During a gala dinner hosted on Wednesday April 9th, four leading distributors in Mexico took the stage, each accompanied by a World Vision sponsored child in Mexico. Between the four - including Anixter, Inalarm, TVC en Linea and Syscom - they already sponsor almost 300 children. Lucy Rivero, founder of Inalarm, spoke on behalf of the group, noting that, “while we compete vigorously in the market, we are united in attacking poverty in Mexico where 4.5 million children live in extreme poverty."

When the distributors took the stage at the dinner, Mission 500 in Mexico had 409 sponsored children. Lucy Rivero directly challenged the audience to help them reach their milestone of 500 children while the dinner was taking place. Immediately, Syscom committed to 20 more children, followed by Anixter committing to another 18 and TVC en Linea committing to another 20. Over 40 more children were subsequently sponsored that evening by a group of companies and individuals present at the gala dinner.

“It is wonderful to see four of Mexico’s leading companies publicly stand up at an event like this, in front of local industry professionals, and show strong leadership in combating child poverty in partnership with Word Vision," said George Fletcher, Mission 500 Volunteer and Advisory Board member. “They are to be commended for inspiring so many others; many companies and individuals are joining the effort because of this."

During the same event, the show organizers, led by Ed Several (Senior Vice-President of Reed Exhibitions) and Andrea Ferrando (Show Director), presented a cheque to World Vision Mexico for US $10,000, representing part of the proceeds raised from the sales of gala dinner tickets.

In presenting World Vision with the cheque, Andrea Ferrando of ExpoSeguridad and Executive Board member for Mission 500, said, “There are over 50 million people living in poverty in Mexico; 10 million are children, many of whom live on the streets in sub-standard living conditions. It is our duty as a company doing business in Mexico to raise awareness of their plight and contribute in any way we can."

On Friday April 11th after the 12th edition of Exposeguridad Mexico, a number of security professionals visited the World Vision sponsored community Ecatepec, located on the outskirts of Mexico City. Herve Fages, Senior Vice-President of Pelco by Schneider Electric, who was part of the group said, “Spending time with the local volunteers and the kids of Ecatepec makes me realise how privileged we are and how Mission 500 makes a huge difference in the life of the kids - and also to their families. The holistic approach of Mission 500, to analyse and provide the tools necessary for the family to better themselves and prepare a better future for the kids, is amazing."

This latest achievement for Mission 500 comes directly after their successful fundraising drive at ISC West 2014 in Las Vegas, where over US $110,000 was raised. Mission 500 will continue to work hard in Mexico, and continue adding to the number of children sponsored.