Sunday, March 26, the Hispanic Community of Great Neck held their 10th annual Fundraising Dinner at the United States Merchant Marine Academy with over 165 people, including many dignitaries, in attendance.

Co-chairman Assemblyman Thomas P. DiNapoli, Reverend Monsignor Brendon Riordan and Dr. William A. Shine join with Hispanic Community of Great Neck, Inc. in thanking all of those who contributed to and supported this very worthwhile celebration.

Christopher Echeandia and Marina Rodriguez, students at Great Neck South High School, were the guest speakers. Their speeches follow:

Good evening, distinguished guests and members of the Hispanic Community of Great Neck. My name is Marina Rodriguez; I am currently a senior in Great Neck South High School.

Specific events in my life have shaped me into the person that I am today. Spending a large part of my time in Great Neck has provided me with a great variety of experiences and interests. My family moved to this town at the end of my elementary school years. My parents wanted me to have the opportunity to challenge myself and expand my mind. I had not been given this at my old school.

Great Neck South allowed me to take part in their honors program. They didn't see me as a minority, but as a student who if given a chance could rise to her full potential. Throughout the course of my years at South, I have encountered teachers who have been willing to take the extra time to explain the topics I had not understood. They pushed me forward so that I could excel.

At times, it is difficult to be the minority, but I am fortunate enough to have parents that truly love and care for me. My mother has always told me of the importance of holding on to your identify, an identity that shows through honesty, respect and responsibility. Through her I understood the importance of never losing sight of who I am and to be proud of my ethnicity. I planned to work hard and do well in school, to be my own person and not be ashamed of myself, to be responsible and mature, and to act as a role model.

As a senior in high school, I can proudly say I have achieved these goals. My membership in the Hispanic Culture Club, of which this year I am president, has brought me closer to many others like myself, who are proud of our gregarious culture. We not only show pride in our culture but encourage unity as well, despite our differences. I have also participated in Hispanic Homework Help; a free tutoring service designed to give academic support to children of Hispanic decent. I have found great joy and fulfillment in helping these children and their families. It is an opportunity to give Hispanic children the same faith and courage I have gained.

As a proud Hispanic woman, I have high hopes of contributing to the impressions Hispanics are making on American society and culture. We are a growing race and we all have dreams of a better future for the Hispanic population, but united as one and through hard work and perseverance, we can make those dreams a reality.

Distinguished guests, members of the Hispanic community of Great Neck, my name is Christopher Echeandia, vice president of the Hispanic Culture Club of Great Neck South High School. I came from Brooklyn and took a step in an opposite direction. Sixteen years ago, I was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, but until 8 or so that was just a place on a map. That sweet sounding salsa my mother played each Sunday when she cleaned the house was just music I couldn't dance to. Then, at about that time I realized that this was all part of who I am. Since I was young my mother has always said, "You can be anything you want to, just remember you already have one strike against you, you're Hispanic and you can change anything except for the fact that you are Hispanic." I never fully understood this early on but as I grew older I began to understand what it meant and how prejudice and ignorance played a crucial part. It would continue to play a part in my life until this day. In fact it took a speaker at my junior high school graduation to help me realize it. When Assemblyman Juan Martinez spoke at my graduation, he spoke about what it takes to make it in life as a Hispanic. His speech filled with Spanish phrases and blatant reality, inspired me in spite of the ignorance I had faced throughout my life. The unfortunate thing is that because of the same ignorance, it will play a part in many Hispanic's lives. The only weapon, or should I say the best weapon, against it is education and organizations like The Hispanic Community of Great Neck.

I speak to you today having seen what prejudice, hate and ignorance is. From little things like people following you in a store to calling you a spic or a welfare recipient, that make you feel smaller of a person. But I take it all in stride and it makes me a stronger person. My viewpoints have changed since I was younger, because today being Hispanic, being Puerto Rican is the largest gift I have ever received.

To many people the word Hispanic means one thing; that we are one race. In society there is no Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, El Salvadorian, Guatemalan, Peruvian, Chilean, Colombian, Mexican, Spanish...just Hispanic. Granted we are united under the language, but still very different. But the difference is not seen. In fact in my math teacher's eyes "my kind" didn't belong in the prestigious school I attended in ninth grade. I didn't cry that day, I didn't get angry, I was disappointed; disappointed in the fact that a woman with so much knowledge still had so much to learn.

Here in Great Neck I received relief from what I have seen before. The education I receive from my school is the same as that received by the white student that sits in front of me in chemistry, the black student that sits to the left of me in American History, and the middle eastern student that sits to the right of me in Spanish. I appreciate the fact that teachers at my school realize a mind has no race. The knowledge I will gain at Great Neck South High School is what has and is going to even more prepare me for adulthood and give me the tools to break stereotypes about not only Hispanics but minorities in general. Here in Great Neck, I see us as Latinos thriving more and more each day in face of prejudice and ignorance. Every year more and more Hispanics are moving on to higher education after high school. Which leads me to tonight, to now. Tonight I speak to you hoping you will take something from this night; the same way I did as I walked out of the auditorium doors at my eighth grade graduation.

That sweet sounding salsa my mother plays every Sunday is different now because it evokes the rhythm in my feet and I just have to dance.