LYNN – La Vida, an organization dedicated to educating and assisting Latino youth and adults, has been nominated for a nonprofit excellence award.La Vida is one of 20 nominees for the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network’s Capacity Building award.On June 14, there will be a gathering at the State House for the second annual Nonprofit Awareness Day to celebrate the work of nonprofits and recognize the winners of these awards while raising public awareness of their contributions.”I’m very excited. This is something that eventually you look forward to getting recognized with the things that you do with your community. Everyone, including the board members, is very happy and proud as well,” executive director Frances Martinez said.La Vida offers a number of programs including ESL and Citizenship classes, adult Spanish literacy classes, Youth Enrichment Services and a program called La Vida Scholars.”The La Vida Scholars program is a college prep program for Latino honor roll students. A program we started two-and-a-half years ago,” Martinez said. “I am proud to say that 12 of our students are graduating and they will all be attending college. The majority (of them) already have four-year paid scholarships and we have (more than) $2 million in scholarships for these 12 students, which is humongous. I don’t think any of the local programs in the North Shore area have such an impact to the North Shore community.”Those being recognized by the Excellence awards are nonprofits from across the state that have touched the lives of residents by helping to improve their overall quality of life while giving them important opportunities for civic engagement, community building, human services and social and cultural activities.”The services we provide to the community is part of our mission, but it is also a personal mission of mine as the executive director,” Martinez said. “I have always worked in this community of Lynn. I always believed that by doing things the right way, by providing the services the community needs, it will definitely secure a brighter future for everyone.”La Vida was founded in 1996 in an effort to address the needs of the growing immigrant Latino community in the city. The organization originally produced a Catholic newspaper for 36 parishes and evolved into a program that provides five educational programs for youth and adults, enabling them to be self-sufficient. For more information about La Vida, visit online at www.la-vida.org.