Photos courtesy of city of Tempe
Congratulations to Katie Ritchie and Rohn Ragsdale for winning this year’s Dolores Huerta scholarships! The two Tempe high school students will receive $1,000 scholarships for their civic engagement, community organizing, and leadership. They will be honored during the annual Neighborhood Celebration on April 1 at Kiwanis Park, 5500 S. Mill Ave. The Neighborhood Celebration is an outdoor breakfast party with live music and fun. Awards are presented to the people who make Tempe’s neighborhoods the special places they are.
Dolores Huerta is a civil rights activist and community organizer who has fought for labor rights and social justice for more than 50 years.
In 1962, she and Cesar Chavez founded the United Farm Workers union. She is credited with the rallying cry, “Si Se Puede!” She received the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award from President Bill Clinton in 1998. In 2012, President Barack Obama bestowed Dolores with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in our country. The civil rights leader will be 93 this year.
In 2019, the Tempe City Council passed a resolution formally declaring April 10 as Dolores Huerta Day.
