Voices Director Abigail Price-Williams, assistant HSBC Senior VP and Group Head George Crosby, Adela Mones and HSBC Senior Vice President Voices Board Chairman Yolanda Berkowitz, county attorney; Richard Bond, HSBC vice pres-Voices Director Veena Panjabi, HSBC Senior VP and Deputy Manager Jose Ortega at Reflections Executive Director Nestor Rodriguez and Conrad ident. Antonio Suarez-Obregon at lunch. Miami General Manager Robert Thrailkill, who presents them the Reflections in Excellence Award.
Voices For Children Foundation reaches out to Miami-Dade’s Angels
Voices For Children Foundation was one of the first 12 organizations selected for Reflections in Excellence, which is aimed at improving the community by strengthening the efforts of not-for-profit groups through a free luncheon at Conrad Miami. The organization raises funds to support Miami-Dade’s Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) Program in its efforts to provide every abused, abandoned and neglected child with a representative voice to speak for the best interest of dependent children in court proceedings. The children’s charity used this opportunity to reach out to contributors for its premier donor program, The Angel Society. Through this program, a minimum contribution of $500 provides one abused and neglected child involved in dependency court proceedings with a Guardian Ad Litem volunteer for one year. This amount reflects the cost incurred by Miami-Dade’s GAL Program in representing a child for that period. Members can join to be Angels at different levels, from Angel Donors at $500 to Diamond Angel Donors at $10,000, giving one or many children the protection, care and oversight support that a Guardian Ad Litem provides. On Feb. 23, Voices For Children Foundation’s 20 potential Angels gathered for the Reflections in Excellence Luncheon, sponsored by Miami Today and Conrad Miami.	Linda Slade and Daron Fitch.
The guest list included Michael Lewis, Miami Today’s publisher; Robert Thrailkill, Conrad Miami’s general manager; Voices Board Chairwoman Yolanda Berkowitz; and Voices Board directors Veena Panjabi and Abigail Price-Williams. HSBC executives Richard Bond, vice president and branch manager; Patricia Algaze, vice president and senior manager community development; Antonio Suarez-Obregon, senior vice president; George Crosby, senior vice president and group head-Brazil; Jose Ortega, senior vice president and deputy manager; and Christopher Whyte, senior vice president, were also present. Several top representatives of the international financial-services company have shown great interest in offering continued support to the organization through financial contributions and employee involvement. “Leadership is key to our fundraising efforts. The corporate sector has a unique opportunity to play a key role in participating in the Angel Program, therefore setting the example for other corporations to follow,” commented Nestor A. Rodriguez, Voices For Children’s executive director. In 2005, Voices For Children provided more than $1,145,373 to the Guardian Ad Litem Program, which represented 44% of its total operating budget. This helped the GAL Program advocate for 3,349 children in 1,770 cases and recruit and certify 134 volunteers. For more information on how to become and Angel or contribute to Voices For Children, call (305) 324-5678 or visit www.voices4.org.