The Fresno City College’s Latino Faculty and Staff Association are hosting a fundraiser to help earn money for scholarships for its Latino students.

Raising the Glass for Latino Success is an annual event and this year marks its ninth year.

The fundraiser is on May 13, from 6:00p.m to 10:00p.m. at the Old Administration Building in the East Courtyard.

Tickets can be bought online for $40 or at the door on the day of the event.

Josephine Llanos, a scholarship specialist and past president of the Latino Faculty and Staff Association at FCC said that one of the purposes of the association is to advocate for Latino issues in higher education.

Among those issues are the financial struggles that Latino students can face while going to college. Some students are not able to afford school with financial aid.

The Latino Faculty and Staff Association offers four scholarships to help these students.

These scholarships include the Cesar Chavez/Dolores Huerta scholarship, Jose Salazar Memorial scholarship, Latino Faculty, and Staff Association scholarship, and the Latino Immigrant Student Success scholarship.

Applications for these scholarships are available through the general scholarship application from Oct. 1 to March 2.

“I think that through the years the numbers have grown and we support those members through our fundraising and through the scholarships we offer,” said Llanos.

Marilu Lujan Bacci is one of the Fall 2021 recipients for the Cesar Chavez/Dolores Huerta Scholarship.

“Due to the support of my Latino community, I can pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a registered nurse. I will continue to make my Latino community proud by making a difference in health care,” Bacci said.

According to Llanos, these scholarships that have been given out by the association since 1998, approximately $70,000 have been given to 300 students.

The Latino Faculty and Staff Association are aiming to raise $10,000 with the Raising the Glass for Latino Success fundraiser.

The association hopes to do that by having a silent auction. Some items include artworks from local Latino artists, luxury wine and gift baskets, handcrafted jewelry, and an assortment of other items.

“We just really are hoping that they will walk away feeling good and that they are supporting a worthy cause which is to support our students because that’s why we’re here,” said Llanos.