MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Univision Communications, Inc., the leading media company serving Hispanic America, and the TeletónUSA Foundation, concluded their seven-city tour in San Antonio on Tuesday, August 6, 2013 with the laying of a cornerstone of a $17 million facility, CRIT Texas, the first U.S. CRIT rehabilitation center for children. The CRIT aims to better the lives of children with neuromusculoskeletal disabilities through comprehensive rehabilitation, promoting young patients’ full development and inclusion into society.
As a direct result of the success TeletónUSA and the Univision Network achieved during its first historic telethon, which aired in the U.S. last December, the “Tour of Giving” kicked off earlier this summer distributing the more than $15 million raised to various children’s hospitals and facilities throughout the country. The “Tour of Giving” landed in Miami, New York, Chicago, Memphis, Boston and Los Angeles before concluding in San Antonio.
“The overwhelming support we have received from civic leaders, hospital administrators and the U.S. Hispanic community in each leg of the 'Tour of Giving’ has been positively remarkable,” said Univision Communications Inc. President and CEO, Randy Falco. “The nationwide initiative is the embodiment of the promise we made last year during TeletónUSA 2012, and we are thankful that we have had the opportunity to see first-hand where these funds are going and the faces of the children this donation will help."
“Events like this are a reminder of the good that is essential to the human character and a reminder of the instinct we all have to do the right thing for our friends in need,” Gov. Perry said. “The greatest gift to the human race is our ability to love and to care for one another in good times and bad, and this new facility will stand as a promise of a better life for all our children.”
Univision Networks President Cesar Conde added, “Our mission at Univision is to inform, entertain and empower Hispanic America and the TeletonUSA partnership perfectly captures that spirit and those values. The ‘Tour of Giving’ is a natural extension of the work we do for our community 365 days a year, both nationally and locally. We are grateful for the support and participation we have received, which helped us double our goal, collecting more than $15 million in donations.”
“It is fitting that San Antonio is the first home for a CRIT rehabilitation center outside of Mexico,” said Mayor Julián Castro said. “We are grateful that this partnership came together and look forward to the excellent level of care and compassion that will soon be afforded to thousands of deserving children.”
The final event was attended by The Honorable Governor Rick Perry as well as San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. “Sal y Pimienta” (Salt and Pepper) co-host Lourdes Stephen and “Despierta America” co-host Raul Gonzalez served as moderators of the important event. Also in attendance were Univision Networks President Cesar Conde, TeletonUSA Foundation President Fernando Landeros Verdugo and other Univision and Teleton executives.
Modeled after the successful operations of several CRIT Mexico facilities, CRIT Texas will offer services for children with neuromusculoskeletal disabilities. The facility will house comprehensive rehabilitation services aimed at providing aid for the physical, psychological, social and spiritual challenges of children with focus on patients’ interests, aspirations, and family and social circumstances. CRIT Texas will also offer cutting-edge technology where faculty will work alongside an interdisciplinary team to follow their model of care and best practices, ensuring the rehabilitation process of each child is comprehensive and complete. With capabilities of treating close to 2,000 patients, CRIT Texas will be built and unveiled prior to TeletonUSA 2014, which will air in December and be broadcast on the Univision Network.
“We could have built this rehab center in any other state of the US, but we have opted for Texas, we finally decided on San Antonio, because we know the extent of the latino values. San Antonio is one of the oldest and richest Hispanic communities in the nation. Allow me to call it home for the first time.
“The CRIT is a model of unconditional love. Where children are human beings; worthy human beings, deserving of all the love and all the science we can provide, with a model of therapeutic intensiveness, comprehensive and humane support, family presence, leading edge technology. As our mission expresses: love and science in service of life!” said TeletonUSA Foundation President Fernando Landeros.
The TeletónUSA and Univision “Tour of Giving” distributed more than $15.2 million raised during the 2012 telethon among seven children's hospitals across the U.S. including:
- Miami Children’s Hospital in Miami, FL., $300,000: Funding will help fund the development of a four-room Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) unit to be housed in the new Advanced Pediatric Care Pavilion at Miami Children’s Hospital.
- SNACK & Friends (Special Needs Activity Center for Kids) in New York City, NY., $15,000: The donation will be used for sensory workshop materials for SNACK & Friends after school and weekend programs, providing support to children and teens with autism spectrum disorders and similar disabilities. The donation will enhance an already rich environment that fosters engagement, play, language and socialization between children, staff and peers.
- Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Ill., $300,000: The gift for Lurie Children's will help fund interpreting services, culturally relevant programs for Latino families as well as support “Luz del Corazon,” a Spanish-language bereavement program.
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN., $100,000: The gift for St. Jude Children’s Hospital will help St. Jude expand and enhance computational biology capabilities. The computational biology team will be housed within a new building on the St. Jude campus. When finished, this building will be a hub for discovery and progress in the fight against childhood cancer.
- Boston Children’s Hospital in Boston, MA., $300,000: The donation to Boston Children’s Hospital will support Boston Children’s Hospital and the Milan Para Niños Initiative.
- Children´s Hospital Los Angeles in Los Angeles, CA., $700,000: Donations given to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles will be used for the construction and purchase of equipment for its inpatient rehabilitation center’s renovation project.
For more information, please visit Univision.com/TeletonUSA.
About TeletónUSA
In 2012, Fundación Teletón México (Mexico Teletón Foundation) launched “TeletónUSA”. Teleton USA is a nonprofit US Foundation that seeks to serve children with neuromusculoskeletal disabilities through comprehensive rehabilitation, promoting the children´s full development and inclusion into society and making a major change in their lives and those around them.
About Univision Communications Inc.
Univision Communications Inc., UCI is the leading media company serving Hispanic America. Its assets include Univision Network, one of the top five networks in the U.S. regardless of language and the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the country reaching 96% of U.S. Hispanic households; UniMás, a leading Spanish-language broadcast television network reaching 89% of U.S. Hispanic households; Univision Cable Networks, including Galavisión, the country’s leading Spanish-language cable network, as well as Univision tlnovelas, a 24-hour cable network dedicated to novelas, Univision Deportes Network, a 24-hour cable network dedicated to sports, ForoTV, a 24-hour Spanish-language cable network dedicated to news, and an additional suite of six cable offerings - De Película, De Película Clásico, Bandamax, Ritmoson, Telehit and Distrito Comedia; UVideos, the first bilingual digital network serving Hispanic America; Univision Studios, which produces and co-produces reality shows, dramatic series and other programming formats for the Company’s platforms; Univision Television Group, which owns and/or operates 62 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision Radio, the leading Hispanic radio group which owns and/or operates 69 radio stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision Interactive, a network of products and offerings including Univision.com, which continues to be the No. 1 most-visited Spanish-language website among U.S. online Hispanics, Univision Móvil, a longstanding industry-leader with unique, relevant mobile products and services, and Univision Partner Group, a specialized advertising and publisher network. Headquartered in New York City, UCI has television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. For more information, please visit Univision.net.
