards our goal of $134,000 for East LA's Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis (CFA)!

This Community Dinner will be a time to celebrate the great steps we've taken so far, and continue to fundraise towards the amount needed for a CFA.

Visit our event page to purchase tickets, become a sponsor, or place a program ad:

http://www.CityhoodForEastLA.org/community_dinner

The community of East LA needs your support. Please become a sponsor and attend this important dinner. View the full invitation letter, sponsorship, program, and ticket package (PDF) and visit the Community Dinner event page to let us know you're coming.

Look forward to seeing you there!

The Board and Volunteers of the East Los Angeles Residents Association

Dan Ortiz, Cityhood Volunteer
American Legion Post 804

By Dan Ortiz, Cityhood for East LA Volunteer

I've been volunteering to help bring Cityhood to East L.A. Will you make a $20 contribution to bring us closer to our goal?

I want to tell you a little bit about why I'm supporting Cityhood. My family has deep roots in East Los Angeles, and we've always been active in our community. My grandparents, Frank and Julieta Ortiz, came from Texas in the 1930s, and since their arrival they had their children, and those children have now gone on to have their own. My parents taught me to be active by example - for as long as I can recall they organized local Scouting activities, volunteered our home as a voting precinct, and much more. My mother worked as a teacher at Winter Gardens Elementary School and retired with 30+ years of service to education. I grew up proud to be from East LA, and my parents taught me to honor our community. Eventually I enlisted in the military but I came right back home. Since then I’ve been active with veterans organizations and now I'm helping to ensure we gain our Cityhood!

By Ben Cárdenas, ELARA President

For three years, the residents of East L.A. have worked tirelessly to form a new city for a brighter future -- the City of East Los Angeles.

Every day we get closer to meeting our challenge of raising the $134,000 needed to fund the Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis for our community. Will you do your part and contribute today?

We’ve come such a long way! In 2007 we released an Initial Fiscal Analysis (IFA), which projected that East Los Angeles can be a viable and vibrant city. In June of 2008 we kicked off a petition gathering campaign amongst East L.A. residents to request a Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis, the first step towards Cityhood. And in December we turned in over 16,000 signatures! To accomplish all of this, the East Los Angeles Residents Association (ELARA) raised over $100,000 over the past three years.