WINNERS OF THE 2009 HELPARGENTINA SOCIAL AMBASSADORS AWARDS

Name of the Ambassador: Gabriela Argüello Fiorenza

Gabriela is an Argentinean now living in Luxemburg who has been holding fundraising events for the Fundación Cruzada Patagónica since 2004.  Gabriela specifically supports two agro-technical schools that are integrated into the educational program of the organization. The students inthese schools come from isolated, rural regions of Patagonia and would not have access to secondary education or professional training without these programs.

Name of the Ambassador: Mario Raimondi
Mario Raimondi, born in Rosario, has lived in Holland for the past 8 years. He founded the Fundación Desafío,  to raise funds, through donations and events, to be used for the development of cultural, athletics, and educational programs in Argentina. 
Through the Desafío Foundation, Mario not only plans the programs but also manages funds so that the programs can be operated in a sustainable manner.  The foundation works to integrate at risk youth into society and currently works with 35 boys and girls from ages 7 to 13 from the villages La Lata and Moreno. 
Since the Desafio Foundation was established, the organization has been able to raise over 28,000 euros through various fundraising events that have attracted more than 800 people in Holland and more than 2,000 in Argentina.

Name of the Ambassador: Pablo Blank

Pablo is an Argentinean from Córdoba who lives in Washington DC. For two years, he was the president CEGA (The Center for Argentine Students and Graduates in the United States) and he has consistently worked to bring together Argentineans in the exterior to support projects in Argentina

Reflecting Pablo’s fundraising efforts from the United States, during the two years of his leadership CEGA sent more than 40,000 dollars to different organizations in the Argentinean social sector.

Among the institutions that received donations are: the Fundación Mempo Giardinelli, dedicated to promoting reading and education in Taco Pozo in the impenetrable Chaco region, and the Fundación Gente Nueva, that has provided scholarships to 120 children so that they can have access to primary and secondary education in Villa Soldati.

Name of the Ambassador: Alejandro Itkin

Alejandro is one of the co-founders of the Fundación Argentina Chicago, whose objective is to raise funds to build elementary schools in rural regions of Argentina. Alejandro has always been a source of innovative ideas, an effective fundraiser, and an efficient manager of funds. Under his leadership, the Foundation has built 4 schools, remodeled one, and is now in the process of constructing another.

In addition, in May of this year, Alejandro donated the money raised from the sale of everything in his house in Chicago, including furniture, paintings, televisions, music equipment, to the Fundación Argentina Chicago. As a result, he raised almost all the funds necessary for the construction of a center for mothers and infants in Chaco.

Under Alejandro’s leadership, the Fundación Argentina Chicago has raised more than 10,000 dollars, from more than 300 people and businesses.

Since his move to Miami, Alejandro, along with other Argentines, has created a new organization called "Sumando Manos", which sponsors 10 schools in the interior of Argentina by providing medical assistance, equipment, clothing, utilities, etc. 

<Name of the Ambassadors: Lisa Czako, Eduardo Gallardo and Carlos Glandt

Eduardo, Lisa and Carlos are a fundamental part of the Fundación Argentina-Holandesa de Solidaridad. Since 2002, the Foundation has hosted cultural and social events to raise funds for social projects in Argentina.

La Fundación Argentino-Holandesa de Solidaridad is registered as an NGO in the Netherlands and the funds raised by the foundation go to a variety of projects in Argentina. To date, the foundation has financed more than 40 projects in different provinces of the country in the areas of education, health, and entrepreneurship, among others.

Together, Lisa, Eduardo, and Carlos have raised funds, sought the participation of new partners, and, in particular, sought out donations from restaurants and businesses that become sponsors of the foundation's events. In the year 2008, they raised approximately 30,000 euros.

As the first winner of the new Award for Compromiso Solidario, HelpArgentina has chosen a man who uses his talents and business skills to help groups of Argentineans construct new futures: the designer Martín Churba. 

Martín Churba is an empresario in the fashion world and he uses his skills to overcome prejudice.  Amonh his projects was the campaign "Pongamos el trabajo de moda para siempre" (Let's always make Work fashionable).

Since 2004, Martín Churba and his company Tramando, have been working with the Cooperativa La Juanita so that its clients can design and sew fashion smocks for to export to Japan.    

Silvia Flores Ifran, The Executive Director of La Juanita, says of Martín Churba:

He created the possibility that a little group of people with big dreams could produce smocks that would be exported to Japan. He never asking anything in exchange, he trained us, but more than anything he showed us that it is possible to overcome prejudice in order to construct an Argentina in which everyone has a place."