Three students are being recognized for their academic and community achievements during the third annual Latino Pride Luncheon today. Alexia Guzman, Matthew Velez and Diego Segarra will be honored during the event, which begins at noon in the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.

Lourdes Iglesias, executive director of Hispanics United of Buffalo, said the students’ dedication and commitment is “truly inspirational,” serving as a great example for all Buffalo residents to follow.

“We decided to recognize those young individuals who have displayed exemplary leadership in their academics and community, and those institutions that have invested dollars, time and effort in creating great leaders for the community and Western New York,” he said.

Alexia, an honor student at Holy Angels Academy, is the first recipient of the Holy Angels Academy Flannigan Family Science Scholarship. In 2006, she earned a silver medal in the Buffalo State College Science Congress competition. She hopes to pursue a career in medicine, dedicating her life to finding a cure for cancer.

Matthew is an honor student at Hutchinson-Central Technical High School, where he is involved in the Spanish Club and Kappa Sigma Phi academic fraternity. He worked as an intern last summer at Praxair.

“Dealing with the aspects of helping the community is something I take pride in and have been able to find specific ways to achieve,” said Matthew, who volunteers as a Sunday school summer counselor at New Creation Fellowship Church in Cheektowaga.

Diego is an eighth-grade honor student at Enterprise Charter School. Born in Puerto Rico, he moved to Buffalo in 2004 and will attend Middle College City High School on the City Campus of Erie Community College in the fall.

He hopes someday to become a building design engineer. Diego also volunteers with the Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo and Western New York, planting community gardens throughout the city.

Tickets for the luncheon are $50 and can be purchased at the door.