SOUTH TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Southside Tucson community leaders spent Friday morning volunteering for one of United Way's Days of Caring events. This is the 25th year United Way Tucson has hosted community volunteer events, and it's the second year they've included Luna y Sol Cafe.
The cafe, located in South Tucson at 137 W. 29th St., is expected to serve as a community hub once it opens. As the city's soon-to-be-only sit-down coffee shop, volunteers shared why they chose to invest their time in the space.
"I'm from the Southside so it's very important that not only do we keep this community clean, but also promote it as a safe place," said Bobby Rodriguez, owner of the Southside gym Just Sports Training. "It's a place where we can grow all together."
Volunteer events included a street clean-up, landscaping, and installing a mini library for the Luna Y Sol Community Habitat. The habitat, located outside of the soon-to-be cafe, will be one of the few green spaces in the City of South Tucson.
"We were working on digging some irrigation trenching for our future community habitat garden," said Megan Ewbank, Urban Habitat Project Manager for Tucson Audubon. She remembered how the owners of Luna Y Sol cafe had the idea to build more green spaces in the 1.2 square mile city.
"Selina and Abraham approached us with a really lovely idea," said Ewbank. "They gave us free reign for us to do what we want to do, which is to plant a bunch of native plants and excavate out some basins to conserve and harvest as much water as we can."
David Garcia, with Barrio Restoration, and his crew lead clean-up efforts in the area around the cafe. He and the owners of the cafe will be participating in Cyclovia Tucson this weekend, which will pass through South Tucson.
Selina and Abraham Barajas talked with KGUN 9 about their intentions of opening Luna Y Sol Cafe as soon as possible. Preparations to open its doors are well underway, and they expect to have the community hub by early 2025.
For anyone looking to join volunteer efforts of the 25th Annual United Way Days of Caring, more events can be found at unitedwaytucson.org/days-of-caring.
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Reyna Preciado is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after graduating Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Reyna by emailing reyna.preciado@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or Twitter.
