Advocate and Actor Edward James Olmos to Keynote at Hopelink Annual Luncheon

This is the most important yearly fundraiser for Hopelink, the Eastside’s largest social services agency working with poor families and the homeless. Last year, supporters raised a record one million dollars to help people in need in the community.

In 1988, Olmos received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Jaime Escalante, the eccentric but dedicated math teacher, in Stand And Deliver, which he also produced. Olmos also won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of Lt. Castillo on the popular television series Miami Vice. Olmos also makes time to participate in many humanitarian efforts. He is a US Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, and a national spokesperson for organizations such as the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. He has worked with David Rockefeller of the Rockefeller Foundation, and serves on the boards of many groups and organizations.

He is also the executive director of the Lives In Hazard Educational Project, a national gang prevention program funded by the US Dept. of Justice. He speaks at an average of 150 institutions each year. He also played an instrumental role in the cleanup efforts after the LA riots, the 1993 Los Angeles earthquake, and Hurricane Andrew in Florida. For more information about Hopelink’s Reaching Out Luncheon, call Venetia Vango at 425.897.3703.