Food Pantry Gets Grande Día Del Reyes Gift

Traditionally, it's the children in Latin American countries who receive presents on Jan. 6, the Día De Reyes.

But Friday afternoon in Watsonville's Plaza Vigil, it was , that got the big gift.

Plaza Vigil merchants shared a traditional rosca de reyes sweetbread with staff from Loaves and Fishes and the nonprofit El Pájaro Community Development Corporation, then gave the food pantry a $500 donation.

"We're very happy to be able to celebrate," said Carmen Herrera-Mansir, executive director of El Pájaro CDC.

For the past four years, Plaza Vigil merchants have selected a local charity to support with their holiday donation. This is the first year Loaves and Fishes has benefited.

, said the merchants selected the food pantry because it's small yet reaches a large portion of the community. Other merchants said they believe Loaves and Fishes is highly effective.

The food pantry serves hot lunch to dozens of people on weekdays—more than 100 showed up for a Christmas meal—and hands out bags of groceries to families.

"For us, every donation we receive is very important," Loaves and Fishes director Margarita Cortez, one of the organizations three employees, said in Spanish.

The gift is even more gratifying because the businesses involved are some of the smallest in the city. Plaza Vigil’s Merchants Association is a group of low-income entrepreneurs from the Pájaro Valley participating in El Pájaro CDC's Retail Incubator Program at East Beach and Union streets.

El Pájaro CDC is a non-profit organization that offers bilingual (Spanish/English) support services and trainings for small business owners in the Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties.

The Plaza Vigil business represented at the casual ceremony Friday included Correra's computer shop, , , Gama Bakery and more.

donated the rosca de reyes cake, a rectangle-shaped bread with a plastic baby hidden inside. The celebration is marked in many cultures, including as the kickoff for Carnival season in New Orleans, where the treat is called Kings Cake. though on Friday, people were mum about who got the baby.

"This is a tradition in Mexico that is very close to my heart," Herrera-Mansir said.