As Univision closes out its 50th year of serving the Hispanic community, our mission of informing, entertaining and empowering our audience hasn’t changed. We recognize our role as an information pipeline for the most important issues facing the Hispanic community today, and we will continue to serve as a voice for these issues, offering our viewers programming to fit these needs.

We wanted to end the year in a way that highlights our values, and that is why embarking on a new initiative — that unites us as one large Hispanic family — was so important.

We also knew we wanted to focus on children, so last year Univision Network served as the home to the first-ever Teletón in the United States. Under the slogan “ La Gran Familia Hispana: Unida por Nuestros Niños” (The Great Hispanic Family: United for Our Children), “TeletónUSA,” aired on Dec. 14 and 15.

What we never expected was that our planed 28-hour telethon would be happening following one of the most tragic events in our history and when our country was in mourning.

Yet because the focus was on children and uniting our family, it helped our community come together to help those children most in need and bring a little bit of hope during very dark times.

The show wasn’t about the 100 Hispanic superstars and television personalities that helped TeletonUSA raise funds, it was about the 28 families highlighted during the show that needed the most help.

It also was a small tribute to the victims of Sandy Hook who continue to be in our thoughts as we grapple with this tragedy.

These funds will remain in our country, benefiting Miami Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, SNACK (Special Needs Activity Center for Kids) & Friends in New York, Boston Children’s Hospital and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, in addition to helping build the first ever Fundación Teletón rehabilitation center in the United States.

The mission behind Teletón, started in Chile by Mario Kreutzberger, will now reach the U.S. to benefit the children who need our help the most and deliver a message of hope for families coast to coast.

On behalf of Univision and TeletonUSA we are very grateful for the generosity displayed throughout the event and we know that the success of this movement is a result of the spirit of giving that guides our community. This generosity helped us surpass our $7 million goal and raised $8.1 million.

It also helped show that by coming together we can make a difference; an important reminder as we continue to honor the victims of Newtown, Conn.

Cesar Conde, president, Univision Networks, Miami