Last Monday, May 22, 2023, the Rotary Sevilla International club and its guests joined together to raise funds to improve the living conditions of children with cancer. In this charity lunch organized by the club, more than 6000€ were collected to purchase three portable vein detectors. These devices will be delivered to the Asociación Por la Sonrisa de un Niño, who will be in charge of distributing them to children’s hospitals in Andalusia.
Rotary Club Sevilla International has always been at the forefront of supporting those who need it most. This new achievement is testimony to its tireless efforts to improve the lives of the most vulnerable. The charity event took place at the Real Club de Golf de Sevilla and was attended by about 100 people, including members and guests such as prominent businessmen from the region, as well as the actor Alberto Lopez of Los Compadres, who demonstrated their altruistic spirit by donating to this noble cause.
The idea for the portable vein detectors came from club member Sara Soriano, a Rotarian, after learning about the difficulties hospitalized children face during blood collection procedures. These devices, which use ultraviolet light to locate veins, will greatly facilitate the task of health care providers, reducing the number of punctures and, therefore, the pain of small patients.
During the event, Manuel Pozo, President of the Por la Sonrisa de un Niño Association, shared his personal experience and the important work his association does to alleviate the hospital stay of children. This work includes such touching initiatives as surprise visits by volunteers dressed as superheroes or rides in remote-controlled toy cars to perform medical tests.
Mar Pozo, Manuel’s daughter, took the opportunity to appeal to the business community, encouraging them to continue to contribute financially so that all hospitals in Andalusia can have portable vein detectors. Her wish is that no child will have to suffer unnecessarily, as she unfortunately had to suffer from this disease, and that they will always be able to keep smiling.
For her part, Ana Garrido, president of Rotary Sevilla International, said she was “proud of the work of the club members to organize an event of such caliber and that it resulted in a successful fundraising both for the donation of €30 included in each ticket and for the raffle participations of the prizes that had been received as a donation. Also, Luis Prieto, co-chair of the Projects Committee presented the charitable activities carried out by the club and Fran Guillén, chair of the Membership Committee and President-Elect 2023-24, explained what it means to be a Rotarian and how to become a member of the club. Alberto Lopez of Los Compadres gave a fun interview by Luis and Fran, as well as gave away DVDs of the movie El mundo el nuestro, T-shirts and 2 tickets to see Los Compadres perform in Cartaya on Thursday, August 10.
The lunch took place in a fun atmosphere, where all attendees had the opportunity to briefly introduce themselves and network. In addition, there were raffles for several prizes donated by entities, such as Betis and Sevilla t-shirts signed by the first team, tickets to see Los Compadres’ performance in Cartaya, hand-painted pictures and bottles of wine, as well as a tasting for 2 people at El Almazen store, in charge of preparing the exquisite wine pairing of the event.
