McDonald’s and the RMHC/HACER Scholarship for Latino High School Seniors.

With a packed grand ballroom of The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the New York Chapter of the Ronald McDonald House Charities/Hispanic American Commitment to Educational Resources (RMHC/HACER) celebrated its 20th Anniversary in a grand way – by awarding $500,000 in scholarships to deserving Latino High School Students. Eighty-one scholarship recipients celebrated their accomplishments with their families, members of the Ronald McDonald House Charities, McDonald’s Owner/Operators and Corporate representatives (local and national) and the New York Hispanic media community.

The event was hosted by Roberto Madan, McDonald’s Owner/Operator and Chairman of the HACER NY Tri-State Chapter, along with local Univision talent Jack Rico. The event included addresses from various McDonald’s representatives and a moving excerpt of the forthcoming RMHC/HACER documentary “Making Dreams Happen” that d expósito & partners is creating. The luncheon ended with remarks from the top winner, Emmanuel Peña, who was selected to receive the Rafael Pineda/RMHC/HACER $20,000 scholarship to pursue his dream of a career in education. Acknowledged with a standing ovation several times during the event, Emmanuel spoke about his life growing up in the foster care system, of the loss of both of his parents in the span of one year and of a life nearly wasted and gone down the wrong side of the tracks. Compelled to turn things around by the love and adoration he held for his younger brother, Emmanuel decided he had to make sure that he was a good mentor and example. Emmanuel has since become a leader and advocate for change within the foster care system and is but one example of the tremendous ways in which all of the RMHC/HACER winners are impacting our society today.

The New York Chapter of the RMHC/HACER program also partnered with various Community Based Organizations to distribute scholarships as well. In total, $500,000 was given away in 2007 to commemorate the 20 years that the RMHC/HACER scholarship program has been hacienda una a differencia in the New York Tri-State community. Since its creation, the New York area has given over $3 million dollars in scholarships. National HACER scholarships have already reached the $15 million dollar amount.

In attendance at the event, among others, Tony Suarez-Vice President Director Multicultural Marketing McDonald’s USA LLC, Cristina Vilella-Director of Marketing McDonald’s USA LLC, Cristina Alfaro-US Communications McDonald’s USA LLC, Ana Madan-Chairperson NY Metro McDonald’s Hispanic Owners Association, journalist Antonio Martinez who improvised an inspirational speech to address the high school seniors in the audience, Gerry McCoy-President Board of Directors of the RMHC NY Tri-State Region, as well as Jorge Ulla and Fernando Fernandez, partners at d expósito & partners.