Correspondent photo / Sean Barron Among the hundreds at a gala Friday at the Maronite Center in Youngstown to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana organization were, from left, Henry Guzman, OCCHA’s first executive director; Angelica Diaz, current executive director; Mary Isa Garayua and Mary Lou Reyes, former executive directors; and Mike Ray, board president.

YOUNGSTOWN — Perhaps as endearing to many that a local organization has lasted a half century is its commitment to forging ahead.

“We’re very excited to be celebrating our 50th year. We’re very grateful for the overwhelming support from the community,” Mike Ray, board president of the Organicazion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana organization, said.

Ray, who also is Youngstown’s 4th Ward councilman, was among the hundreds of elected officials, community leaders, activists and others who attended OCCHA’s 50th anniversary gala fundraiser Friday evening at the Maronite Center, 1555 S. Meridian Road.

The sheer number of people who attended the four-hour celebratory dinner and program also served as added inspiration for the nonprofit OCCHA to continue its mission of providing programs and services to improve the quality of life for the area’s Hispanic and multicultural population and others, Ray said.

He added that proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward scholarships and OCCHA’s programs.

Among the offerings are English as a Second Language courses, summer day camps for youth and children, a mental health navigator effort and workforce training. Others are computer and internet technology classes, senior groups, job fairs and workshops, resume assistance, emergency food and clothing assistance, and health screenings and seminars.

The event’s master of ceremonies was Henry Guzman, who was the organization’s first executive director from 1972 to 1984.

Guzman, who also served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper and earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with a “V” for valor, recalled OCCHA’s early days, when it was initially on Fruit Street in the city.

Around that time, the organization offered its first driver’s education program. In addition, many students who excelled in a word-processing class were able to get jobs, he recalled.

Guzman, who also earned a degree in criminal justice from Youngstown State University and a certificate in equal opportunity studies from Antioch Law School in Washington, D.C., noted that an estimated 62 million Latinos live in the U.S. Of those, about 35 million are registered voters, he said.

Guzman urged especially young people to exercise their right to vote in Tuesday’s general election and beyond. He also asked attendees to assist those who wish to cast their vote Tuesday but lack transportation to their polling places.

In addition, Guzman asked veterans in the audience to stand and be honored, which was met with applause.

OCCHA also is an “anchor” to many in the Mahoning Valley — especially with providing food, employment and transportation assistance, Grimilda Ocasio, gala chairwoman, said.

“Today, those needs have not subsided,” Ocasio added.

In his remarks, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said that many of the country’s Latinos have shaped and enriched the nation with their contributions, work ethic and culture. He also praised Mary Isa Garayua, who served as OCCHA’s executive director from 1989 to 2012, for her leadership.

In addition, Brown handed a key to the city to Angelica Diaz, OCCHA’s current executive director.

Also at the gala, representatives with the Latino Affairs Commission in Columbus awarded Jennifer Rodriguez the Distinguished Hispanic Ohioan Award. Rodriguez is a digital reporter for WKBN-TV 27.

The three recipients of OCCHA’s award ceremony were Guzman, Garayua and Mary Lou Reyes, who was executive director from 2014 to 2020.

Additional remarks came from Benito Velazquez Jr. and Olga Rivera, gala co-chairs.

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