Fundación Cepsa and Amate collaborate on a corporate volunteering activity

• Fifteen Cepsa employees participate in a workshop to make “heart pillows”

Fundación Cepsa collaborated with the Tenerife Cancer Association (Amate) on a workshop to make heart-shaped mastectomy pillows, held at the Cepsa facilities in Tenerife, with the participation of fifteen of the company's employees through a corporate volunteering activity.

The activity consisted of a chat in which three volunteers from the Association, led by its vice-president, Isabel Moreno, spoke about the importance of early detection of breast cancer and maintaining healthy habits. This was followed by a workshop to make “heart pillows,” a therapeutic aid for people who have recently undergone breast cancer surgery.

For two and a half hours, the participants cut, sewed and stuffed the pillows, which must weigh exactly 170 grams, and then wrapped them in gift wrap and wrote cards of encouragement to the recipients. The pillows produced will soon be delivered free of charge to hospitals for women undergoing breast surgery, helping to alleviate discomfort during the postoperative period.

According to Belén Machado, the head of Fundación Cepsa in the Canary Islands, "the Foundation encourages Cepsa employees to participate in corporate volunteering in the community with various actions throughout the year. This helps them to develop skills and values while offering direct and realistic insight into the society we are living in. We made the pillows as a team, with the shared goal of making 30 units, and we achieved this while having a pleasant time full of shared experiences," she said.

"We encourage any company that wants to hold this workshop to contact Amate and do it, because of its positive impact on everyone involved, both the Amate volunteers and the company volunteers, and, of course, on the women who will receive the pillows," emphasized the head of Fundación Cepsa.

At the end of the event, Amate vice-president Isabel Moreno thanked the workshop participants for their "great motivation and collaborative spirit." She said: "They made the cushions with a lot of love, turning this time into a very positive event where we had the chance to share our experience with them. Apart from being a beautiful gesture, these aids are therapeutic. They will help the women who receive them to be more comfortable after surgery, preventing their arm from rubbing against the scar, given its anatomical shape, and helping to improve lymph drainage."