Mission District rings in Cinco de Mayo with Sunday event, benefit bike ride

Cinco de Mayo festivities planned for Sunday in San Francisco’s Mission District include an Aztec dance performance followed by a bicycle ride to benefit an organization serving culturally appropriate food to Mission residents who face food insecurity.

Last year’s Cinco de Mayo event was canceled due to the pandemic.

Presented by Cultura y Arte Nativa de las Americas, or CANA, the Cinco de Mayo event and Family Bike Ride Out kicks off at Potrero Del Sol Park at 2827 Cesar Chavez at 11 a.m. with Aztec dancers performing an indigenous ceremony, followed by snacks and breakfast burritos for bike ride participants. The event benefits the Mission Food Hub.

The bike ride starts at 1 p.m. at the corner of 24th and San Bruno streets. Riders will head west on 24th Street, then north on Mission Street, then turn onto 16th Street and head east to Third Street. Then, riders will go north along The Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf.

In addition to breakfast, bike ride participants will receive a free mask, hand sanitizer and T-shirt.

Bike riders are encouraged to participate as singles or in teams. Participants are being asked to contribute an entry fee of their choice in denominations that begin with a “5” — $5, $50, $500, or $5,000 — to align with the Cinco de Mayo theme.

Founder Roberto Hernandez created the Mission Food Hub in his home garage at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic to help out Latino families facing food insecurity. It then moved to 701 Alabama St. At first, The Mission Food Hub served 300 families; it has grown to serve some 9,000 families weekly.

Participants receive Latin American staples such as rice, beans, corn meal masa, cilantro and tomatoes. The hub’s Facebook page announces what will be available ahead of time and provides recipes for cooking healthy meals at home.

Hernandez said:

“Every week what you get is different, but it’s culturally appropriate food. We’ve become a national model, and people are loving it.”

Hernandez continued:

“What’s beautiful now, with the recipes we post, the families are teaching their children how to cook and now people are sitting down to have dinner. Before the pandemic, a lot of these people were working two or three jobs and they never had time to come together and have dinner together. It’s beautiful. That gives me a lot of hope.”

People who can’t participate in the bike ride but would still like to donate to the Mission Food Hub can do so online at www.missionfoodhub.org or at https://givebutter.com/6htzzm, or via mail to Mission Food Hub-CANA, 1333 Florida St. San Francisco, CA 94110.