A record-busting $720,000 was raised at the Spanish Catholic Center gala Saturday night at the Organization of American States, an event chaired by Franco Nuschese, principal owner of Georgetown’s Café Milano. His Eminence Donald Cardinal Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, and Rev. Mario E. Dorsonville, director of the Spanish Catholic Center, greeted the 400-plus attendees.
Seasoned observers noted that they had never seen the OAS main ballroom so filled with tables, with the overflow stretching into the adjacent balcony area.
(Photo by: James Brantley)
Maureen Orth and Franco Nuschese at the head table
Among the dozens of committee members and others lending significant support to the cause were writer Maureen Orth, Hilda Ochoa Brillembourg and Arturo E. Brillembourg.
Nuschese presented Michele Burke Bowe with the James Cardinal Hickey Award for her service to the immigrants of the Washington DC community. “For 25 years, Michele Bowe has committed herself to service, work and to develop the presence of the Spanish Catholic Center in the Archdiocese of Washington,” said Nuschese.
The silent auction, which consisted of three ultra-luxury trips to Italian dream-vacation spots, and a private tour of the Vatican, raised nearly $120,000 for the charity. Contributing to the auction at the request of Nuschese were the Hotel Certosa di Maggiano in Toscana, the Hotel St. George in Rome, and the Hotel Santa Caterina on the Amalfi Coast.
(Photo by: Natalia Janetti)
Former Congressman Robert Garcia and his wife, Jane, supporting the gala
The Spanish Catholic Center provides health-care, legal, immigration, employment, and social services for the Washington metropolitan area’s Latino community, as well as immigrants from all over the world.
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