Kearny First Ward Councilman George Zapata has always been proud of his Latino heritage — and at the start of each and every report he gives at Town Council meetings, he greets residents tri-lingually in English, Portuguese and Spanish. And since he was elected in 2022, and before that as a Board of Education trustee, he has always spoken so very highly of the town’s Latino population, estimated in the 2020 U.S. Census to be around 48% of the entire town’s population — more than 20,000 residents strong.
But it wasn’t always that way.
In fact, when Zapata first moved to Kearny, he says his was one of only two Hispanic families within a two-block radius of his home. Most others in the area were of Irish, Scottish and Portuguese descent. But over the years, the demographics of the First Ward have changed dramatically. And so, it should come as no surprise that over the summer of 2024, Zapata says several residents reached out to him about pulling together a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration in Kearny.
Sure, there are celebrations in Kearny with Hispanic flares, for residents of various descents. But never had there been one that celebrates the heritages of all people who are Hispanic. That is, until recently. And it’s because Zapata pulled of a tremendous Hispanic Heritage Month celebration for Kearny earlier this month — and he had a lot of help to make it successful.
(Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated annually from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.)
Why having such a special celebration might, however, be surprising to learn. Zapata says the Hispanic community has, for long, felt stigmatized by the reality that in Hudson County and in New Jersey, there are countless programs to help Latino residents. Many, unfortunately, have been too proud to ask for such help.
Until now, it seems.
“There’s food scarcity, rent issues, things like the Kearny Public School Uniform Exchange available for people who are struggling,” Zapata said. “But the stigma is great.”
So, to help erase that stigma, Zapata devised a program where a flag honoring Hispanic Heritage would be raised at Town Hall, but where there would be a major resource fair for Hispanic residents. This is not to say this is the first resource fair — in fact, there have been numerous before and more to come, including this weekend.
But this was the first time it was designed solely for the Latino community, with the hope it would draw people who were heretofore concerned by the stigma attached to seeking assistance.
That’s precisely what happened.
Zapata says he reached out to Mayor Carol Jean Doyle in or around the end of July to ask her if he could proceed with such a celebration. And with her support — and the support of the Town Council — Zapata says he came up with the overall concept.
“It all started out with me drawing an outline of the park at Town Hall, and believe me, I am not good at drawing,” Zapata said. “I asked Councilwoman (Eileen) Eckel to bring a tape measure which she did. And I did measuring and spoke to Linda Kraus D’Isa (KUEZ coordinator) since I knew she’d used that space before for the Holiday Festival.
And then it all fell into place perfectly, even though Zapata had to actually bring some tables of his own to make it all work. Throughout the day, there were also two other components Zapata knew would be essential for success — entertainment and food.
There was plenty of both.
“All of the food was donated, remarkably,” Zapata said.
Remarkably, indeed, because when he set out inviting several local restaurants to come to the event, he didn’t ask them to donate the food. Yet each and every establishment offered to prepare and serve it all at no cost to attendees.
There were also dance performances. There was a Capoeira performance. There was music playing. And then there were the table of resources that were set up.
The food was provided by O! Calamares, Myrna’s Restaurant, Q’Onda Wey and Cantina da Serra, all of Kearny.
The resources came courtesy of the Peruvian Civic Association, the Kearny Health Department, Clara Maass Medical Center, Hudson County Family Services, the Great Learning Center of Kearny, the Reana Garcia Law Group of Rutherford, the Hudson County Latin American Chamber of Commerce (which offered free Quickbooks training) and the Kearny Public School Uniform Exchange.
Also, Valley Bank, C&C Training (which offered OSHA training), DJ Jimmy Hempel, the Regional Camera de Commercio Peru, George Helmy and his staff, CMG Dance Group, the Warriors Brazilian Marshal Arts & Fitness, the Ecuadorian-American Chamber of Commerce and Poder Hispano.
And, the Town of Kearny provided information about Anchor rebates and income-driven home repair programs the town coordinates through the state.
And of course, the K-Birds led the National Anthem with Millie Gonzalez and they also sang the Marc Anthony song, “Vivir mi Vida,” as the flag was proudly raised into the air.
“That was the perfect song to be played as the flag went up,” he said. “… It was a great celebration. We had groups representing the Peruvian, Ecuadorian, Brazilian,Mexican and Dominican communities in Kearny speaking about the need for inclusivity, revolving around the concept of a big family.”
Given all the organizations and businesses that pulled together to help make the event run so smoothly, that may very well be the greatest understatement of them all.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.