Luis Enrique Chairs ‘St. Jude Night of Hope’ to Benefit Children with Catastrophic Diseases

Dallas, TX – St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, one of the world’s premier centers for the research and treatment of pediatric cancers and other catastrophic childhood diseases, will celebrate its second annual Night of Hope, Noche de Esperanza, presented by United Service Association For Health Care, on Saturday, April 15 at the Westin Park Central Hotel in Dallas, Texas.Latin Grammy nominated salsa singer Luis Enrique will serve as Honorary Celebrity Chair for the gala. Andrés Ruzo, CEO of Link America Inc., and his wife Ana have joined as Honorary Local Chairs, and Mauricio Navarro will serve as Event Chairman.

The ceremony will feature live performances by Luis Enrique and Fernando Osorio. Masters of Ceremonies for the event will be Derek Castillo, NBC5 Sports Anchor & Reporter and Claudia Hinojosa, Noticiero 39 Telemundo Co-Anchor.

Night of Hope, Noche de Esperanza will bring together members of Dallas’ social, corporate and entertainment communities in an exclusive event to raise funds to support the life-saving mission of St. Jude.

“As a supporter of St. Jude over the past 17 years, United Service Association For Health Care is honored to be the Presenting Sponsor for Night of Hope, Noche de Esperanza. Our foundation deeply believes in the hopes and dreams and great strides that St. Jude has achieved and will achieve in fighting catastrophic childhood diseases,” said Lana Montgomery Couch, president of USA+ Foundation.

This year St. Jude is honoring Nicaraguan-born recording artist Luis Enrique, who has been a great supporter of the hospital since 2002. Luis performed at the 2005 Angels & Stars Gala in Miami, FL and at the 2006 Promesa y Esperanza Radio Training Seminar in Memphis, TN. Luis visited St. Jude in December of 2005, along with a group of Hispanic artists and songwriters. He has also visited the St. Jude affiliate clinics in Panamá and Nicaragua.

“I had the opportunity to visit the hospital and some of its affiliate clinics last year,” said Luis Enrique.“St. Jude is improving the survival rates of children with catastrophic illnesses worldwide through the transfer of knowledge and technology.The International Outreach Program transfers the progress achieved in the treatment of childhood cancer in developed countries to those with limited resources. Words cannot express how thankful and blessed I am to be a part of such a wonderful organization.”

The evening’s activities will begin at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails and a silent auction.The ceremony will include an elegant dinner, followed by live performances by Fernando Osorio and Luis Enrique.

Event sponsors include United Service Association For Health Care, Southwest Airlines, Telemundo 39, NBC 5 / KXAS-TV, Coors Brewing Company, AT&T, Comerica Bank, Recuerdo 94.1 FM, La Voz Del Pueblo 1270 AM, Al Dia, Ben E. Keith Company and Chase Bank.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tenn., St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. No family ever pays for treatments not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. St. Jude is financially supported by ALSAC, its fund-raising organization. For more information, please visit www.stjude.org.