KUNC Ana Gomez (left) sits down to get her COVID-19 vaccine at the Boys and Girls Club in Fort Collins on May 1, 2021.
On a recent Saturday morning, the local Boys and Girls Club in Fort Collins hosted an all-out vaccine party in its gymnasium. A mariachi band serenaded patients. Volunteers served fresh churros and horchata.
But behind the cinnamon sugar and celebratory mood was a small army of community organizers with an urgent mission: Get as many Hispanic and Latino residents as possible immunized against COVID-19, and help close wide disparities within Colorado’s ongoing vaccine rollout.
“We’ve seen the struggle of our community in the last year,” said Jesús Castro, an organizer with the group Fuerza Latina. “So we wanted to make something nice, like a reunion.”