Solidarity and strategy have joined hands, for the fourteenth time, this Saturday in Soria. The Soria Cerebral Palsy Association (ASPACE) celebrates its Charity Poker Tournament this afternoon in the El Salvador cuadrila locla, an event that has become consolidated in the capital’s Christmas calendar. Around 60 personasmaintaining the attendance figures of previous years.
Laura de Diego, manager of ASPACE Soria, has highly valued the response of Soria society after 14 years of experience. A call that has led to considering, and never better said, the holding of two annual tournaments, although “the logistics take a lot of work”, so, for the moment, the annual periodicity is maintained.
A classic modality for a solidarity purpose
The dynamics of the competition have allowed players to make rebuys during the first phase, before giving way to the playoffs that lead to the final table. It has been estimated that the day will last approximately more than seven hours, as indicated by the entity’s manager.
Urgent need for financing
Beyond the recreational aspect, the tournament has great collective importance. The proceeds from this event, which has the collaboration of a good number of local companies, are intended to support a structure that has grown exponentially in the last year.
De Diego has also referred to the current economic situation of the entity, saying that “we need a lot of financing”, after an increase in needs, such as the transfer to the new care units and the increase in the services provided. “We have gone from a staff of 9 workers to a staff of 16, by having larger facilities. We have also been able to serve from 60 users to 120, that is, we have practically doubled everything,” he detailed.
The objective: the residence
This growth in attention has not been accompanied by a proportional increase in official aid. “The subsidies are along the same lines, the day-to-day ones, there is no more support than when we were in the previous center,” he said. This situation forces the association to look for other lines through initiatives such as this tournament.
The great challenge that ASPACE Soria now faces is the completion of its residential center. With the first floor already finished and the day center and outpatient clinic in operation, the priority is the upper floor. “We have to achieve yes or yes, knocking on all the doors of all administrations and all companies, that last push that remains to finish the work on the upper floor,” he assured. The manager has described the launch of the residential centera resource that, as he finally insisted, “is greatly needed in Soria.”
