Ary Mondragón and Kyle Mimms have been supporting the Young Center through events and the arts for years. Their annual citywide Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Benefit Festival in Washington, D.C. has been an occasion to celebrate culture and community over the past few years, and raise funds for and awareness about the Young Center’s work with unaccompanied and separated immigrant children. Here’s a brief interview with Ary about why they got involved in this work.

Tell us how you learned about the Young Center. Why and how did you get involved with the Young Center initially?

Ary: I was looking on social media for non-profits that were working to end family separation at the border and had made an impact, not only in the community but across the country. That’s when I found the Young Center.

I got involved as a supporter of the organization because my focus has always been on children. My Dad is the founder of a nonprofit in Morelos, Mexico that provides services to marginalized communities after the government removed subsidies for food and education. Our family saw firsthand the devastating impact this had on children. I wanted to support organizations that focus on children’s rights and issues. When I saw that children was the Young Center’s focus and after seeing the level of involvement, the outreach, and the impact of the organization, I fell in love with it. They know what they’re doing. If we raise a dollar, or two, or ten, they will know what to do with that money.

What has your involvement been like?

Ary: We have mostly been fundraising for the Young Center. My partner Kyle and I set up a calendar of events to raise funds and goods for various nonprofits. We’ve pledged to continue to donate a percentage of everything we raise at our events to the Young Center until family separation at the border is over and unaccompanied children face a humane system that protects them. We also have the power within our community to raise awareness about the Young Center’s work, encourage people to apply to become volunteer Child Advocates, and ensure the issues facing immigrant children are not forgotten.

What is one thing you’d like everyone to know about the Young Center?

The Young Center’s programmatic and policy work is transformative, but I love how accessible they make it for folks to get involved. The Young Center encourages people to become advocates or ambassadors and empowers them to learn and share their knowledge about these issues. That access to participation and their work to bring the community together around an important issue, is powerful.

What’s your dream for immigrant children? 

That they all get to grow in a fair place with the services, education, and nutrition they need and the tools that will help them create a life. I want immigrant children to be seen first as children, not immigrant children.

What are you currently doing to support unaccompanied immigrant children?
On Saturday, November 6, we will be hosting our annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Festival. The event is free and open to all, including children and families. The day will highlight equality and unity, because if we are the same in death, we must be given the same opportunities and rights in life, even more so with children. We will be throwing a festival on the National Mall, close to the National Monument, to celebrate this fact and generate awareness about the Young Center and my father’s non-profit Rostros Sabios. 

The festival will run from 10:00 A.M. to midnight. We will be calling on Congress to make Dia de los Muertos a national holiday. We will also be organizing a Catrina parade and an array of art workshops and musical ensembles, and finish the night off with a bonfire.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Immigration can be a difficult topic, but we want to bring people together to learn and talk about it. We hope that the arts and activities will create a welcoming community space where our hearts can be open to one another and we can all find safety and belonging.

Right now, we know that it’s not an easy time. COVID has impacted the livelihoods of so many people. So, asking for support can be difficult. But if we bring people together to create community, we become aware of our resources, connect with our representatives, our organizations, our leaders, and begin to nurture a movement. We want people to get involved. We don’t people to look away anymore. We want them to get together with heart and intention.

Join us at the 5th Annual Día de los Muertos Festival on the National Mall on November 6th! RSVP here and learn more about the day-long festivities here.