Rotary Club of Cleveland honors Esperanza Windows on the River February 22, 2024
The Rotary Club of Cleveland cultivates a diverse community of informed professionals working collectively to create a positive impact by exchanging ideas, forming meaningful, lifelong friendships, and giving back to their community. Each year they honor a person or organization with the Rotary Club of Cleveland's International Service Award. In 2024, the award went to the non-profit organization Esperanza.
Esperanza, Inc. (meaning “hope”), began in the early 1980s as a community project to improve the educational opportunities for Hispanics by motivating and recognizing academic achievement through scholarships. As Ohio’s only nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and advancement of Hispanic educational achievement, its founders recognized the need to expand the services by adding programs to address more of the educational needs of the community. Esperanza awarded its first college scholarship in 1983. Since awarding just one college scholarship that first year, Esperanza has grown steadily to where it is now able to award over 100 college scholarships every year through the support of corporations, foundations, and individual donors.
Rotary Club of Cleveland President Jessica Hanes began the program by giving some background on Rotary International.
Jessica Hanes
Next, Rotary District Governor Beverly Ghent-Skrzynski explained the award and noted some previous recipients. Rotarian Ingrida Bublys, who is also Honorary Consul to Lithuania, listed some of the proclamations received for Esperanza. Then they presented Victor Ruiz with the award.
Beverly Ghent-Skrzynski
Beverly Ghent-Skrzynski, Victor Ruiz and Ingrida Bublys
Ingrida Bublys, Beverly Ghent-Skrzynski and Victor Ruiz
Beverly Ghent-Skrzynski, Victor Ruiz and Ingrida Bublys
Then Esperanza Executive Director Victor Ruiz accepted for the organization and gave his remarks.
Victor Ruiz
Here are a few other pictures from the event.
St Joseph Academy students with Victor Ruiz and Jessica Hanes
Esperanza Team
Russ Mitchell and Magda Gomez
Hispanic Police Officers VP Erik Melendez table
Max McMillan, Letitia Lopez, Magda Gomez and Alysha Ellis
Esperanza Executive Director Victor Ruiz
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