For the more than one hundred workers who are working on the construction of the Rancagua Telethon Center, being able to share with Mario Kreutzberger “Don Francisco” was undoubtedly an experience they will not forget.
Furthermore, they will not forget that, with their contribution, the O’Higgins region will have a modern place to care for patients of the Foundation who, today, have to travel to Santiago or Talca to receive the corresponding care.
Right there, in the conversation while the main face of the solidarity campaigns in the country toured the facilities, the call to contribute so that Teletón continues to grow in the area was not long in coming.
One of the topics that Don Francisco touched on was related to the interest in collaborating with Teletón on the part of companies in the area. Just a few days ago, a meeting was organized where only a few interested people came to the meeting. Faced with this, the prominent television host pointed out that “we have to get more and more people involved.” Furthermore, he stressed that “in Chile there is a problem. We have built this work based on solidarity, an entire country, from the most modest to the most powerful, but there is something missing. I have lived in the United States for 37 years, and there the concept of philanthropy exists and here that concept is not developed.”
In this regard, Kreutzberger said that “people who have been successful in their professional, artistic or economic life leave something behind, and if you go to any hospital in the United States, you will find that all the rooms are sponsored by someone. So, I think we still need to incorporate more people into philanthropy.”
Furthermore, and exemplifying this issue, he stressed that “when this (Telethon in Rancagua) is finished, the gardens will have to be fixed and perhaps there will be a company from O’Higgins that will say that their philanthropic act is that they will fix the gardens for 10 years and many other things. We need everything from food supplies, cleaning supplies, we need everything. And here, in this region, there is everything.”
MODERN TECHNOLOGY
The Rancagua Telethon Center, as Kreutzberger said, “will have about 4,200 square meters of construction and will have the latest technology.”
And of course, today, in its structural construction, the building has areas for therapeutic gymnastics and rehabilitation, as well as a heated pool for medical care. In addition, there is a boxing ring so that the beneficiaries can be seen with the quality that Teletón provides.
According to Don Francisco, 1,164 patients from the region have been treated at the institute, of which 824 are from Cachapoal, 264 in the province of Colchagua and 47 from Cardenal Caro.
According to the fiscal inspection, the structural work would be completed at the end of September, and then the finishing touches would begin.
It should be noted that the Teletón Rancagua Center received more than 12.5 billion pesos for its construction, and it is estimated that by July 2025 it will be finished and ready to operate at the end of next year. The format of the building being built in O’Higgins will be adopted by the Foundation and replicated in the city of Chillán.
THE CONTRIBUTION TO THE REGION
Jorge Ortiz is one of the workers on the project today. His granddaughter, as he mentioned, receives medical care at Teletón de Santiago and he is proud to be able to build what will be the future center in O’Higgins.
These trips, she recalled, “were difficult, because we had to be scraping together coin after coin and the time we lost, because my son had to ask for permission from work, which sometimes the bosses don’t give it, I had to miss work to accompany my granddaughter to Santiago, to school, so that she could do her exercises and recover, so that she could walk properly.”
She also took the time to praise the attention her family received. “The institute is excellent, everyone who works there does a great job for the children who need Teletón.”
And, regarding his work today, he said that “it is an honor to be able to meet Don Francisco, who is a fundamental pillar of this project. I thanked him, shook his hand, and told him the story of my granddaughter.”
Meanwhile, Tomás Henríquez Cifuentes, who was a Teletón patient and now works in the media, was emphatic in his gratitude for what is being done. “I am from Rancagua, for 20 years I traveled to Santiago for my rehabilitation -from Valdivia where I lived- and this is an achievement. I want to congratulate all the people of Rancagua because this is achieved with the commitment of all of Rancagua.”
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