- Under an agreement signed with the Municipal Institute of Social Services to help alleviate the economic crisis caused by the pandemic
- The heads of both entities visit the Tenerife Food Bank and symbolically hand over a check in the amount of €28,000
The mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez, and the vice president of Fundación Cepsa, Íñigo Díaz de Espada, visited the headquarters of the Food Bank of Tenerife this morning to symbolically deliver the check for 28,000 euros, provided by Fundación Cepsa for the purchase of food allocated to the NGOs of Santa Cruz that collaborate in the distribution of food among the neediest families of the island’s capital city.
The president of the Tenerife Food Bank, Hernán Cerón accepted the check. Others in attendance included the councilor of Social Action of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Rosario González; the head of Corporate Relations of Cepsa in Andalusia and the Canary Islands, Jesús Velasco, and the head of Fundación Cepsa in the Canary Islands, Belén Machado.
Íñigo Díaz de Espada stressed that "this contribution, which will enable the purchase of 16 tons of food, is part of an agreement signed between Fundación Cepsa and the Municipal Institute of Social Services (IMAS) to help alleviate the crisis caused by the pandemic. This time, we're focusing attention on the thousands of families who are suffering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as a result of job loss, who have been forced to seek help to get by.”
For his part, José Manuel Bermúdez pointed out "the very important work that Fundación Cepsa has been carrying out in this municipality, also collaborating with solidarity initiatives, such as this one, allowing the most vulnerable families of Santa Cruz to have access to non-perishables and fresh products through the Food Bank," and added that "this action highlights the importance of committing to public/private collaboration, one of the main lines undertaken in this municipality years ago, which is yielding such great results."
Díaz de Espada added that since the beginning of the pandemic, Fundación Cepsa has made significant efforts to direct its actions towards caring for the most vulnerable people and insisted on the need to continue working along these lines, bearing in mind that this is a situation whose effects will be prolonged over time.
In this sense, Hernán Cerón highlighted "the vital collaboration that Fundación Cepsa has been offering since 2009, precisely when I started collaborating with this Food Bank, and every year we have always counted on their indispensable monetary contribution for our work." He added that "food has also been received by their staff, so the help of Fundación Cepsa is very important, because for example, now, we have been able to buy a significant amount of fresh produce for vulnerable families in Santa Cruz."
For her part, Rosario González said that "We are very grateful for the 28,000 euros Fundación Cepsa donated to the Food Bank. These funds will allow us to buy fruits, vegetables and other fresh foods to distribute among the more than 50 entities that distribute food in our municipality." She said that "more than 5,000 vulnerable families are served by these entities, in addition to the aid distributed by the City Council in the form of food cards for purchases in supermarkets."
During the last year, Fundación Cepsa has devoted special attention to the food banks in both Canary Islands provinces, to which it has allocated a total of 117,000 euros, which has allowed for the distribution of more than 65 tons of food to people in need.
