The Consul of Mexico in Milwaukee will honor Mercado at the Opening Mexican Fiesta 2024 Ceremony at the Summerfest grounds on Friday.
By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
August 21, 2024
Milwaukee. Wisconsin - On Wednesday, the Consul of Mexico in Milwaukee announced that the Mexican government will honor Teresa C. Mercado, the Executive Director of the three-day Mexican Fiesta 2024 with the "Mexican Distinguished Recognition Award" on Friday at the Mexican Fiesta 2024 opening ceremony at the Summerfest grounds in Milwaukee. The Mexican Fiesta 2024 opens on Friday, August 23 and runs through August 25 at the Henry Maier Festival Park (Summerfest grounds) at the Milwaukee lakefront.
The award will be presented to Mercado at 5:00 p.m. on Friday by the Consul of Mexico in Milwaukee, Amb. Claudia Franco Hijuelos.
The Consul of Mexico in Milwaukee says, that the recognition is awarded to Mexican Nationals and Mexicans abroad that have promoted and displayed Mexico's tradition, food and culture as educational purposes, which Mercado, as the executive director of Mexican Fiesta and the Wisconsin Hispanic Scholarship Foundation, Inc. (WHSF) that operates the fiesta has done for decades.
The Distinguished Mexican Recognition Award was established in 2018 by the Institute for Mexicans Abroad (IME), of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. IME promotes the development of Mexican communities outside of Mexico.
WHSF, a non-profit organization that currently operates the annual 3-day Mexican Fiesta, since 1987 at the Summerfest grounds will be celebrating 51 years of Mexican cultural festive tradition in Milwaukee. The first Fiesta Mexicana celebrations began in the Southside of Milwaukee streets to coincide with the annual Mexican Independence Day, September 16.
In the mid to the late 1960's, the Milwaukee Public School District prohibited Latino/Hispanic students, especially Mexican-Americans from celebrating the September 16th Mexican Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo traditional festive days in City schools, so the the growing Mexican community population and students began to celebrate at organized block festivals in the Southside of Milwaukee.
In 1977, the Latin American Union for Civil Rights (LAUCR) headed by Salvador Sánchez, a former United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS) director and Ernesto Chacon, a local Latino community Civil Rights organizer and known activist began to operated the 3-day Fiesta Mexicana at the Summerfest grounds until the organization stopped operating the event. Also, many volunteers at Fiesta Mexicana were Latino educators and administrators from the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC). The 3-day festival slot in late August opened up at the Summerfest grounds, also the Henry Maier Festival Park operated by the Milwaukee World Festival (MWF), Inc., which rented the park year round from the City of Milwaukee for just $1.00, years later, the MWF rented the grounds from the City for more than $1,000,000 annually, then in 2019, it rented the grounds for $2,000,000 per year. Then MWF rented weekend festive slots to ethnic non-profit organizations to hold their traditional cultural festivals.
In 1986, the City of Milwaukee and Elizabeth "Bo" Black, the Director from Summerfest awarded the 3-day weekend slot in late August to the non-profit LULAC Council 9900, which the elected Council President was Rodolfo Martínez and the Council was known to provide scholarships to students seeking higher education. LULAC Council 9900 began to use the name Mexican Fiesta for the 3-day festival.
When Martínez finish his term, new LULAC Council 9900 officials were elected and several new LULAC Councils were started by UMOS.
Eventually in 1987, business individuals witnessed the profit generated by Mexican Fiesta and decide to a take over Mexican Fiesta and created the Wisconsin Hispanic Scholarship Foundation, Inc., which continued as a non-profit organization with the LULAC Councils 333, 342 and 343.
On April 25, 2022, Mercado confirmed, that the WHSF and Mexican Fiesta awards about $50,000 in student scholarships per year, the bizjournals dot com reported.
Today, Mexican Fiesta has awarded more than $2M of scholarships to students with U.S. Citizenship or legal permanant residency and LULAC National (education fund) matched the amount of scholarships offered by WHSF and its LULAC Councils.
In 2013, Hispanic News Network U.S.A. (HNNUSA) learned that WHSF, Mexican Fiesta and LULAC National educational fund matching fund excluded undocumented students from applying for scholarships and exposed it.
In February 2014, the WHSF, Mexican Fiesta and the LULAC National education fund changed their discriminatory policy to exclude undocumented students from receiving scholarships and then allowed for only DACA registered students to apply for annual scholarships.
In 2023, at least 110,000 festivalgoers attended the three-day Fiesta over the weekend, the WHSF reported.
In 2023, an estimated of more than $22M was spent in the Milwaukee metro area during the 3-day Mexican Fiesta by attendees.
Congrats to Mercado, the WHSF, Mexican Fiesta and its LULAC Councils including all the volunteers, and sponsors that help make Fiesta a success, and also congrats in celebrating 51 years of Mexican cultural festive tradition in Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin.
In 2023, the Wisconsin Hispanic Scholarship Foundation, Inc. (WHSF) 990 IRS filing reported that in 2022, the non-profit organization had $2.723,281 in revenues, $2,408,102 in expenses and $315,179 net income.
In 2022, the WHSF 990 IRS filing reported that in 2021, it had $2,573,048 in revenue, $1,732,525 in expenses and $840,522 net income. It also reported that at least 113,000 attended Mexican Fiesta with an economic impact of $8,612,721 for the City including nearly $500K in local and State taxes, which a study from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater released on April 22, 2014 reported the total economic impact of ethnic festivals in Milwaukee.
In 2021, the WHSF 990 IRS filing reported that in 2020, it had $126,018 in revenue, $314,735 in expenses and -$188,171 in net income.
In 2020, the WHSF 990 IRS filing reported that in 2019, it had $1,792,323 in revenue, $1,696,105 in expenses and $96,218 in net income.
WHSF 990's IRS filing tax forms from 2001 to 2023 for Wisconsin Hispanic Scholarship Foundation, Inc. at link: https://tinyurl.com/4x6h53mn
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