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Letters | WHYY & Hispanics

IN LIGHT of recent articles regarding the upcoming PBS/Ken Burns documentary "The War," I want to share WHYY's plans to enhance the series with local content, and let you know about the many services we provide specifically for the Delaware Valley's Hispanic and Latino communities.

IN LIGHT of recent articles regarding the upcoming PBS/Ken Burns documentary "The War," I want to share WHYY's plans to enhance the series with local content, and let you know about the many services we provide specifically for the Delaware Valley's Hispanic and Latino communities.

Leading up to the broadcast, WHYY will use our newly acquired mobile production vehicle, the Y Arts Van, to capture the stories of the region's World War II veterans and their families, with particular attention to Hispanic and minority veterans.

Our commitment to the region's Hispanic and Latino communities did not begin with this initiative. WHYY's accredited Children's Service Outreach Workshops provide free literacy training for parents, teachers and day care-providers throughout the region. The WHYY Children's Service department coordinated 145 educational outreach events last year, nearly half of them in Spanish or bilingually.

WHYY is working on a multi-media partnership with the Daily News and the Committee of Seventy called the Next Mayor.

To inform voters about the issues in the mayoral race, the Next Mayor partnered with Congreso de Latinos Unidos for an informative voter registration event, where attendees recorded messages to the mayoral candidates in Spanish.

These messages are available on the project's Web site, TheNextMayor.com. Content from the project is also distributed via a media partnership with Spanish-language TV network, Univision.

WHYY is in the finishing stages of a multi-year project to translate the highly successful PBS program, GED Connection, into Spanish. GED Connection is a multi-media learning system that helps participants obtain a high school equivalency diploma. WHYY will work with Congreso de Latinos Unidos to distribute the translated programs to sites throughout the region.

WHYY has a rich tradition of service to the region's Hispanic and Latino communities.

Bill Marrazzo

President & CEO, WHYY