Latino Family Festival Planned at Campus

The first Latino Family Festival at Cal State Northridge on Saturday will offer carnival activities, with all proceeds going to a Habitat for Humanity project in Panorama City.

More than 30 vendors are expected to set up booths for face painting, games, and food and souvenirs native to Latin America. The fair is sponsored by Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit international organization that builds homes for low-income families.

Proceeds from the event will help fund the organization’s Willis Avenue housing development in Panorama City, which is slated for completion in December, said Lisa Sholley, publications coordinator for Habitat for Humanity.

The event was the brainchild of future Willis Avenue homeowners, who will work as vendors at the festival, Sholley said.

“I think it will be a great community and family-oriented event and should be a great experience for the prospective homeowners at Willis,” Sholley said. “I hope that this will become an annual event put on by the families.”

The festival will also feature musical performances from local high schools and colleges, and raffle drawings will be held throughout the day, she said.

Habitat for Humanity serves as a contractor and builder of townhomes for low-income families, and provides those families with low-interest loans, Sholley said.

In addition to the project on Willis Avenue, Habitat for Humanity is in the midst of building a housing development in Burbank, scheduled for opening early next year, Sholley said. She said the organization plans to begin construction on a housing development in Pacoima next spring.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the North Campus area, on the southeast corner of Devonshire Street and Lindley Avenue.

For more information, call (818) 765-2073, Extension 114.