I asked Pat what made her decide to set it up and she quite rightly said that we have so many animal charities in the area (which Heart FM support massively) but she felt that humans too needed some support. Now I have to agree, Derek and I do a lot to support the local animal charities and always have but apart from buying the odd draw ticket etc, we haven't been involved very much with other charities.
Before the charity was even set up Lee and Pat got involved with Alhaurin Auctions to raise 2000 Euros for mentally and physically challenged children in the Alhaurin el Grande area. Such was the success of that venture that they decided to start the foundation and make sure it was registered and legalised so that contributors knew where their money was going!
Having helped the children they were then approached about a 64 year old gentleman who had fallen behind with his rent. His fridge had broken and he had no funds to replace it and with that he started to lose his self-respect and fell into a decline. He was only 6 weeks behind with his rent but his landlady was elderly and so her daughter took over and decided that this was a good time to "get tough". Its so easy to kick someone when they are down!! With the help of "Have a Heart" and the radio station a fridge was found, food parcels were made up and delivered, clothing and other necessities have also been donated. Now a new ground floor apartment has been found for him at a lower rent. Arthur needs an operation to his eyes and it is uncertain whether or not he will regain full sight so a ground floor apartment is great for him. Best of all he now has people who visit him and CHAT and care and with that he has regained his self respect and is caring for himself again.
Sometimes charity is not about money. In fact money is not always appropriate - but caring is! It also needs people in the right places to just "direct" the flow of goodwill to where its needed. With Arthur, this is what Pat and Lee have done. They have this fabulous tool in the form of a radio station and they have used that to get the word out. Their followers only needed to know and then they rallied round and problem sorted.
So what I say is we all need to "have a heart" sometimes and think about not just what we can give but what we can do!!! Pat says she gets cans of food dropped off at the radio station for Arthur's food parcels and I know that when I do my weekly shop there will be a couple of things go in the trolley for Arthur from now on. Together we CAN make a difference - it may sound a bit trite but nevertheless its true. The purpose of this blog is the way I can get the word out. Words are my "weapon of choice" so perhaps those of you reading this would pass the blog site address on to others. Going forward I am sure Pat can always use good ideas and able bodies to help with future projects. We have offered our services and I am sure there are plenty of you out there who will do the same!
For people not in the area - some of you not even in Spain - there is a "donate" button on the radio station website (link under "interesting links" on the right hand side of this blog).
Last but not least - for those of you who like to be sure that they are donating to and supporting a legitimate charity this is the official number of the Charity G93023513 Have a Heart founded on 22/09/2009.
Obviously if you have questions you can contact Pat Jay directly through the radio station.
Great post Mandy, and I love this line "Sometimes charity is not about money. In fact money is not always appropriate - but caring is! "
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work