By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Come dance the night away at the annual Latino Dance Party, set for June 17 from 7 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at the gym at St. Anthony of Padua Church on Franklin Street.
The evening will include Latin dance, featuring Skyline Salsa Band, which is 14-piece band based at Montclair State University, plus DJ Caribbean Entertainment.
Latin American and Caribbean food will be on sale, too.
A free workshop, offering dance moves, will be offered from 7 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. by Viva Ballroom Dance Studios.
A $20 bill will get you inside the door. All proceeds go toward supporting the annual Hightstown-East Windsor Latino Festival.
The festival, which was started in 2013, aims to build a feeling of community between the Latino community and others. The goal is to reduce bias and prejudice.
The festival presents traditional Latino arts in ways that are informative and educational and accessible to underserved populations.
To learn more, contact RISE at 609-443-4465 or visit www.risenj.org.
RISE grew out of the Community Action Service Center to fight the war on poverty. Established in 1967, it was one of four community action centers established in Mercer County under the county’s Community Action Partnership.
It became a private, nonprofit group in 1982 and in 2008, it changed its name from CASE to RISE, A Community Service Partnership. Its primary service area is Hightstown and East Windsor Township.
RISE offers a food pantry and a thrift store to help the community. About 67 percent of the volunteers and donors live in Hightstown, East Windsor, Monroe and Cranbury.
Although the demographics of the community it serves have changed – from migrant agricultural workers and African-Americans to Southeast Asian refugees and now to the Latino community – its commitment to help improve their lives has not changed.
