ROCHESTER, NY – Eastman Kodak Company and Yahoo! En Espanol (www.yahooenespanol.com) have partnered to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and give back to the community through “Muestra Tu Herencia” (Show Your Heritage), a unique interactive online photo-sharing program where users can submit digital photos on www.yahooenespanol.com/kodak to showcase their unique culture and traditions. As part of the Hispanic CSR PR program, for every photograph uploaded, Kodak and Yahoo! En Español will donate $2 respectively (up to $20,000 combined) to the Hispanic College Fund, a national non-profit organization that provides educational, scholarship and mentoring programs to U.S. Hispanic students. 
Through October 31, 2009, users can upload, share and comment on photos, and at the same time help change the lives of fellow Hispanics by contributing to a good cause. In addition, on October 12th, Kodak and Yahoo! En Espanol will unveil a digital photo mosaic using all of the submitted photographs as a tribute to Hispanic families across the United States, which will be featured online through the end of October.
“One of the best ways to empower the Hispanic family is to ensure that today’s Latino students have the resources and opportunity to go to college,” said Idalia Fernandez, president of the Hispanic College Fund. “Thanks to Kodak and Yahoo! En Espanol, we have an opportunity to help raise awareness and money to fund scholarships for the next generation of Latino professionals.”
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 21.4% of Latino students dropped out of college during the 2007 – 2008 school year compared to 8.7% of white students. The Pew Hispanic Center reports that Latino high school students are the largest ethnic minority in public schools and the Hispanic College Fund is working to ensure that they all have access to the resources they need to go to college.
To date, the Hispanic College Fund has raised over $13 million, and provided scholarships for over 4,800 students. Since its inception in 1993, the organization has provided Hispanic high school and college students with the vision, resources and mentorship needed to become community leaders and achieve successful careers in business, science, technology, engineering and math.
“At Kodak, we understand the emotional power of pictures and we applaud all of the amazing work that the Hispanic College Fund undertakes to help and encourage Hispanic students to pursue a higher education. This year, we wanted to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by helping Latino families and their children by capturing and sharing the everyday life moments that reflect pride in their roots and community,” said Leslie Dance, Vice President, Worldwide Marketing at Eastman Kodak.
“Every year during Hispanic Heritage Month, Yahoo! En Espanol pays tribute to the richness and diversity of the U.S. Hispanic culture, and this year, together with Kodak, we are happy to take this a step further and give back in a very meaningful way that will impact generations to come,” said Armando Rodriguez, general manager, Yahoo! Hispanic Americas.