AUSTIN, Texas—The 11h annual Club Sembradores de Amistad Valentine’s Day Ball supporting scholarship endowments for underprivileged students at The University of Texas at Austin and three other central Texas educational institutions will be held at 5:30 p.m., Feb. 12 at Austin’s Omni South Park Hotel.
Olga Campos, news anchor at KVUE-TV in Austin, will be the mistress of ceremonies for the formal event, which has paid out about $234,500 for scholarships, said Hilbert R. Maldonado, president of the Austin chapter of Sembradores de Amistad.
Maldonado said the event is open to the public but seating is limited to about 450 people. Tickets for the dinner and dance must be purchased in advance and cannot be bought at the door. Tickets cost $150 a couple. Sponsor tables cost $2,000 for a gold corporate table and $1,250 for a silver corporate table. For details, contact Maldonado at 512-733-7775.
Maldonado said Sembradores gala proceeds go toward endowment funds at The University of Texas at Austin, Concordia University at Austin, Huston-Tillotson College and St. Edward’s University. Only the interest is used for scholarship awards. He said the proceeds build on the principal so future awards will be secure and adequate regardless of economic conditions. Funds allocated to The University of Texas at Austin from the gala proceeds will become a part of the university’s endowed presidential scholarship program.
Nine local families established the Austin Sembradores chapter in 1994 with the help of a long-established chapter in San Antonio, Maldonado said.
Preference for Sembradores scholarships is given to central Texas students who are among the first generation of their families to attend college and who qualify as being “financially and educationally disadvantaged.” Maldonado said the name of the international nonprofit organization, which has its headquarters in Monterrey, N.L., Mexico, means “Sowers of Friendship” in Spanish.
For more information contact: Robert D. Meckel, Office of Public Affairs, 512-475-7847.
