Centro Romero’s annual fundraising event, Empowering Our Youth Leaders, was a spectacular benefit on Thursday, September 24th. On a beautiful fall evening in the Boulevard Room of the Hilton Chicago, meteorologist Maricela Vazquez of Telemundo Chicago was the Master of Ceremonies for the fundraising effort to support Centro Romero’s youth program which has had severe cuts to the Youth Department’s funding since the budget impasse put in place by Illinois’ Governor Bruce Rauner. Members of Chicago’s business communities, professionals in the field of law, and those who have supported Centro Romero’s efforts for over three decades joined us for dinner that evening.
Over 150 people were in attendance including Centro Romero alumna Eliza Luviano, a recipient of the Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholarship, now an attendee of Marquette University. Speaking after Centro Romero’s President of the Board, Sandra Arellano, her introductory speech spoke of her many years being involved with Centro Romero and how those times had helped to prepare her for high school and the work involved with receiving the scholarship. Eliza introduced our keynote speaker for the evening, author Robert Renteria, who energized the crowd with his passionate speech about growing up in the barrios of Los Angeles and dabbling in crime and drugs, only for his life to turn around with his military service and writing a number of books about it. The “From The Barrio” series have sold internationally and he has received numerous accolades including two Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. awards for his work as a civil rights leader.
Following Mr. Renteria’s speech, Comcast’s Jason Lunderman addressed the crowd to illustrate the incredible achievements Comcast has done to aid Centro Romero as not only a Platinum Sponsor for the evening, but with the technology assistance they have given our organization as a whole. Mr. Lunderman then introduced Executive Director of the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights at University of Chicago, Susan Gzesh, to receive the evening’s top accolade, the Monsignor Romero award.
Following the award ceremony, Nick Theo, board member of Centro Romero and owner of the Nick Theo Allstate Agency came onstage to invite Georgia Bozeday, Ed. D., the Director of Educational Services at Rush NeuroBehavioral Center onstage to receive our Centro Romero Community Leadership Award for her exceptional work for our organization with her volunteer efforts.
Nearing the close of the evening, Executive Director Daysi Funes and Board President Sandra Arellano invite Nettie Lasko, Immigrant Assistance Program Coordinator for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office up to the stage at where she received a Certificate of Appreciation for her ongoing work with immigrant causes. Christy Guyer and Maria Simon of Executive Women’s International were also brought onstage to receive certificates thanking them for their recent gracious donations to Centro Romero’s cause.
Overall, we were able to raise much needed funds with this year’s event, but we have much work to do. With the current impasse to the Illinois state budget, your support is more necessary than ever to the vision and future of Centro Romero.
Word of mouth is a very important factor for our next steps. As our guests experienced at Empowering Our Youth Leaders, we are extremely passionate about the work we do for the immigrant and refugee community. We need your help to reach out to those in your network to let them know the importance of our mission. Please read about our need for volunteers and how you can become a donor for our Non-Profit organization. As always, our doors are always open to you and your network. We’ll see you at 2016’s event!