TAMPA, Fla. — Seminole Hard Rock Casino Tampa kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month by donating $100,000 to 10 local Hispanic organizations Thursday morning, celebrating the diversity and culture that define the Tampa Bay community.
The casino hosted a festive event filled with music, song and dance, with attendees waving flags and chanting in celebration of Hispanic heritage.
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Each of the 10 organizations received $10,000 to support work ranging from cultural programs to community-strengthening initiatives.
The recipients were Boricuas de Corazón, Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation, Escuela de Bomba y Plena, HAPBWA Women's Association, Hispanic Chamber of Metro Orlando, Hispanic Federation, Iroko Dance Academy Foundation, MiGente MiPueblo, Inc., Miss Latina Tampa and Wattaka.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor was among those celebrating the contributions, highlighting the size of the city's Hispanic community.
"We have almost 30% of our population is Hispanic," Castor said.
Lourdes Mola, vice president of Latin Business Development for Seminole Gaming, said the celebration was about more than the financial support. For her, it was also a chance to recognize the culture and diversity represented in Tampa.
"The energy that you feel here, the flavors, it is exhilarating, and I'm just so happy that we're able to celebrate today," Mola said.
That spirit of giving was also part of the reason Hard Rock Tampa President Travis Lunn said the casino wanted to support the organizations.
"Our theme is love all serve all, and when I think about the Hispanic heritage, it really is that — it's about giving and paying it forward. And so those two cultures to me really come together and align the Hispanic culture of paying it forward and giving and same with the Hard Rock brand of giving it forward, love all serve all," Lunn said.
For Frankie Miranda, president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation, the support carries particular significance.
"This is a real important moment for us because while many people have shied away from supporting Latino organizations when there has been an environment in which celebrating diversity has been seen as something negative, Hard Rock had doubling down and saying this is important not only for our community but also for our clients, for our employees," Miranda said.
Among the organizations receiving a grant was Iroko Dance Academy Foundation, which uses dance to celebrate Hispanic culture and support young and professional dancers.
The foundation is led by co-presidents Denisse Cambria and Ernesto Bulnes, who have taken their Tampa salsa talent to the world stage, competing nationally and internationally as 21-time world champions.
Cambria said the $10,000 grant will help the foundation continue building on that work.
"We're so happy. This is amazing. We're a starting foundation — we're small, but we're doing really big things, for the youth and for our professional dancers that I wanna make this their career," Cambria said.
For Bulnes, the grant is also about having the opportunity to give back.
"It's really an amazing feeling to be able to give back and to be able to live off of this," Bulnes said.
The celebration brought another familiar name from the salsa world to Tampa: artist Frankie Negrón, who joined the festivities and reflected on what his Hispanic heritage means to him.
"It means I can dance, it means I love good food, it means I'm bilingual — you know, it just makes life richer when you're Hispanic, right?" Negrón said.
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