LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - Congressman Henry Cuellar announces a $12,000 grant to local LULAC councils.

The grant will be distributed among the ten LULAC councils here in Laredo with a goal to help high school students pay for college expenses.

One council shared it is grateful the congressman helped initiate this donation, especially during a time where it was hard to fundraise during a pandemic.

“It was an initiative that came out of him out of the blue,” said Ester Firova. “It was nothing that we expected, but we are definitely are thrilled that we are getting, due to the COVID pandemic... many of us were not able to raise funds for scholarships and so this is going to help us be able to provide scholarships to our local students.”

Mujeres Poderosas was formed a year ago with the Vanessa Guillen project.

It is one of Laredo’s newest LULAC councils.