Daniel Chacon

Juan Carlos Nava, Daniel Chacon, Jason Herrera
Originally uploaded by laredofoodforthought

Earlier this evening, Daniel Chacon visited the Laredo Public Library. He read a few selections from his book of short stories, Unending Rooms. Afterwards, he took questions from the audience and stayed around to chat with people until the library closed. His friendly and inviting personality made it easy for young and old to ask questions about the progress of Chicano writing and writing in general. He said that interpretation of his work was best left to the readers since it did not matter what he meant; it was more important what message the reader got from it. Thanks to everybody who came out!

Congratulations

Congrats to Jason Herrera, an assistant to the founders of Food for Thought, for winning the Gates Millennium Scholarship. Jason does odd jobs for the foundation, from helping make the tickets for One City to welcoming our authors at the airport. Whatever needs to be done when we are swamped with work, Jason will take on. He spends time with our authors and talks to them behind the scenes, and they have treated him as an equal. Meeting with authors has helped with his own aspirations to author books, and he will start attending Oklahoma City University in the fall.

We have a Facebook page

If you have a Facebook, make sure to become a fan of our page.

Happy Monday!

How could I forget? FreeRice.com

This is an old favorite of mine, called FreeRice.com. It incorporates educational, multiple-choice games into its mission to fight hunger. For every question you answer correctly, 10 grains of rice will be donated to the United Nations World Food Programme. It's fun, easy and free. If you've never heard of this site before, now is the time to visit and play some games, all for a good cause.

- Cristina

Editorial on hunger

Hi there, executive assistant/blog maintainer Cristina Herrera here. I found an interesting editorial from the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that highlights how much hunger has been increasing in the U.S.

Food banks report feeding 1 million more Americans each weekly than in 2009, and that includes the 36 percent of client households where at least one person has a job.

It later goes on to say,

The number of children in feeding programs increased by 50 percent since 2006, the report shows.

Editorial: American hunger

Laredo is no exception. Donate to your local food bank(s) today.

>South Texas Food Bank

>Laredo Regional Food Bank

And of course, the easiest contribution toward fighting hunger:

Daniel Chacón @ the library

In our previous post, we mentioned the authors program at the Laredo Public Library. It's called "An Evening with the Author." On Wednesday, April 21, Hudson Prize-winning author Daniel Chacon will speak and answer questions at the library.

What: An Evening with the Author

Who: Daniel Chacón

When: Wednesday, April 21, 6-8 p.m.

Where: Laredo Public Library

From his faculty profile on the UTEP Web site:

Daniel Chacón is the author of Unending Rooms, a collection of stories, winner of the Hudson Prize. He also had a novel, and the shadows took him, and another collection of stories called Chicano Chicanery. His fiction had appeared in the anthologies Lengua Fresca: Latinos Writing on the Edge; Caliente: The Best Erotic Writing in Latin American Fiction; and Best of the West 2009: New Stories from the West Side of the Missouri. He is co-editor of The Last Supper of Chicano Heroes: The Selected Works of Jose Antonio Burciaga.

One City 2010

It's that the time of the year again: We started thinking about authors for One City, One Book. Plans are under way and this year, we are going to have a 2-for-1 deal. We are currently planning fundraisers and accepting donations so that we will be able to keep One City, One Book free and available to everybody. The foundation is very excited because there has been so much support from the community in the past two years. We are looking at ways to make the book available for purchase locally, but it will be available at the Laredo Public Library. The kickoff for One City will be in early August, as usual. If you cannot wait, check out one of the authors coming to the Laredo Public Library. We will give more information about the library's author program, and the next author will be here this month.

If you have suggestions for activities connected with One City, One Book, feel free to e-mail them to laredofoodforthought@yahoo.com.

The foundation is committed to sharing the love of reading and helping those in need.