
For the past 12 years, The Betsy and its affiliated charity, PG Family Foundation, has supported a charity in Zimbabwe, called Zara’s Center for AIDS Impacted Youth. Zara’s Center was founded by The Betsy ownership in 2007. It feeds, educates, and provides medical intervention for 135 children, ages of 5 and 16. And every year we build a team to run the NYC Marathon, raising funds to keep the Center open and thriving.
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To date, more than 100 runners have run with a Zara’s Center Bib, and this year The Betsy’s IT Director – Ricardo Sevilla - will join the team for the second time. Ricardo is a technology professional responsible for The Betsy’s entire property collection of computers and Audio Visual equipment – and he also participates in strategic discussion about how to make the end-to-end Betsy Hotel experience, 21st Century. He’s a multi-talented person with deep personal interests in wide-ranging other things too, such as portrait photography (ricardosevilla.com), calligraphy, letter writing, archery, cooking, and rare scotch. And he’s the parent of an adorable little girl.
The New York City Marathon is an annual race that touches all five boroughs of NYC, and as the largest marathon in the world, there are over 50,000 finishers and 100,000 applicants annually. Runners that compete for Zara’s Center receive gratis entry to the race if they commit to raising $3,000 for a charitable cause. Ricardo ran for Zara’s Center in 2016 – and here is his picture at the finish line!

We invite the entire Betsy Hotel Family (staff, guests, and the greater community) to become part of Zara’s Center’s Marathon Team this year by donating to Ricardo’s race. Your gift is tax deductible with 100% of donations used to support life-saving programs for the children served through our Center in Zimbabwe. Please feel free to contact [email protected] to inquire about joining the team this year, or in future years.