The Department of Associative Fabric, Cooperation and Participation of the Martorell City Council recommends to citizens that the best way to help people affected by the floods in the Valencian Country and Castilla-La Mancha is through solidarity organizations with proven experience . In the face of any humanitarian emergency, specialized organizations point out that the most effective way to channel aid is by making financial contributions to the entities working on the ground. In this sense, the safest options are the Red Cross i Caritas.
The councilor of the area, Àngels Soria, comments that “since yesterday Wednesday we have been receiving calls at the City Council from citizens who want to collaborate with the victims”. He explains that already in previous situations – the earthquake in Morocco in 2023 or the one in Turkey and Syria – “many people want to offer material, but the coordination of collection and delivery is very complicated and the needs are very different in each case”. For all that, he recommends that “the aid be of an economic nature”.
Àngels Soria, regidora de Teixit Associatiu, Cooperació i Participació
Soria therefore advises making contributions “to solidarity organizations such as the Red Cross or Caritas, which are already specialized in attending to this type of humanitarian emergency and which already work in the territory, in the rescue of people, in the recovery of homes and in supporting the basic needs of families”. In short, that “they make the investment where this money is really needed”.
Àngels Soria, regidora de Teixit Associatiu, Cooperació i Participació
Soria pointed out that both the Red Cross com Caritas they have, on their respective websites, the forms in order to make the corresponding financial contribution that each one considers appropriate.
With regard to the Red Cross, the entity works in coordination with the emergency services in order to carry out the evacuation of thousands of citizens, who are being cared for in shelters enabled by this global solidarity organization. Red Cross staff are focused on the rescue and care of the affected people, as well as on the recovery tasks of the homes in the damaged areas.
Caritas has also made itself available to public administrations to help. It currently operates in the area and, in coordination with Valencia City Council, they support people who have had to leave their homes and be accommodated in different pavilions in the capital of Túria and its surroundings. It also coordinates with the local Cáritas branches in the affected municipalities to attend to those who need it. In Letur (Albacete) – one of the most affected towns – they provide an immediate response to affected people and families in coordination with the emergency services and its town hall. In this town in Manche, for example, Cáritas has been operating there for years through a social economy initiative: a social insertion company, a restaurant.
On the other hand, in the line of direct attention to the population, the Emergency Coordination Center has a telephone to attend to relatives of missing persons (900 365 112), calls related to emergencies (112). Also available, as a tool for locating missing persons, is SOS Valencia, a citizens’ geolocation network where all incidents of missing persons are updated.
Source: martorelldigital.cat
