Galician campaigns highlight an increase in "solidarity" since the outbreak of the Covid

VIGO, Jan. 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –

More than 1,500 toys travel these days by ship from Vigo to the Canary Islands with the aim that no child from La Palma is left without a gift for Three Kings Day. This is an initiative that is part of the Every child a toy campaign and is organized by Carlos Leiro from Vigo, director of the Stop Association in the city, in collaboration with Carlos Carreño, a Canarian who, as he confesses, "is very annoyed by the injustices" and gets involved because "people deserve it". This campaign joins others in Galicia, where “solidarity” has increased since the outbreak of Covid-19, and those responsible reject that there is a shortage.

The arrival of the toys on the island of La Palma, hit in recent months by the eruption of Cumbre Vieja, is scheduled (unless delayed) for January 2 or 3, ready for the Three Wise Men to distribute them to the children at night from 5 to 6.

This initiative, according to Carlos Leiro to Europa Press, arises after verifying how all of Spain "turned around" in solidarity with La Palma, where the organizations that cared for those affected by the volcano "had furniture, clothes and others, but they did not have toys ». For this reason, through an acquaintance they both have in common, he contacted Carlos Carreño, a resident of Telde (Gran Canaria) who, on a private level, but using "contacts" from his profession, managed to find a way to deliver all the merchandise to the islands.

The first thing that Carreño was "surprised", as he tells Europa Press, was the number of toys obtained by the campaign in Vigo. "The first figure they gave me was 200 kilos, which eventually became 1,557 toys," he stresses. «I had no idea how I was going to bring that from there (from the olive city). The first thing I did was contact a courier company with which my company collaborates. I spoke to the owner, who is a lovely gentleman, and he asked me a couple of questions to see if by plane or by boat. But, due to the volume that it is, they come by boat », he explains.

He wants to organize "something nice"

Once they arrive in La Palma, which is expected around Monday the 3rd, Carreño wants to organize "something nice" and that attracts attention, in part so that it can reach the knowledge of the Galicians, "who in the end were the ones who made such a detail possible.”

In recent days he has been in contact with various local palm authorities, such as the El Paso City Council, one of the municipalities affected by the explosion, but he wants to reach the Cabildo so that this institution can draw up a distribution plan. “It is not being easy for me,” laments Carreño.

In addition, he is trying to get the same authorities to organize "some act" for the delivery of the toys. "I think he deserves it after all," he says, since he is clear that "sharing the good things that people do encourages others to do them."

more solidarity

Its partner in Vigo, director of the STOP Association in the city and responsible for Every child a toy, celebrates the delivery this year of more than 8,000 units, in the absence of the Three Kings dates and those that arrive in La Palma, where ( adds) "it was sorely lacking".

As to whether the health situation has put many people back from making donations, Leiro denies the biggest and insists that the crisis derived from the pandemic has caused the campaigns to have been "activated a little more", both on the solidarity side and by the people who collect the toys. "There were people who did not come but who are coming to look now."

He also rules out that the alleged "shortage" that he warned of in previous months is affecting the campaign. “There is 'stock' everywhere. That was a hoax for people to advance purchases », he affirms, since he considers that it was a« maneuver of the manufacturers ».

At Christmas “solidarity soars”

Various collection campaigns consulted by Europa Press agree that this alleged shortage has not affected donations from Galicians. The head of Red Cross Alliances in A Coruña, Pedro Giménez, emphasizes that Christmas "is always a time when solidarity soars."

The Red Cross has deployed various campaigns in associations, companies and shopping centers throughout Galicia during these festivities. In the Herculean city, this NGO has collaborated with Marineda City, which has given them a place from Monday to Sunday '8 until January 4) to be able to carry out the collection of toys that, yes, have to be new.

Although they also receive electronic devices to serve as gifts for teenagers. "We try to adapt a bit to the demands of different ages," highlights Pedro Giménez, since the Red Cross in A Coruña hopes to serve between 800 and 1,000 minors with these campaigns.

This head of the NGO also focuses on how last year, as a result of the pandemic, "solidarity in general was awakened in a rapid manner" and they obtained, both in 2020 and 2021, a "very positive response". good". Most of the toys collected have been delivered before Christmas Eve, but he remembers that the campaign "is still going on" for Reyes.

Other campaigns

Cáritas is another of the charitable entities that deploys collection points throughout the Community at Christmas. Among them is the center of El Corte Inglés in Santiago de Compostela, apart from financial entities such as Abanca through its Obra Social Afundación.

Precisely, on Tuesday of this week, Abanca and Afundación delivered to Cáritas and the Red Cross a batch of 1,934 toys that they collected thanks to their Draw Smiles campaign. Now, it will be the social organizations that will be in charge of distributing the gifts among families who are experiencing difficult times in nine towns in Galicia, León, Asturias and Extremadura. Specifically, Cáritas will distribute the gifts in A Coruña, Santiago, Pontevedra and Ourense, while the Red Cross will distribute them in Vigo, Lugo, León, Oviedo and Mérida.