2716 INDIANA AVENUE, KENNER, LA 70065 / AGILITYPR.NEWS / July 15, 2021 / New Orleans, LA -- Jambalaya News Louisiana, the local radio and newspaper of the Greater New Orleans’ Latinx community, celebrates its 17-year anniversary with the launch of a new interactive Al Dia Smart Messaging Service with a press conference and community celebration on Thursday, July 15 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Crystal Events on 2716 Indiana Avenue Kenner, Louisiana 70065.

The celebration will commence at 11:00am with a Press Conference featuring remarks by Jefferson Parish Cross Cultural Coordinator Daniella Bello; City of Kenner Cultural Diversity Coordinator Rafael Saddy; City of New Orleans’ Director of Constituent Services, Neighborhood Engagement Office Lisbeth Pedroso; New Orleans Councilmember-At-Large Helena Moreno, Jefferson Parish City Council, and Google’s gTech Professional Services Manager Jason Mander.

Community organizations including the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Louisiana, New Orleans Regional Black Chamber of Commerce, New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, New Orleans & Company, JEDCO, Puentes New Orleans, Nuestra Voz, Familias Unidas, Golden Change, El Centro, La Voz de Comunidad, ECCO Centro Comunitario, Luke’s House Clinic, ICNA Relief, Jewish Federation of New Orleans and many more Hispanic small businesses will have representation at the 17th Anniversary celebration and Al Dia SMS launch. Food will be provided by Jambalaya Girl’s Kristen Preaux, Crystal Events’ distinctive shrimp and corn bisque by owner Diego Oliva, Golden Gate Bistro Colombian Restaurant, Canseco’s Markets and El Paso Mexican Grill Kenner. Special guests include Presenter Nasty Martinez, DJ Charley, Ritmeaux Krewe by Captain & Foundress “Lady B” Bianca San Martin, and Bayou Movimiento by Founder Sergio Zelaya. Photobooth and decor will be led by KJ Balloon Decor, and event production is led by Diana Mateo Hernandez PR & Productions.

“We are so excited to celebrate the 17th Anniversary of Jambalaya News and to launch the Al Dia SMS service,” says Jambalaya News Louisiana’s Marketing Director Valeria Ali. “It is important to us to ensure that the event is held at one of the few Latino-owned venues, Crystal Events, which has been a cornerstone of the community’s life celebrations here in Kenner. We always want to empower the platform that Jambalaya News and Al Dia SMS offers, with the full representation and economic strength of the Hispanic community.”

Jambalaya New Louisiana was born in 2004, originally as Jambalaya Deportiva geared towards sports coverage in Spanish. After Hurricane Katrina, there became a need to expand the landscape of Jambalaya Deportiva, as no local newsrooms were able to report live, accessible information in Spanish. Now, Jambalaya News Louisiana covers everything local, national, and international in the Spanish language for the Latinx community. For 17 years, Jambalaya News Louisiana served as a loyal, trusted voice, reaching across generations to report, investigate, translate and educate Latinx Louisianians.

After the global pandemic and presidential elections again changed the landscape and prioritized the necessity of accurate communication, Jambalaya News Louisiana needed another way to expand its goals of building a community for Spanish speakers to stay connected, informed, and united with access to local news, opportunities, and resources, Jambalaya News, under the leadership of its President Brenda Murphy, once again innovated a way to further reach a long underserved community of over 220,000 Spanish-speaking people in the state of Louisiana; with over 180,000 of whom reside in Orleans and Jefferson Parish.

Thanks to funding by Google's North America GNI Innovation Challenge won in December 2020, Jambalaya News Louisiana was granted $73,783 to propel the Al Día proposal into motion, underwritten by Jambalaya News’ Chief Operating Officer Rocio Tirado and Marketing Director Valeria Ali.

“We are currently seeking additional funding to support a full-time bilingual journalist and resources for the entire team to create content and ensure that there is accurate news coverage in areas such as healthcare and education,” says Chief Operations Officer Rocio Tirado.

Al Día is a Smart Messaging Service that will allow Spanish-speaking residents of Orleans and Jefferson Parishes to receive timely alerts about the most vital news information, sent directly to their mobile device in Spanish. Al Día SMS also allows subscribers to ask questions about the current news. Al Día subscribers will receive human connection and care, and gain access to reliable professionals and resources that will improve our Spanish-speaking community’s overall public health and quality of life.

“Al Dia’s SMS text messaging services, backed by the trust that Jambalaya News Louisiana has built over 17 years in the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area, would bridge the communication gap seen around journalism in Latino communities.” says President Brenda Murphy.

RSVP to the Jambalaya News Louisiana 17th Anniversary event via Facebook at https://fb.me/e/1zu7QPBRx or sign up to be a subscriber or sponsor at https://www.jambalayanews.com/aldia/.