During the summer and early fall, several East Travis County families received free Chromebooks through a partnership between the DDCE and LULAC District 12 (League of United Latin American Citizens). Last Saturday, Del Valle high school students and their families received their laptops at Fiesta Gardens park, where they were welcomed by LULAC District 12 members and the DDCE’s Director of Institutional Partnerships Milly Lopez.

Funding for the laptops was provided by the DDCE’s COVID-19 Relief Grant, which was launched in April to provide emergency assistance to several community partners working to support our communities’ growing needs brought upon by the early challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

This was one of several distribution events hosted by LULAC District 12. In early June, students at Manor ISD also received free laptops as part of this initiative. In August, LULAC District 12 and DDCE partnered once more for their 2020 Scholarship Drive event, in which LULAC Youth Council members received college scholarships made possible by a DDCE sponsorship, the Ford Motor Company Fund and a 60% sponsorship match by LULAC National. Many thanks to Gavino Fernandez, Jr, President of LULAC Council No. 22325, for his leadership on these partnerships.

The DDCE’s, emergency relief grant has been awarded to select organizations based on six categories of need: housing, economic development, legal assistance, healthcare, emergency assistance, and education. Go to this website to learn more.