WGN-TV will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by offering special programming of interest to the Hispanic community.  News stories will appear on WGN Morning News, WGN Midday News and WGN News at Nine.

WGN-TV kicks off the celebration September 18 on WGN Morning News’ Around Town with Ana Belaval, featuring representatives from different Latin-American countries. On September 19, WGN’s Lourdes Duarte will report on La Casa Norte, a 10-year old organization which serves families and youth that face homelessness with access to computers, clothing, food, phones as well as counseling.

WGN’s Ana Belaval will feature a true achiever on September 28.  Pedro DeJesus, Jr. rose from x-ray technician to in-house counsel to senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Tampico Beverages, Inc.   DeJesus graduated from high school at age 16 to help his mother pay the bills, then took his skills to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to further his career.  In 2007, he rebuilt Tampico’s legal department and built a team with a stronger sense of accountability to fulfill, what he says is, his duty to create positive change.

On October 5, Lourdes Duarte will tell the story of Mike Oquendo, producer and host of The Mikey O Comedy Show.  Mike built his career by serving on the Board of Governors for the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, contributing concepts for three HBO Latino specials, and creating his Community Partner Nights, the last of which raised over $90,000 last year for local non-profit agencies.

WGN’s Julian Crews will report on The Resurrection Project on October 10. This facility is the first of its kind in the entire country.  The project includes a six-story building in Pilsen to be used as a dormitory, study hall and support network for Hispanic college students.

To conclude the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month on WGN-TV, Ana Belaval will report on October 15 about The Miracle Center, a non-profit organization that serves children, youth and families.  It is a Christian-based youth agency, whose main goal is to build and strengthen communities through teaching children dance, choir, music and theater.