Photo provided Live music was part of the last in-person Diversity Gala at The Commons in 2019.
The annual Diversity Gala formal fundraiser benefiting nonprofit Su Casa that serves the Latino community is returning to an in-person format this fall at The Commons in d0wntown Columbus.
The buffet dinner and live music event will be held from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Nov. 4. Last year’s series of online activities, from yoga presentations to country music performances, raised more than $50,000 for the cause during Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
The COVID-19 pandemic made online programs necessary instead of the in-person celebration.
The last in-persona gala sold out its approximate 350 tickets in about a month. Tickets for the current gala are now available for $150 at sucasaindiana.org/diversitygala. The fundraising goal for this year’s event is $80,000.
Manhattan Band, an Ohio-based group playing everything from mainstream pop to Latin tunes, will provide music. Local disc jockey Carlos Ramirez also will provide tunes. Cummins executive hospitality team will provide a mix of Latino and East Asian foods.
Su Casa is a non-profit organization in Columbus, serving as a cross-cultural bridge between Bartholomew County’s Hispanic and non-Hispanic populations. Celebrating and educating the community about the culture represents a portion of the organization’s mission.
This year’s event is different in that represents a team effort among a mix of organizing organizations: Cummins Latino, Pride, and the East Asian Employee Resource Groups of Cummins.
Yuri Penaloza, the event’s communications coordinator, mentioned Su Casa’s key role it plays in helping Latino families in a myriad of ways when they arrive in Bartholomew County.
“Supporting recently arrived Latinos in a foreign country impacts the whole community,” Penaloza said. “Helping them adapt quickly to a different environment, teaching them the education system, how to communicate, and even figure their ways of transportation will make them self-sufficient faster and elevate the whole community.”
Tickets available now
Tickets for the current gala are now available for $150 at sucasaindiana.org/diversitygala
