Photo credit: Neshan H. Naltchayan
“We decided we’re not going to shut this down,” said actor Jimmy Smits at the Annual National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts’ Noche de Gala….. and they didn’t. Over three hundred guests poured into the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel to show their support for the annual gala.
Jimmy Smits
Foundation founders actor Esai Morales, actress Merel Julia and attorney Felix Sanchez also gave a thumbs up to the organization they founded in 1997 to advance the interests of Latinos in America.
Esai Morales
The event brings together Latinos in Congress, although we don’t know how they fared this year. Hopefully they did better than Congress itself with the help of La Santa Cecilia band that revved up partiers while “members” were still embroiled in a political stalemate on Capitol Hill.
They were joined by actor, Nicholas Gonzalez (center)
The evening honored entertainer Rita Moreno, the only Latino American to win an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and an Oscar who is perhaps best known for her performance in the Broadway hit West Side Story.
Rita Moreno
Among the benefits of the fundraiser was a check presented by Ford Motor Company in the amount of twenty five thousand dollars.
With the debt ceiling vote coming up on October 17th, they may want to store it in a safe place!
