- The pandemic has left the most disadvantage in society facing a health emergency, so Fundación Cepsa has responded to an urgent request from the Spanish Federation of Food Banks by donating 300,000 kilos of food
- The Foundation has also launched other measures, such as providing the regional governments of Madrid and the Canary Islands with fuel cards to be used for medical travel
- At the same time, Cepsa continues to focus all its efforts on maintaining the energy supply to homes and public spaces and providing raw materials for manufacturing sanitary products and detergents
Due to the health crisis caused by the spread of COVID-19, Fundación Cepsa, with the aim of acting swiftly to fight some of the pandemic's most dire consequences, has responded to an urgent request from the Spanish Federation of Food Banks (FESBAL) to meet the urgent need to purchase and distribute basic food products to those most disadvantaged by the pandemic. The COVID-19 extraordinary food collection campaign frames the collaboration between both entities, through which the Foundation will donate € 200,000, which will mean the purchase of 300,000 kilos of basic goods.
According to FESBAL, there are currently more than 1 million people in need of food in Spain. The contribution from Fundación Cepsa will give 2,000 people access to food over the next two months. This initiative will be focused on food banks in Madrid, Huelva, Algeciras, Gran Canaria and Tenerife.
In the current situation, FESBAL continues to focus its efforts on the fight against hunger, and remains in constant contact with federal food banks, as well as charitable entities like Fundación Cepsa who work directly with vulnerable groups in need of food aid.
The CEO of FESBAL, Miguel Fernández, stresses that "for the Spanish Federation of Food Banks, these extraordinary donations, like the one generously offered by Fundación Cepsa, are vital in the current situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and will allow us to continue supporting the 310,000 families that we currently work with. These donations will allow us to maintain warehouse stocks, buy more food and distribute it among our regular charitable collaborators so that they can distribute it to those who need it most. To do this, we need monetary donations to alleviate a lack of resources in order to continue caring for the most disadvantaged."
The collaboration with FESBAL is part of Fundación Cepsa's plan of action against coronavirus. Additionally, with the objective of supporting the health authorities, last week Fundación Cepsa supplied the regional governments of Madrid and the Canary Islands—and will soon extend this offer to regional governments in Andalusia—with a supply of fuel cards worth €50,000 to assist in medical travel associated with COVID-19, as well as the travel of other professionals that are also actively involved in dealing with this crisis. The organization has also donated €15,000 to the Red Cross for urgent medical transport resulting from the pandemic.
In parallel with this package of measures being promoted by its Foundation, Cepsa is continuing all of its efforts to maintain the energy supply—this service is essential both to ensuring the availability of energy required in homes and public spaces (hospitals, security forces, stations, ports, airports, etc.), as well as to ensuring the supply of raw materials for manufacturing sanitary products and detergents, which the company produces in its petrochemical facilities. Ensuring this essential service is its main objective today, as well as protecting people's health at all times, collaborating in halting the spread of the virus and maintaining constant coordination with the authorities of the different countries in which it operates.
The company is also using its own resources to help mitigate the effects of the pandemic. This week, the company donated a supply of personal protective equipment (glasses, gloves and coveralls) to the health management departments of Huelva and Campo de Gibraltar of the Andalusian Health Service (SAS), to help protect healthcare staff in hospitals. In addition, between yesterday and today, the company has provided almost 5,000 blankets to meet the needs of hospitals in the Community of Madrid.