The March for Los Ninos

The Southern California Chapter of the March of Dimes honored four outstanding Latino professionals for their leadership in enhancing the lives of Latino families at its Sixth Annual A Salud de Los Ninos Awards Gala, held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel.

For her effort to raise awareness of the need for prenatal care among Latinas, Aliza A. Lifshitz, an internist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, received the health award. “Dr. Aliza,” as she is known to her fans, spreads her message through Spanish-language radio, television, a syndicated newspaper column and her book, “Mama Sana, Bebe Sano,” a bilingual publication on pregnancy and childbirth. As spokeswoman for the March of Dimes Proyecto Salud Latina, she is on a mission--spreading the word in the Latino community that taking 400 micrograms of folic acid daily to reduce the risk of neural tube defects (spinal bifida) and infant mortality is imperative. “Life isn’t always fair,” she said. Latinos have a high incidence of folic acid deficiency and the highest birth rate (47.5%) among California’s ethnic groups. “Because they are less likely to seek prenatal care in the first trimester, and less likely to have health coverage, they are 40% to 50% more likely to have preemies or babies born with defects that might otherwise have been prevented.”

Actress Carmen Zapata, a former honoree, presented the entertainment award to Jose Hernandez, founder and director of Mariachi Sol De Mexico. Hernandez, who grew up in Pico Rivera and started performing with his father and grandfather when he was 3, has taken his music around the world. In April, they introduced their music to North Korea and Beijing. “We played arrangements of their old folk songs,” he said, “And out of 40 countries that sent musicians, they had us close the show every night. They’d never heard mariachi music before!” Hernandez will be off to Miami in September, for the Grammys--his is the first mariachi group ever nominated for the award. In 1991, Hernandez established the Mariachi Heritage Society to help children connect with their own musical traditions. More than 4,000 students have participated in the classes provided by the program.

Former diplomat Gregorio Luke, who became director of the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach in 1999, received the education award for his longtime promotion of Mexican art and culture in museums here and abroad. In the audience, looking on with pride, was Luke’s mother, the renowned Mexican choreographer Gloria Contreras. “For me, this honor has special meaning,” said Luke. “Because even before I came to the United States, I heard about the March of Dimes from my mom, who danced with the New York City Ballet. She often told me about a short ballet [“Resurgence”] that George Balanchine created for a March of Dimes benefit in which Balanchine played the villain, ‘Polio,’ and Tanaquil Le Clercq, then 15, played his paralyzed victim, whose health is restored by a shower of dimes. Ironically, Le Clercq, who later married Balanchine, contracted polio at 27 and never danced again. The tragedy haunted and humbled Balanchine so that he opened up and when my mother came to him with her Mexican pieces he admitted her to the company, where she worked for many years. In a way, my mother got her big break out of a tragedy.”

The business award went to Amalia Gonzalez, who has received numerous accolades in the past for her community service. Born in Jalisco, Mexico, her first job was announcing sponsors of traffic reports on a local Spanish language radio station. Soon she was hosting her own radio show on Sundays and she’s now program director of Radio Recuerdo 103.9 FM and the founder of Mujeres en Accion, which recently rebuilt an orphanage in Tijuana.

Diane Medina, director of Diversity Programs at Walt Disney Co., chaired the event, which raised more than $70,000 to benefit Comenzando Bien and Proyecto Salud Latina. Tony Valdez of Fox 11 News emceed the program, which ended with a performance by Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, America’s first all-female mariachi group.

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Information for Social Circuits can be directed to Patt Diroll in Los Angeles or Ann Conway in Orange County. Diroll is at pattdiroll@earthlink.net; Conway at (714) 966-5952 or, by fax, (714) 966-7790.