Annual Hispanic Federation Gala 2002.

The Hispanic Federation’s Eighth Annual Gala will be held on Tuesday, May 21, 2002, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Attended each year by more than 900 of the nation’s leading business executives, public officials, and community leaders, the Hispanic Federation’s Gala is the preeminent fundraising effort for the Latino community. Thanks to the support of generous donors, the Hispanic Federation directs gala proceeds to over 70 Latino health and human service agencies which provide many vulnerable tri-state residents with after-school programs, job training programs, affordable housing and health insurance, English classes for recent immigrants, and much more.

The gala will begin with a reception and then dinner and an awards ceremony, which will culminate with the entertainment portion of the event. This year’s Gala Chairman is Jaime Polanco of Prisa Internacional; the Honorary Gala Chairmain is Gustavo A. Cisneros, head of the Cisneros Group of Companies, and the distinguished sponsor is Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chairman of Miramax Films. Gala honorees include His Excellency Luis Alberto Moreno, Ambassador of the Republic of Colombia to the United States; Violy McCausland Seve, President of Violy, Byorum & Partners Holdings, LLC; and Beatrice Rangel of the Cisneros Group of Companies.

The proceeds from the gala are used for direct grants to the Hispanic Federation member agencies, which provide a full range of community services from after-school programs for at-risk youth, job training programs and affordable daycare, to economic development and case management for people living with HIV/AIDS. The goal for the gala is to raise $1,000,000 for their member agencies.

With funds raised through the 2001 gala, the Hispanic Federation awarded about $708,000 in grants to Latino agencies providing a range of services from after school programs for youth to nutritional programs for seniors; they registered 18,000 new Latino voters through a citywide voter registration and education campaign that brought together community agencies, local businesses, and major media outlets; and, they provided undocumented, recent immigrants and other Latino victims of the World Trade Center tragedy with cash assistance to pay for emergency needs such as housing and food. To date, the Hispanic Federation has helped over 380 people.

The Hispanic Federation is a non-profit, tax-exempt membership organization representing 73 Latino health and human services agencies in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Their mission is to better meet the growing needs of the Hispanic community by strengthening their member agencies and enabling them to provide the best possible services.

For more information, please contact Enrique Ball of the Hispanic Federation at (212) 233-8955 or en******@hi****************.org