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Tacos Y Salsa Earns Berwyn’s Best Title for its Taco Jarocho

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Local News

The Berwyn Development Corporation’s (BDC) inaugural Berwyn’s Best competition has crowned its first champion in a quest to find the best local taco. Tacos Y Salsa (6346 26th St) walked home a winner with its signature taco jarocho, which is a flour tortilla filled with fresh grilled tilapia that is glazed with garlic and lime and then drizzled with a special house-made chipotle sauce. Tacos Y Salsa has shaped their menu to include tacos from the various states in Mexico. Taco jarocho is a style of food from Veracruz, Mexico, a coastal state known for its seafood.

Owner Laura Guerrero stated, “I’m so happy to have been in the contest and to have won first place. We are very proud.” Contest organizer Gerardo Zavala of the BDC stated, “Berwyn has a lot of great food, especially taquerias. This contest was a perfect way to allow our businesses to show off their best menu items to the community.” For more information, visit http://whyberwyn.com/shop-berwyn/berwyns-best/.

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Cooking Up Change Declares Winner

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Education

By: Ashmar Mandou

Students from 18 Chicago public high schools competed at the Cooking up Change, part of Healthy Schools Campaign’s annual healthy cooking context and fundraiser, on Thursday, Oct. 30th at Skyloft at the Bridgeport Art Center. Cooking up an array of deliciously healthy meals, students had the opportunity to show off their culinary creativity in front of several judges at the Cooking up Change competition. Cook up Change is a culinary competition founded by Healthy Schools Campaign that calls upon student chefs to design healthy meals that also meet nutritional standards. The winning team’s dishes will be served at all Chicago Public Schools next semester. This year, students of Marshal Metropolitan High School won the competition with their take on Haitian Spice Chicken, Slamming Collard Greens, and Pineapple Surprise Parfait. The students won an all-expense paid trip to Washington D.C. to compete at the national competition.

Marshal Metropolitan High School

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Education

STUDENTS:
Daovan Brown
Stormy Briggs
Autumn Guy ton
Rayvan Harris
Zykeria Pearson

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Camelot Opens Two More Accelerated High Schools in Chicago

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Education

The high school graduation rate in Chicago has climbed from 58 percent to 65 percent over the past three years and Camelot Education is proudly making its contribution to that success with programs to help students ages 16-21“drop back in” to school and graduate. Already operating Chicago Excel Roseland and Excel Academy of Englewood, Camelot has now joined with Chicago Public Schools to open two more locations, Excel Academy Southwest at 7014 S. Washtenaw Ave., and Excel Academy of South Shore at 7530 S. South Shore Drive. Each of the new sites will serve up to 375 students.

“There are tens of thousands of kids in Chicago who have dropped out. Our message to them is it’s not too late to turn their lives around. We are already proving that in Roseland and Englewood and we will do the same at these two new sites,” said Camelot VP of operations in Chicago Pedro Segarra.

The curriculum is the same Common Core taught in main stream Chicago schools but Camelot also uses the Jobs for the Future instructional model, which has proven to be highly successful at Camelot schools nationwide. The model emphasizes students working on projects in teams, expressing themselves through writing every day, and active questioning and participation in the classroom. Read more about Camelot Education at www.cameloteducation.org.

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Sandoval ‘Supports The Cure’

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Health

State Senator Martin Sandoval (center) joined the Argo Varsity Volleyball team at Argo Community High School, 7329 W. 63rd Street. The school hosted “Volley for the Cure,” with proceeds benefiting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Senator Sandoval made a check contribution to help find the cure.

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Gift of Hope Delivers Tribute to Hispanic Community

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Health

Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a series of events dedicated to honoring the contributions of Latino families to the area of organ donation and transplantation. Additionally, they strengthened their commitment to pave the way for a better future for Hispanics in Chicago through educational programs. Gift of Hope kicked off the month dedicated to celebrating the Latino community on September 15th with 30 Stories In 30 Days; a social media campaign to honor Hispanic families that have been impacted by organ donation and transplantation, and to bring them out of anonymity. Real life stories and testimonies were posted every day, from September 15 to October 15. Each story written in only three sentences can be viewed on Facebook and the complete stories can be found at giftofhope.org/espanol. For more information about organ donation visit: www.giftofhope.org/espanol.

To underscore the well-deserved celebration of Hispanic Heritage, Gift of Hope carried out Celebration of Hope and Life, an event exclusively for Latino families and completely in Spanish to honor and celebrate the heroic legacy of donor families. The event took place on October 4th, at the National Museum of Mexican Arts in Pilsen. Every day Hispanic families are able to see beyond their pain and say “yes” to donation in order to help those that are waiting for an “angel,” a donor that can save their life. Gift of Hope paid tribute to the generosity and courage of these families that have changed the lives of others with the greatest compassionate gesture that organ donation represents, leaving an altruistic and profound imprint on this earth. More than 20 families were honored during the ceremony, which also presented transplant beneficiaries the opportunity to express their gratitude to the donor families that were present.

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Get Covered Illinois se reúne con líderes hispanos en preparación para el inicio del segundo Período Abierto de Inscripción

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Health

En preparación para el 15 de noviembre, el comienzo del segundo año del Período de Inscripción Abierta en el Mercado de seguros médicos, Get Covered Illinois invitó a líderes de la comunidad hispana y de la prensa a una mesa redonda el pasado miércoles, 29 de octubre en el Museo Nacional de Arte Mexicana. El objetivo del evento fue informar a la comunidad y hablar abiertamente sobre las últimas actualizaciones de la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio (ACA por sus siglas en inglés). Durante esta reunión, líderes estatales y expertos de salud compartieron sus esfuerzos de alcance comunitario para el segundo año de la implementación de la ley.

Foto 1: Lideres de la comunidad hispana se reúnen para hablar sobre la importancia de la cobertura médica dentro de la comunidad hispana de Illinois.

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Health

Foto 2: El Dr. Oscar Díaz del grupo médico Sinai se dirige a los miembros de la comunidad hispana para hablar sobre las implicaciones de la Ley del Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio.

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Cardenas Announces Education-based Collaborative to Address Health Insurance Options

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Health

The Chicago Hispanic Health Coalition in conjunction with Alderman George A. Cardenas, chairman of the Committee on Health and Environmental Protection, held a press conference regarding health insurance on Friday, Oct. 31st, at the Pan American Bank, 2627 West Cermak Rd. The Affordable Care Act has made great strides to increase access to health insurance for the U.S. population. However, there are still segments of the City of Chicago that are uninsured due to misinformation regarding their health insurance options. Individuals who are not eligible for Federal, State, County, and Municipal subsidized health care coverage can explore private pay insurance as an option. This initiative was created in partnership with the Chicago Hispanic Health Coalition, several health care institutions, and health insurance companies. “Misinformation and confusion should not be part of health outcomes for anyone in the City of Chicago,” stated Alderman Cardenas. “This will improve life opportunities for individuals and families with fewer financial pressures such as treatment for injury or illness.”

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Northern Trust Grant Helps ACCESS Provide Affordable Health Care in Humboldt Park

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Health

Northern Trust recently granted Access Community Health Network (ACCESS) funds to help provide accessible health care in Humboldt Park, where ACCESS has a community health center. The funds support prevention and screenings, including pediatric immunizations and breast cancer screenings, and treatment for diabetes and hypertension, among other chronic conditions, to the nearly 4,500 patients who will visit ACCESS Humboldt Park Family Health Center this year.

City health statistics for the Humboldt Park area for the years 2005-2009 show 94.1 per 100,000 diabetes-related deaths versus 70.1 per 100,000 residents in Chicago overall. “The latest statistics from the Chicago Health Atlas show higher incidences of diabetes deaths in the Humboldt Park area,” said Mukund Narayan, M.D. “We are doing what we can to address this issue with effective follow up and dietary adjustments.” For more information about the ACCESS Humboldt Park Family Health Center, call 773.278.1880.

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WIF Chicago Honors Four Amazing Women

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Local News

WIF Chicago is proud to recognize the achievements of its colleagues in the creative arts during its renowned Focus Awards gala which took place on November 5th, at the Museum of Broadcast Communications, 360 N. State Street in Chicago. Honorees include Hollywood film and theater Director Shira Piven; Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett U.S.A, Susan Credle; Creative Director and Owner of Sarofsky Corp –Erin Sarofsky; and award-winning independent film producer, Christina Varotsis. “The Focus Awards is our organization’s major fundraiser and serves two purposes,” says Megan Maples, president of Women In Film Chicago. “One, to raise the necessary capital to provide quality programming, networking and mentorship opportunities for women in the advertising, film and television industries and two, to highlight the phenomenal Chicago women who are out there changing the conversation with their amazing accomplishments.”

Photo Caption:

Honoree Erin Sarofsky, owner and creative director, Sarofsky

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Trying to Keep the Poultry Workers Safe

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Commentary

by Daniel Nardini

Recently, the U.S. government fined Wayne Farms, a poultry plant located in Jack, Alabama, a total of $102,600.for at least 11 safety violations. These violations included threatening workers not to report work-related injuries, dangerous equipment and inadequate safety measures, industrial line speed-ups, lack of sanitation, and threats against workers of either being fired or deported. The employees at the plant are a combination of U.S. citizens and immigrants (both legal and undocumented). This plant was notable for processing poultry for food consumption. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) carried out the investigation that eventually led to Wayne Farms being fined.

Of all the workers interviewed, many had suffered some form of injury while on the job. These injuries ranged from tunnel vision to debilitating pain in their hands to respiratory problems, cuts, gnarled fingers and chemical burns. The company ordered the workers to not report their injuries or told the medical staff in the company’s medical clinic to not report the workers’ injuries—thus either not reporting or under-reporting what workers at the plant had suffered. Plant speed-ups to meet production quotas led to greater worker injuries, and dangerous worker exhaustion that put poultry workers in serious jeopardy of injury or death. The company used the threats of firing workers or deportation (as well as “other threats” such as violence) against the workers so that they would not report what they had been put through.

Fortunately, someone was brave enough to alert OSHA against the practices taking place at Wayne Farms. Still, this just represents a drop in the bucket with how poultry workers are treated throughout the United States. Many of our poultry workers are Latino (both immigrants and U.S. citizens), and sadly OSHA remains a badly under-funded part of the U.S. government. Poultry workers perform hard, back-breaking jobs as it is. Having their lives put in jeopardy for the profits of those companies that break the rules is intolerable. It is unfortunate that OSHA does not have the means to deal with each and every poultry plant or poultry food processing company that do not play by the safety rules. This is why it is necessary for OSHA to be given more funding and for OSHA to have in place better programs to protect those whistle-blowers who stick their necks out to protect themselves and their fellow workers. Trying to keep America’s poultry workers safe should be a top priority not only for them but for the safety of America’s poultry and meat supplies.