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Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Debbie Wasserman Schultz received a thank you for working into the House budget a request for $300,000 for the Center for Excellence in Early Education.

Posted on Sat, Oct. 10, 2009

Philanthropic women of the United Way gather to celebrate good works
BY BRITON ALONSO
balonso@MiamiHerald.com

ALLISON DIAZ / FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

Nearly 1,000 of Miami's most philanthropic women gathered Friday at the University of Miami to celebrate their work with United Way Women's Leadership, a group that has raised $6 billion to help the needy in South Florida.

Doctors, teachers, bankers, lawyers, full-time mothers and community service volunteers attended the ninth annual Women's Leadership Breakfast, whose keynote speaker was Ann Compton, ABC News correspondent.

Leslie Saiontz, who co-chaired the event with her mother, Sue Miller, paid homage to the ``challenges of balancing careers, family and our community . . . and these women who embrace the challenge each and every day with such grace and success.''

The women heard a touching story from a recipient of their largess.

Xenia Cotarelo, 19, dropped out of high school at 14 and became pregnant at 15. With help from the Center for Excellence in Early Education, a United Way group, she graduated from high school and is pursuing an associate's degree in science at Miami Dade College. She wants to be a forensic pathologist.

She takes classes on raising children while her daughter, Xenia, attends preschool there.

``The center is not only a place that empowers us parents to be better parents, but a place for our kids to grow and learn, too,'' Cotarelo said.

She was clearly honored to speak, telling the audience she hopes to be sitting among them in the near future.

One of those women was Compton, who regaled the crowd with stories of covering seven presidents, in between having four children.

She traveled extensively, including taking a memorable trip to India, Pakistan and other South Asian countries with then-first lady Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea. The trip illustrated the plight of girls and women in the developing world.

``We visited Mother Teresa's orphanage . . . and every single baby was a baby girl, '' said Compton, noting they were abandoned babies. ``And these were the lucky ones.''

The next day, they visited a hospital in Bangladesh. They found only baby boys.

``The staff said, `Well, women aren't going to walk a day and a half . . for a sick daughter, but they will for a son.' ''

Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Debbie Wasserman Schultz received a thank you for working into the House budget a request for $300,000 for the Center for Excellence in Early Education.
 
 
 


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