Madrid | June 16, 2017
Envera has celebrated four decades as an Association with a big party at the Integral Center for Disability in Colmenar Viejo in which employees, beneficiaries of the different assistance services and their families as well as very special guests participated. A 40th anniversary, under the Honorary Presidency of Her Majesty Queen Doña Letizia and the motto Todos podemos ser los mejores en algo, which is a dream come true for those pioneer parents, employees of Iberia, and a spur to go further and higher at the side of boys and girls, men and women with disabilities, our influential people.
The activities of a full day began with an institutional act presided over by the mayor of Colmenar Viejo, Jorge García Díaz, and also attended by the president of Envera, José Antonio Quintero; its general manager, Pedro Sobrino; the director of communication and CSR of Iberia, Juan Cierco; Pedro Núñez Morgades, trustee of the Tutelar Foundation; as well as representatives of the San Pedro Logistics Base, neighbors of Envera; the Military Emergency Unit, protagonists of the 2017 solidarity calendar; and the Family and Women's Unit of the National Police (UFAM), with whom Envera maintains a close collaboration. Companies that support and make Envera's mission possible, such as Durán Arte y Subastas, Grupo G-18 or Carmila, promoter of Envera Punto de Inclusión in Carrefour Ciudad de la Imagen, did not want to miss the celebration either.
The Association wanted to acknowledge the support of the people of Colmenar Viejo during these four decades. The mayor of the Madrid municipality collected from the hands of the president of Envera a wooden clock made by the Occupational Center as a token of gratitude to the people of Colmenar Viejo "example of inclusion and solidarity".
Especially emotional was the presence of Mayte Solas, vice president of FUNDELA, and journalist Javier Matallanas, spokesman and trustee of this Spanish Foundation for the Promotion of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research, who received a donation of 8,000 euros as a result of the Envera #APorELA initiative that arose in the Occupational Center, and that has been possible thanks to the solidarity of the people who form Envera. "With this gesture, our organization shows that, after 40 years of receiving support, it also knows how to show solidarity with those who are having a hard time and need help," said Quintero.
After listening to Envera's recently released hymn, composed and interpreted by employees and students of the entity, numerous sports and cultural activities were carried out throughout the day. For the first time, the Envera vegetable garden opened its doors to all visitors and the workshops of the Occupational Center showed the handicrafts made daily by the beneficiaries through the manipulation and recycling of objects.
Radio Terrícola, a workshop also conducted by people with intellectual disabilities, launched a special programming on the occasion of the celebration, which was inaugurated by the Mayor of Colmenar Viejo and FUNDELA. The professionals of the Early Attention Service, the students of Vocational and Secondary Education and the young people of the Bicisalud initiative, collaborators of Envera, also passed through their microphones.
Since inclusive sports have been one of the mainstays of Envera for the past 26 years, there was no shortage of activities such as zumba, chi kung or sports circuits that attendees practiced at the Envera Pavilion.
After a huge paella, the performance of Cuenta conmigo began, an initiative that aims to normalize disability in schools through the representation of plays and storytelling.
A concert by the group Semilla Negra put the finishing touch to this day of celebration but not before singing happy birthday and blowing out 40 candles with the desire to continue working every day to improve the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and achieve a fairer society for all. Happy birthday!