The Brugal Foundation announced last night that the Salesian Technological Institute in Santo Domingo was awarded the grand prize in their XIII Award Ceremony. The prizes total RD$4 million, with RD$1 million going to the winner of the “Brugal cree en su gente” award. The ceremony took place at the Casa San Pedro in Santo Domingo, where the jury was composed of leading humanitarians such as Bernardo Vega, Jose Israel Cuello Marienne de Tolentino, Freddy Ginebra, Soraya Heredia, Hugo Gonzalez, Jose Puig and Damaris Defillo, with Geroge Arzeno Brugal and Franklin Baez representing the Foundation. The organization gives out yearly recognition to Dominican institutions dedicated to helping the social, educational and physical well-being of the people. Other institutions that received honors from the Brugal Foundation were the Madelae Girls’ Home. In the area of education, the Salesian Technological Institute was selected and in social services, the Dominican Association of the Sovereign Order of Malta was chosen. The Community Development award went to the Community Relations Agency of La Cabirma in Cotui, and the prize for the defense and protection of the environment went to the Ecological Society of the Cibao in Santiago de los Caballeros. The guest of honor at the ceremony was Ana Alvarez de Lara Alonso, the president of Manos Unidos (United Hands), an NGO based in Spain. First Lady Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez also attended the event. George Arzeno Brugal gave the keynote speech, in which he emphasized the fact that the foundation has served to “stimulate social service and place dignity and development within the reach of more and more people.”