When I joined Iberdrola four years ago and first heard that it was possible to take part in volunteering, I didn’t doubt it for a moment. My commitment to people with disabilities has always been and will always be a priority for me.
I think that to be a volunteer, you have to go through that moment when you see someone with a disability and you think about how fortunate you are. Then you decide to give some of your time to the most disadvantaged members of society. Volunteering is a wonderful experience.
The most recent activity was unforgettable. It was a rainy day, not the best weather for visiting the Oceanogràfic complex in Valencia, but some volunteers from the company decided to accompany a group of disabled people from the Casa Nostra home. Many of these people are already adults, but their childlike manner means that you feel great affection towards them.
Some people still feel a certain reserve towards them. Fortunately, more and more people smile when they see them because they inspire tenderness in their innocent world, which is hard to translate into text. For them, it was a day of celebration, emotion, new faces, telling stories about their lives to people that were listening to them for the first time.
They barely leave their home and this little gift means a lot to them. They asked us to take photos so that they could “stick them up with drawing pins” in their rooms. They told us their mischief stories about their families, friends…with absolute sincerity.
For this and many other reasons that you yourselves will discover, I would like to encourage you all to take up volunteering. Iberdrola offers its employees several possibilities for collaborating with the most disadvantaged groups, such as the Volunteer Days, Charity Days in companies and countless other activities.
These young people have many needs and they ask for so little, but until you try it yourself, you have know idea how much these people can give you back in exchange.
