Bucks to honor local organizations during Noche Latina

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee Bucks will continue an NBA tradition to highlight and celebrate the Latino community during Noche Latina on Wednesday, March 9.

The NBA is now in its sixteenth year of celebrating Noches Latinas. Part of the Bucks' celebration includes honoring Latino-led organizations.

"I don't do the work we do, you know, to get recognition or anything, so it was something nice," Ruben Gaona told CBS 58.

Gaona is the co-founder and chief of operations for The Way Out, an organization that works to reduce recidivism among people with records of convictions by connecting them with employment resources and ensuring a successful reintegration to society.

Gaona said it is especially meaningful to be recognized for his work on a night celebrating the Latino community.

"To be able to provide that community that care and sense of you know what, there are people like me, that look like me, that are here to represent me to be successful, so let me work with them, means a lot," Gaona said.

The Bucks say Noche Latina and honoring organizations like The Way Out fits into their mission of connecting with and supporting the Milwaukee community.

"We are honoring The Way Out and a number of other partners and groups such as the UCC during our game to shed kind of a little bit extra light to those partners and those groups," Bucks director of partner strategy and management Ryan Hooser told CBS 58. "It's a great way to get their message out to all of our fans during such a great game."

Noche Latina is Wednesday, March 9 when the Bucks take on the Atlanta Hawks at 6:30 p.m.

Fans can enter the promo code NOCHE2022 when visiting this link, which allows the purchase of a game ticket and a commemorative pin.