It is with great honor to report the following:
San Benito County LULAC Youth Council #705 was awarded the 2013 National LULAC Youth Council in the nation during the National LULAC Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 20, 2013 at Ceasar’s Palace.
The national award is awarded to a LULAC Youth council who has made significant community service contributions toward their local communities, has youth members involved in their local school clubs and have achieved perfect attendance, leadership skills, and good grades for their participation.
The award also is presented to the youth council who has promoted education, youth council events, increased membership and participated in educational programs such as the local Annual Young Readers Program as tutors for children, library tutors, Latino Student Leadership Conferences at San Benito High School, the annual Youth Leadership Retreat at La Paz, UFW headquarters in Keene, painted fences for the San Juan Bautista Parks Association, participated in the annual Hollister Air Show, the Hollister Downtown Association Street Festival, sent holiday cards to the veterans at the Veterans Hospital in Washington D.C., made Valentine cards for the local convalescent hospitals, cleaned yards for senior citizens, participated in gang prevention forums with the Hollister Police Department, painted over graffiti for the police department, attended City Council and Board of Supervisors meetings, met with Congressman Sam Farr and Assemblymember Luis Alejo, received recognitions for participating in the Adelante Program, a mentorship program from Senator Anthony Cannella. The youth council has formed partnerships with many local agencies to assure the students’ success in a career of their choice. This year the local youth council will be the first national youth council to take a lead in promoting the LULAC Health Fair scheduled for Aug. 24 in Hollister.
The local youth council was formed on Oct. 5, 1989 by local students who wanted a speaker platform for Latino students’ concerns on education, community service involvement, educational local programs for achievement and scholarship fundraising.  To date after 24 years of the youth council formation, all this has been achieved and more. San Benito LULAC Youth will celebrate 25 years on Oct. 25, 2014. More than 400 students have gone through the youth membership of this youth council and today are professional adults in their careers.
The youth advisor national recognition also went to Vince Luna, youth advisor who has been volunteering his personal time for the past 24 years- non stop with the youth. They see him as a father -grandfather figure with a lot of patience and love toward the youth. Vince is a Vietnam veteran and every Veterans Day Breakfast sponsored by LULAC, you will see the trail of youth members working the breakfast in his honor and in honor of all who served.Â
