Being a Latin American Educational Foundation scholar just got a little nicer for three Colorado college students.
President Barack Obama invited Miranda Alexa Aragon, a freshman at the University of Colorado at Boulder; Adrian Chavez, a freshman at CU-Colorado Springs; and Ashley Anjelica Maestas, a sophomore at Adams State College, to join him at the White House this morning for a ceremony welcoming Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderon, and first lady Margarita Zavala to the United States for a bilateral meeting and state dinner.
The LAEF scholars are accompanied by chairman of the board Don Mares and executive director Jim Chavez.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of us,” Chavez says, “But for our scholarship recipients, it is much more. It is their first time on an airplane and their first trip to Washington, D.C.” In addition to visiting the White House, the group plans to see D.C.’s monuments, memorials and museums.
Women’s Bean Project Luncheon.
“Ready, set, grow” was the theme for the luncheon that the Women’s Bean Project hosted the other day at Seawell Ballroom; and, because it was a fundraiser and graduation ceremony, the words also reflect the difficult journey each participant had successfully completed.
Founded by Jossy Eyre in 1989, the nonprofit organization helps women — some homeless, all in financial straits — get back on their feet by developing skills that can lead to employment. Among other things, they prepare and package soup, chili and salsa mixes, spice rubs, coffee and jelly beans that are sold via catalog and in grocery and gift stores nationwide. The Women’s Bean Project is headquartered at 3201 Curtis St., in what used to be the Denver Fire Department’s Station 10.
Tom Sheffield of Pioneer Natural Resources introduced the graduates, a group represented by Rhian Day, who told the 575 guests how drugs had caused her life to spin out of control and how grateful she was to receive a second chance at life, thanks to the Women’s Bean Project.
CEO Tamra Ryan helped board chair Lisa Cutter welcome such supporters as Vectra Bank executives Janet Lowe and Erica McIntyre; Manpower vice president Sunny Ackerman; Elisabeth Monaghan, president of the Colorado chapter of the Public Relations Society of America; Valerie Switzer; Julia Nelson; Merrill Lynch VP Marti Awad; CoBiz Financial communications specialist Tara Tongco Rojas; and Women’s Bean Project development committee member Sarah Hogan, who hosted a table with Galloway Group VP Cori Plotkin because she enjoys working with an organization “that has such a positive vibe.”
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, davidson and GetItWrite on Twitter
