The City Council recognizes the Paula Association and the Marrow Factory and the municipal employee Maite Rodriguez in the XIX ‘Estepona Social and Solidarity Awards’.

The Mayor, José María García Urbano, presented these awards, which each year highlight the humanitarian work of groups and individuals in the city.

The mayor of Estepona, José María García Urbano, has presented the awards for the XIX ‘Estepona Social and Solidarity Awards’ which this year have gone to the municipal worker Maite Rodríguez Barroso and the association Paula and the Marrow Factory.

With these awards the Consistory recognizes each year the work done in the social field by groups and individuals who serve the most vulnerable people. These awards are granted through a voting system carried out by volunteers from different associations and charities that are part of the Local Council of Volunteering.

The mayor, José María García Urbano, highlighted the work carried out throughout the year by both individuals and associations and entities in caring for the most needy and congratulated the city for their solidarity and dedication one more year. “Each year, democratically, are the social groups which independently propose who they consider, a person and a group, to be recognized for their work.”

During the gala awards ceremony, which took place in the Auditorium of the Mirador del Carmen Cultural Center, the work being done by the Paula Association and the Marrow Factory, which aims to promote blood and marrow donation among the Andalusian population, mainly among the youngest, was highlighted. Among its objectives are to create social awareness of all that is involved in going through leukemia or other types of childhood and youth cancers, to collaborate and promote research in the development of treatments for leukemia and other cancers, to care for sick children and their families in all areas and with all the means at its disposal, as well as to claim a third box on the income tax return to allocate 0.7% to medical research projects for human health.

The group, which has received recognition in the category of Institutional Award, has a project underway called ‘Donate marrow and blood and you will be my hero’, aimed at primary school students, and which addresses the issue of marrow and blood donation from the point of view of health education and education in values.

The mayor underlined the work that this group has been doing. “Thanks to you many people without resources can continue to cope with the disease, but also continues to raise awareness of the importance of donating blood and bone marrow. Research is essential to bring us closer and closer to a cure and with more effective and personalized treatments depending on the case. I thank the volunteers who have chosen this year for a group like this, which does tireless work to improve the quality of life of many people”.

On the other hand, and in the category of Individual Award, Maite Rodriguez Barroso has been recognized for her career as an employee of the Estepona City Council for 26 years. Before coming to Estepona she worked for 10 years in other administrations, including several town halls and a peace court. After passing through the delegation of Commerce and the Mayoralty of Cancelada, most of his career has been developed in the Delegation of Citizen Participation, an area that covers, mainly, procedures and direct actions with the neighbors.

In the last four years, her work has been focused on groups, associations and their events. She has been secretary of the Local Council of Volunteering for the last 13 years. García Urbano thanked the work done by this municipal worker, who has managed to channel the needs of citizens with the work done every day from the City Council to provide an effective response.