The destructive trail of the incessant flow of lava flows from the Cumbre Vieja volcano, on the Canary Island of La Palma, has made homes and farms disappear and many families have lost everything, after being evacuated with just what they were wearing. But at the same time as its eruption, on September 19, a wave of solidarity was raised to mitigate its effects.
Since then, public institutions, companies, groups and individuals have been promoting endless solidarity initiatives to raise funds or obtain material aid. Bank accounts open for donations, collection of food and goods, concerts, auctions, sale of items or solidarity menus are some of these initiatives, some larger, others more modest, but all with the same purpose, to help the victims.
One of these initiatives is the one being carried out by the Accenture Foundation. With the encouragement of one of the Accenture employees, a native of La Palma, the foundation has activated its structures to channel donations from the consultant's workers. Because through the foundation, employees have the opportunity to present, once a year, different projects with the AyudánDonos program. And in extraordinary cases of catastrophes, at a global level, solidarity is called for through the payroll rounding system.
The employees of Accenture Spain have already contributed more than 70,000 euros and the promoters hope to reach 100,000 by the end of the month
“Everyone there is mainly dedicated to agriculture, livestock, salt mines or small businesses. It is not an island that lives off tourism, very little. Many people have lost everything, and I wondered how I could help. So I wrote to the president of the foundation, Domingo Mirón, and to the general director, Ana Millán, proposing to raise funds from the employees”, says Carmen Montesinos, executive assistant at Accenture and the promoter of the initiative, about its gestation.
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The response, he says, was immediate and positive. The board of trustees not only agreed, but was going to collaborate in principle by contributing 15,000 euros to what was collected, a figure that was soon decided to increase to 25,000, to finally contribute the same amount that the employees donated. This amount already exceeds 70,000 euros (which would become 140,000) and Montesinos' goal is to reach 100,000 euros before the end of November (200,000 with what the foundation contributes). The amount that each employee decides to donate is subtracted from the November payroll.
Red Cross
The representative that has been chosen is the Red Cross, which is the one who will channel the aid. At first the idea was to spend that money on clothing, food, psychological help and so on. But at the request of Montesinos herself, given that these basic needs were already more than covered, she decided to allocate the funds to house rental. “We are not going to donate clothes and food if there is already that. What is missing is housing. People are living in caves. There are people who have lost everything, the house, the land. And it is a drama that they also live in a cave”, regrets the Accenture executive assistant.
The average price of a rental in Los Llanos de Aridane, the area closest to the eruption, is 300 euros, which according to Montesinos' own calculations, with 1,000 euros the rental of a family is guaranteed for three months; 200 families if the goal of 200,000 euros is reached. Montesinos says that there have been cases of rental abuse, which have been denounced and pointed out, an anecdote in the face of the solidarity of the population, which has even given up their homes for free, many of them second vacation homes.
“This initiative can stay if people start collaborating in December”, highlights the assistant. For its part, the Red Cross has also opened another account for relatives of Accenture, and for whoever wants to, linked to the Accenture Foundation (a kind of row 0). And in Portugal they are also collaborating on their part (Spain, Portugal and Israel is a geographical unit for Accenture).
"The truth is that all of Accenture Spain has thrown itself behind the initiative and I only have words of thanks for all my colleagues," emphasizes Montesinos.
