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Countries of the Hemisphere unite to help orphaned
and abandoned children
Holding Little Hands for the Americans Luncheon to focus on terrorism
in the Americas.
August 30,
2005
15TH HOLDING LITTLE HANDS FOR THE AMERICAS
LUNCHEON September 22, 2005
Event casts rare spotlight on the most impoverished
children
in the western hemisphere
(Washington D.C.) In a joint effort among
Members of Congress, Ambassadors and their respective spouses,
the 15th Holding Little Hands for the Americas
Luncheon will take place in Washington, D.C., on September 22,
2005, at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel. There are few
events of this scale that take place in the U.S. to focus
attention on the need to care for children in this hemisphere
who are orphaned, abandoned, living with terrorism and
exploitation and too often hungry.
“This luncheon is a call to action,” says
Anabella Jordan of Charlottesville, Virginia, who started the
Ivy Inter-American Foundation in 1987 and is the wife of David
Jordan former U.S. Ambassador to Peru. “We tell the stories of
children like those I saw when we lived and worked in Peru,
thousands who were victims of terrorism, left without families,
hungry and without the community resources we are accustomed to
in this country.” To date, the Ivy-Inter-American Foundation
has raised more than $1.5-million for impoverished children in
the western hemisphere.
This year’s event will raise money for
grants to organizations that care for children in five
countries: Argentina, Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua, and, in the
U.S., in Washington, D.C and Dodge City, Kansas. In addition,
the Ivy Humanitarian Prize will be awarded to recognize an
individual who has done extraordinary work to alleviate the
suffering of children and their communities in the Americas. The
recipient of the 2005 Prize is F. William B. Wasson of Mexico,
founder of Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (Our Little
Brothers). For more than four decades, F. Wasson has provided
shelter, care and education to thousands of children in Mexico,
Central America and Haiti.
First Lady Laura Bush, who is the
luncheon’s honorary chair, wrote for the last Holding Little
Hands luncheon held in 2002, “thanks to your work, the Americas
are strengthening friendships and working together to nurture
and protect all our children.” This year’s luncheon will be
chaired by Franki Roberts, wife of the U.S. Senator from Kansas,
and Mary Hinojosa, wife of the U.S. Representative from Texas,
Monica Bordon, wife of the Argentine Ambassador to the U.S., and
Analia Stadthagen, wife of the Nicaraguan Ambassador to the
U.S. This year’s speaker will be Mrs. Diana Villiers
Negroponte, who has long been concerned with the problems of the
hemisphere’s orphaned and abandoned children.
Anyone interested in making a donation to
help some of the most impoverished children in this hemisphere
may add their donation to this year’s grant total via
www.ivyinteramericanfoundation.org.
CONTACTS:
Ellen Beard
434-245-8300
Ana Utley
202-298-5534
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