Keepin’ it Local – El Buen Amigo Mixer to Unite Good Friends and Good Neighbors

While Andrew Delmonte works to bring us profiles on Good Neighbors who are Workin’ Through the Weekend, he also spends a portion of his week working for local nonprofit Buffalo First. Today, he provides the local, green and fair angle on Buffalo First’s monthly community mixer, taking place at El Buen Amigo, 114 Elmwood Ave, at 6:30p.m. tomorrow. The event is free and open to the public, and will feature an art auction at the mixer to raise funds for El Buen Amigo and the Latin American Cultural Association.

By Andrew Delmonte, Buffalo First

What if businesses were our friends? What if they were friendly neighbors, fair and dependable pillars for our community, and support for people both near and far? Buffalonians need look no further than right under their own nose for such a place: El Buen Amigo – literally “the good friend” in Spanish – is a vibrant fair trade store and community center located in a colorful storefront at 114 Elmwood Avenue, in the heart of Allentown.

El Buen Amigo offers fair trade arts, crafts, clothing and coffee direct from artisans and farmers in Latin America. Beautiful handcrafted items from artisans in Central and South America, and the Caribbean, are sold to customers for fair prices. El Buen Amigo is also dedicated to educating consumers on the benefits of such fair trade arrangements. Fair trade systems ensure that each individual artisan or worker who is involved in the production of a good earns a living income, and has a better chance of providing a sustainable life for his or her family.

“It is also our mission to showcase to the North American public the beauty and the value of Latino culture, a resilient culture that has overcome the greatest tests of slavery, poverty, war and segregation,” said owner Santiago Masferrer.

Masferrer also leads the Latin American Cultural Association (LACA), a nonprofit housed within El Buen Amigo which has become an invaluable and irreplaceable resource to Buffalo. LACA’s goal is to make the rich heritage of Latin America accessible to all via educational and cultural programming, and also language classes. The results of these programs and workshops enrich the lives of us here in Buffalo, but profits from both El Buen Amigo and LACA events are also reinvested into the people and communities of Central and South America.

According to El Buen Amigo’s website, LACA also offers a “Cultural Extension Program to Western New York school and youth groups in an attempt to open a dialogue and broaden their cultural awareness. Our gallery space hosts art, music and cultural events in an effort to provide Buffalo artists with a warm and welcoming place to showcase their own creations.”

Considering that part of the mission of Buffalo First is providing educational tools for achieving a sustainable local living economy in Western New York, El Buen Amigo offers a unique and shining example. “El Buen Amigo’s commitment to education; the arts; and local, sustainable ideals is a model to be emulated,” explains BF Executive Director Sarah Bishop. “[Masferrer’s] focus on fair trade and strengthening community both here and in Latin America has had measurable effects on the Hispanic community in Buffalo, and for the artisans in Central and South America.”

BF’s March Community Mixer will be held at El Buen Amigo tomorrow, March 15th at 6:30p.m. Sponsored by iprintfromhome.com, the event is free and open to the public. These monthly mixers offer concerned citizens, community organizers, and local business owners a chance to mingle and strengthen their united voice.

This month’s mixer puts into focus Masferrer’s work to build a strong Latin American community both locally and abroad; the importance of Latin American culture and fair trade products; and as March is National Women’s Month, the event will specifically highlight women in the arts. Bishop will show photographs from a recent trip to Mexico City, with profits from their sale going directly to El Buen Amigo and Buffalo First.

Buffalo First is a nonprofit committed to building a local, green and fair economy in western New York. We aim to foster businesses, community efforts and conscious individuals that follow a sustainable and community-oriented economic model that adheres to a triple bottom line of people, planet and profit.