Hola America has organized their visits every year, sometimes twice a year. Before the consulate visits to the Q-C, people would have to drive to Chicago and spend all day at the consulate office to get their passport, to travel back and forth to Mexico. The visits to the Q-C save people money and days off work by allowing them to apply for their passport at these events. The impact is in the upwards of 15,000 families served in the last 20 years, Macias said. Among other programs and events Hola has been closely involved with are: Day of the Dead Fiesta at the Figge Art Museum, which Macias suggested when the building opened in 2005. After handing off the event to different community organizations, Hola America was asked again in 2016 to come back and partner with LULAC and the Figge to help organize it, which draws nearly 4,000 people a year for the one day event Family Fiesta. “Our partnership has just become stronger, with endless support from Hola America – both for the biannual exhibitions and for the family fiesta,” said Heather Aaronson, Figge education programs coordinator. “For instance, Hola America does all the translations to Spanish so that the labels and signage are available to the community in Spanish. “I feel that Hola America is deeply engrained into our Quad-City community and are ever supportive of the Hispanic population – through the arts, culture, politics, supporting businesses, endless partnerships, wonderful ideas, a can-do attitude, and all with an amazing amount of positivity and goodwill,” she said. “It has been more than my pleasure to work with Tar and Erika over the years, and I congratulate my friends on 20 years as Hola America.” March for Immigration Reform May 1, 2006, the biggest march ever in the QC for immigration reform, with 3,000 people crossing the Centennial Bridge. “What made this march amazing was that it was organized in a short time and by a handful of young people who had never organized something of this magnitude,” Macias said.“It was a small group of us that in my dining room we held the meetings trying to figure out how we were going to organize the march. Part of the group were high school kids, but what they lacked in experience they made up in passion,” he said. Project Vibrant Neighborhoods by WQPT-TV, led by Macias over 18 months to offer people in Moline’s Floreciente area a voice to showcase their pride in their place of residence and an opportunity to share what this neighborhood means to them. “Now a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, Floreciente (which means ‘blooming’ in Spanish) is still a gateway for many people from different backgrounds setting roots in the Quad-Cities, and it’s one of the most culturally rich neighborhoods in the area,” Macias said. Hola also produced a bilingual TV show from 2009-2015, the last few years airing on WQPT. “Hola America has been a wonderful partner to our entire area,” said Lora Adams, WQPT director of marketing. “Yes, they are a Hispanic paper, but their reach is throughout the area and not only the Hispanic community. When we worked with Hola America and Tar, it was always as partners in reaching the entire Quad-Cities and sharing information important to everyone.” Supporting Fourth Wall Films’ Hero Street documentary series. “Tammy and I are so grateful for Tar and Erika’s friendship and their support for our Hero Street film series,” director Kelly Rundle said. “Their coverage has been key to keeping the community informed about the project, and their encouragement has helped us get through some difficult times. We congratulate them on this important anniversary and milestone, and wish them the very best as they continue their important work.” “It really is an amazing and influential news source that has empowered the appreciation and recognition of Hispanic arts, culture and history; unity, pride and progress,” producer Tammy Rundle said of Hola. “Tar and Erika had a vision and it has been realized by their hard work and dedication for two decades.
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