The Villa of Ingenuity happened this Saturday, June 4, the witness as provincial headquarters of the World Blood Donor Day to the municipality of San Mateo in an official ceremony held at the Federico García Lorca cultural center that was attended by the Mayor Ana Hernandez, Mayor Antonio Ortega, the Councilor for Public Health, Minerva Artilesy the president of the Canarian Institute of Hemodonation and Hemotherapy (ICHH) María Teresa Gutiérrez Izquierdoamong other civil and military authorities and representatives of social and business groups.
During the ceremony, the delivery of acknowledgments to the largest donors of the islands of the province of Las Palmas and entities that have collaborated in the different ICHH donation campaigns.
The mayor explained that the municipality was designated the provincial seat in 2019, “and we have been renewing this appointment until now due to the health crisis, and we have assumed it with the honor and humility of knowing that that small gesture of donating blood saves lives”. Ana Hernández stated that “we pass the baton to San Mateo at a time when the lack of blood and the scarcity of reserves are endangering the performance of scheduled surgeries and the number of donations has decreased. Blood donation is now more necessary than ever. We feel like we could have done more, because when it comes to saving lives, you can never do enough.”
Minerva Artiles highlighted Ingenio’s “solidarity and firm commitment during these almost three years in which we have proudly been the provincial headquarters and in which we have had the enthusiasm and welcome of neighbors and groups that encouraged us to launch solidarity campaigns and movements, always on the path of joining forces in blood donation, in an act of transversal collaboration”. Likewise, the councilor recalled how the harsh restrictions of the pandemic slowed down activities with the educational community, neighborhood associations and social groups but that “despite all this, frustration and discouragement were transformed into an impulse to adapt to continue with this vital movement”, he declared.
For her part, María Teresa Gutiérrez thanked all those present for their collaboration. “It is the adverse situations that life throws at us that strengthen us and make us grow as a society educated in values. Ingenio is an example of a benchmark municipality in solidarity and commitment because from its political leaders to its citizens and groups they have always been needed in these difficult times”, said the president of the ICHH, adding that it is “the patients who thank these altruistic gestures.
The act included the delivery of a present as an act of gratitude to the artist Alberto Viera Salgado, which has made a great sculptural piece that will be inaugurated on June 14 for World Blood Donor Day and whose creation process could be observed through the projection of a video.
Precisely a miniature of that sculpture was the one that the mayor gave to the mayor of San Mateo as a symbol of the witness pass as provincial headquarters. “La Vega de San Mateo is a solidary municipality and we have given many examples of this on different occasionsalso with blood donations and recently with the shipment of medical supplies and food to Ukraine, but we have to do it more, we have to continue to influence it, extend it to the world, to those countries and vulnerable people who do not have essential health services “he said Antonio Ortega, who also said that picked up this witness with honor and pride, hoping “to have the support of the City Council of Ingenio, which I know will be like this”.
The gala featured the performance by musicians Abraham Ramos Chodo on timple and Rubén Rodríguez on guitar and voice who performed the songs La Trapera, Tattoo de Sal and Verbo throughout the meeting. It ended with a great family photo.
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