Queen contestants raise $10,400 for OLG

Our Lady of Grace Parish member Alma Valle helped with the decorations and with preparing the three queen contestants for the church’s inaugural Cinco de Mayo Fiesta.

While she knew the three young ladies competing for the queen title by being the top fundraiser were busy in the community, she said she had no idea the girls collectively had raised $10,400 until it was announced by Pastor Father Marcos C. Velásquez.

The winner was Citlaly Galaviz, who raised $5,426.

“They were working hard with their moms, but I was surprised by the amount they raised,” Valle said.

The girls, all students at Maricopa High School, raised money through activities such as car washes and bake sales. The other contestants were Guadalupe Vela and Adriana Tolano.

The money the girls raised, along with all the other money brought in by Saturday night’s Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, will go toward building a new church on 34 acres of the property the church owns off Porter Road near the Glennwildegroves subdivision.

The total amount raised from fiesta, which ended at 11 p.m., won’t be known until early next week, but Chuck Morene, a church member handing out cans of soda and bottled water in exchange for $1 tickets, said it had exceeded his expectations within the first two hours.