On the occasion of the celebration of the Day of the Hospitalized Child on May 13, the Pequeño Deseo Foundation, which has worked for more than 20 years helping children who suffer from serious or chronic illnesses, has organized a massive delivery of toys, donated in their entirety by the Lego Group, to almost fifty hospitals in the Spanish geography.
Among them, the main ones in Barcelona stand out, such as the Vall D’Ebron and the Joan de Deu; from Valencia, such as El Clínico, La Fe, Xátiva; Zaragoza, Murcia, Alicante, Albaceta, Bilbao, Asturias, Galicia, the University of Navarra Clinic, both in Pamplona and Madrid, as well as other centers in the capital: the Niño Jesús, the Gregorio Marañón, La Paz, the San Rafael or the San Carlos Clinic, among many others.
In total, and since this Friday the day before Hospitalized Children’s Day, 1,600 Lego sets have been delivered thanks to the logistics and help of Asmen, a courier company based in Valencia with which the Pequeño Deseo Foundation has collaborated for some time. “They and their team have made it possible for all the games to reach the hospitals in Spain to bring a smile to the little ones admitted, who, at least, will spend this day and the weekend in the centers. Many will stay for months, and will return over the next few years”, they explain from the foundation in a statement.
“From the Pequeño Deseo Foundation we call for this day not to be a simple date on the calendar, but rather to serve to be aware that help and citizen collaboration is essential so that all these little ones can have the best conditions during their months of treatment, whether with psychological support, activities or humanization of the centers”, declares Cristina Cuadrado, director of the Pequeño Deseo Foundation. Pequeño Deseo acts with its work in the emotional area, “feeling proud to be able to make special moments live for the little ones within the harsh reality that they have to live. For this reason, we need the help of society throughout the year and I invite you to actively collaborate ”, they add.
Vincent Plane, country manager of the Lego Group in the Iberia region, points out that “this collaboration responds to the DNA that our brand has internalized for more than 90 years, and which consists of the ambition to bring creative development through play to as many boys and girls as possible. The LEGO game system offers multiple benefits in childhood development and equips children with crucial skills for their future, so betting on access to play is betting on a healthy future for boys and girls”.
The Pequeño Deseo Foundation has been working since 2000 to make the wishes of boys and girls with serious and chronic illnesses come true, in order to support them emotionally and make their illness more bearable. “It has been scientifically proven, according to a study carried out by the foundation itself in 2012 together with the College of Psychologists of Madrid and the Complutense University, that the fulfillment of a wish generates positive emotions in the child that have an enormous effect on their well-being and, what which is also important, in their closest environment, in many cases their parents. In all these years we have already fulfilled more than 6,500 wishes”.
May 13 is marked on the calendar by the European Parliament to raise awareness of how important support for hospitals is, be it with an improvement in facilities, activations and different supports, such as mental support, to make life more pleasant to those who are and work in them. Thousands of children in Spain have to deal with illnesses throughout the year, cutting off the flow of their normal life, ignoring friends, school classes and their games.
Follow all the information of Five days in Facebook, Twitter and Linkedinor in our newsletter Five Day Agenda