On October, 15th Ms. Trina Hidalgo from New York, New York agreed to donate $10,000 to Hamilton Friends in order to help fund the 2009 Hamilton Leader Week in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Ms. Hidalgo is passionate about Guatemala and its culture and is very interested in helping young people achieve their dreams. Donating to the Hamilton Friends Guatemala Leader Week allows Ms. Hidalgo to give money to both of those causes.

“The money given to us by Ms. Hidalgo is crucial to insuring we are able to take our students to Guatemala in 2009,” said Carolyn Cox, Development Director at Hamilton Friends. “We will have more students attending this year, up to 25, which means we will need to raise more money.”

Beginning in the summer of 2008, active second year Hamilton Scholars were given the opportunity to attend a Leader Week in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The eight-day program was developed in partnership with Cross-Cultural Solutions of New Rochelle, New York. The week is meant to expand the students' worldview and to expose them to a global perspective. The majority of students' time in Guatemala is spent volunteering, learning about Guatemalan culture and continuing to refine vision and goal setting activities began in the first year of Hamilton Scholars.