Elderly and children in south-central Chile receive basic supplies after severe rainstorms
28 de August, 2023
After the weather front struck the country, CMPC Companies donated 5,000 Softys products to affected people in the district of Talca, a town in the Maule Region where 1,600 families were affected.
“There are about 1,600 seriously damaged dwellings, some of which are completely ruined. Many elderly people have been harmed. Children have been affected and have been missing school. Some houses have up to a meter and a half of muddy water in them. This has been a huge catastrophe, and we’re in it taking down information right now.” That is the bleak panorama today in the Talca community, capital of the Maule Region in south-central Chile brought by the weather front that struck the country in recent days. This assessment comes from Paulina Abarca, Director of the Community Development Department of the Municipality of Talca.
That is why CMPC Companies continue working with different public and private sectors to support the affected families. In this case, a donation of 5,000 diapers for babies and seniors, Softys products of basic necessity was coordinated. From CMPC, Matías Ormeño, HRBP at the Maule Biopackaging plant said, “We’re aware that people have been seriously affected and need basic supplies, so we want to make this donation. We want to support the surrounding communities as well, and this is where we’re starting. As a company we’re committed to people, and we’re aware of this ongoing situation. We empathize with the victims by providing these products to them.”
On behalf of the municipality of Talquin, and regarding the delivery made on Friday afternoon, Paulina Abarca said she felt “very grateful for this donation, since it immediately helps our victims dealing with this tremendous catastrophe that struck our community. As a municipality, we‘re grateful to the company. We ask that you continue helping us… They (the diapers) are going to directly benefit people.”
Regarding the distribution of the collected supplies, Abarca said, “It will go to the most critical points. We’re going to start in Cerrillo, Los Areneros and Gorgoa, which are the places that had been isolated that we can now get to on the roadways, and the elderly and children who need us.” The aforementioned is in addition to the other aid that had already been collected in recent days in the same Maule Region. More specifically, CMPC has been on the ground in the districts of Río Claro, Empedrado, San Javier, Constitución, Cauquenes and Linares setting up machinery to help divert and redirect water channels and remove debris while also providing boxes of merchandise.
