Congratulations to the 2016 Alumni Honorees
Denisse Pichardo
Director, Caminante Proyecto Educativo
Areas Served: Dominican Republic
First Honored: 2011 Humanitarian Award
Caminante Proyecto Educativo provides care to the vulnerable children of Boca Chica, Dominican Republic. Denisse and the organization ensure these children and teenagers have the opportunity to live up to their full potential. This includes rescuing and sheltering youth victims of the sex tourism industry and preventative programs to ensure vulnerable youth are not forced into the industry. Services include educational support, technical training, therapy, health care, legal guidance, and extracurricular activities.
Since First Being Honored….
Since Denisse was first honored by World of Children in 2011, Caminante has served over 17,000 children and adolescents. Over the past few years, Denisse has seen more and more vulnerable children and teenagers coming to live on the streets and beaches of Boca Chica, where they often end up in the commercial sex trade. As this has become a larger threat to children, Caminante has focused more resources specifically on preventing this type of exploitation. Thanks in large part to her recognition as a World of Children Honoree, Denisse and Caminante have received recognition and support from UNICEF and have also been able to expand their work with the Hoteliers Association of the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation in Tourism.
Dr. Ashok Banskota
Founding Chairman, Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children (HRDC)
Areas Served: Nepal
First Honored: 2011 Health Award
HRDC focuses on treating underprivileged children with orthopedic disabilities. Dr. Banskota’s holistic approach to helping physically disabled children starts with identification, includes treatment and rehabilitation, and follows through to social re-integration for patients. Each year, HRDC provides almost 20,000 consultations and performs between 1,500 and 2,000 major surgical interventions.
Since First Being Honored….
Since Dr. Banskota was first honored by World of Children in 2011, HRDC has conducted over 100,000 consultations and performed 5,000 surgeries. HRDC has secured a partnership with UNICEF to work in three remote districts of Nepal – bringing specialized medical care to some of the country’s most vulnerable children. Last spring, Dr. Banskota and HRDC’s response to the devastating earthquake was swift and decisive. HRDC began surveying damages and reaching out to victims to offer help within 24 hours of the devastating quake. In partnership with another local hospital, HRDC has helped hundreds of earthquake survivors in the last 9 months.
Ryan Hreljac
Founder, The Ryan’s Well Foundation
Areas Served: Sub Saharan and West Africa, Haiti
First Honored: 2003 Youth Award
The Ryan’s Well Foundation brings clean water and sanitation to vulnerable youth and their families in order to help them lead healthier lives. The foundation grew out of an idea Ryan had when he was just 6 years old to help children have access to clean water. By providing communities and schools with access to potable water and sanitation, Ryan’s Well has successfully empowered a million people in 1,000 communities across 16 countries. Clean water allows children to attend school and their entire families to lead happier, healthier, more productive lives.
Since First Being Honored….
Since Ryan was first honored by World of Children in 2003, he has helped motivate youth to become more engaged in the world water crisis through public speaking events in more than 40 countries. He has helped to educate students around the world about the importance of clean water and encouraged students to become active, responsible citizens of the planet. Ryan’s Wells Foundation recently completed their 1000th well and has helped over 300,000 children live healthier lives since 2003.
About 2016 Alumni Honors
In 2015, we hosted our inaugural Alumni Honors in Beverly Hills, CA. The event was created to recognize previous recipients of the World of Children for the way they leveraged their award far beyond what any of us could have anticipated — delivering even more profound impact for children. Each Alumni Honoree attends the event to receive their Award in person, giving guests an opportunity to hear first-hand about the work their donations are funding. This year, the Award includes a cash grant to each Honoree to continue their outstanding work with children. For more information or to RSVP, visit our 2016 Alumni Honors page.