Eagle Rock Gets a “Taste of South LA”

A South LA-based nonprofit devoted to local youth hopes to engage supporters outside their area

The neighborhood of Eagle Rock got a taste of South Los Angeles Wednesday night at the Redeemer Community Partnership fundraiser for at-risk children.

Redeemer Community Partnership is a nonprofit that strives to build better neighborhoods in South LA by tutoring, planning events for youth, and advocating neighborhood safety.

The event exposed attendees to authentic food from South LA and featured interactive exhibits to intrigue donors and garner support.

"I really believe in their mission of getting kids out of at-risk behavior, and avoiding getting into gangs and dangerous behavior like that, through education," said fundraiser attendee Jessica Hamlin-Bois.

Money raised at the evening’s fundraiser will go to kindergarten through sixth grade tutoring and youth arts programming.

The "Taste of South LA" fundraiser was held in the café of the Christian Assembly Church on Colorado Boulevard.

"We’re hoping to engage people of faith outside our neighborhood to learn about what God’s doing in our neighborhood and to come and partner with us," said Lisa Barlow, the executive director of Redeemer Community Partnership.

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Musical performances, skits, interactive art, and cultural cuisine were all a part of the night.

"Youth that are performing tonight are all from (the South LA) neighborhood. We focus on our neighbors telling our own stories," Barlow said.

One of the night’s skit performers, Rogelio Sanchez, has been involved with Redeemer Community Partnership since the sixth grade. Now as an incoming high school junior, he is a youth leader.

"What I like about (Redeemer Community Partnership) is that they are a multicultural family…and there are no borders here. You can be who you want to be. People are not going to judge you," Sanchez said.

Wednesday night’s event was Redeemer Community Partnership’s first “Taste of South L.A.” fundraiser.

"We wanted to figure out a way to communicate to millennial and young professionals in the greater L.A. community about what we’re doing in South L.A. to bring more resources to bear on our work," Barlow said.

Attendees raved about the music, the menu, and the fundraiser’s mission. Before the night was over, people were already looking forward to possible future events.

"We would love to make this more of an annual thing," Barlow said.

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