The Pan de Vida Foundation is hosting its Dia del Nino Children's Day this weekend for the local community.
This free family event will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday, April 29 at the nonprofit Pan de Vida's planned community center to be located at 34488 N. Carriage Drive, in between East Skyline Drive and East Pony Track Land, in San Tan Valley. This special day for kids will include games and prizes, raffles, a Moonbounce, hot dogs, food boxes, music, entertainment, community vendors and more.
Pan de Vida Foundation, which has been operating in the Queen Creek and San Tan Valley area since 2003, has met with an architect for the design and has a general cost estimate of $1.5 million for the planned community center. Pan de Vida is a non-profit organization, meaning that all its money and resources come from donations, and all events that are put on are organized by volunteers.
While the Pan de Vida headquarters are currently modest, they have hopes of upgrading and expanding further on the land they own. They first hope to have a modular building on the property that can function as an office as well as a space for members of the community to come and get support or connect with other people. The end goal is to build a community center on the land where everyone can come and interact, meet new people, have fun and receive any support they need.
Pan de Vida started out much smaller, however. Originally working out of her house, Mary Gloria founded Pan de Vida in 2003 with the initial goal of providing a safe place and social community for the seniors of the local area. After setting up meetings and events locally at places like the library for a few years, they achieved their goal as the foundation worked with the Town of Queen Creek to provide the community site, which the town now manages.
The foundation depends on donated goods, whether it be canned food or clothes or strollers or crutches, anything somebody might need to get by is probably in one of the containers. The donated items are stored there in anticipation of Pan de Vida’s rummage sale in which they sell off the items for a fraction of what they’re worth.
Gloria often makes trips to the nonprofit's shipping containers for supplies when people come to her for help, whatever it may be. That personifies the overarching goal of the Pan de Vida Foundation, which is to help and connect the local community in and around San Tan Valley. Specifically, they look to support seniors, children and families in the area.
For more information on Pan de Vida, visit PanDeVidaAZ.org.
