Mariachi Performance Celebrates Latin American Heritage

October 21, 2025

Mercy Home for Boys & Girls celebrated Latine Heritage Month with a special dinner for our young people and coworkers. The celebration, which runs from September 15 through October 15 in the United States, honors the people and cultures from all over Latin America and their contributions to our country and society.

“It’s important to put on these events [for] not only staff, but for the youth to be seen and feel celebrated,” said Judy Tapia, a day coordinator. “It’s pretty unique that Latine Heritage Month starts in the middle of the month, so you have to be more intentional about setting stuff up.”

The kitchen staff cooked chicken mole, a classic Mexican dish for the young people and coworkers.

“I think the meal brings a piece of home to [our Latine youth],” Veronica Townsend, a member of the group said.

But when everyone arrived for the meal, they were greeted with a surprise performance from ARPA CAFÉ, a Chicago-based mariachi band. The group played songs that originated in Paraguay, Argentina, and Mexico among other countries.

“Mariachi is important to us because it expresses our culture through music,” Tapia said. ”It reminded me of being with family. My dad had mariachis at his birthday. It was so cool.”

Throughout the performance, the young people also requested songs such as “Un Poco Loco” from the movie Coco.

“It’s sometimes hard to get the youth to participate in different activities for the different months,” Tapia said. “But this was an easy way to get them involved. … We want them to be seen.”

Mario Tamayo, director of fleet management and emergency readiness, connected Mercy Home to the band. Daniel Rojas, one of the three band members, said that he just wanted everyone to enjoy their dinner while they played.

“I like the program and how they support the kids,” Rojas said. “I love bringing our culture and our music and sharing it with your beautiful organization.”

While celebrations like this support those young people at Mercy Home who are of Latin American descent, they also benefit all of our youth who learn from them as well.

ARPA CAFÉ concluded the performance with “La Bamba,” a song made famous by the late Ritchie Valens,” after which they were greeted with a roar of applause.