The Fundatul Charity Gala this year turned into a posthumous tribute to Remedios del Río

The pharmacist and philanthropist Remedios del Río passed away suddenly this past summer, but her memory was very much alive at the Thirty-First Charity Gala ... of Fundatul, held on the night of October 31 at the Anantara Villa Padierna Hotel in Benahavís.

A broad representation of Marbella society gathered once again to honor this woman, support her family led by her four children, Piedad, Tusti, Juan, and Meme, and collaborate philanthropically with Fundatul, the association she herself founded in 1997 to address the needs of people with disabilities in the Costa del Sol and Sierra de las Nieves and support them in their social and labor integration.

Her son Juan del Río, current chairman of the Board following his mother's wishes, expressed to Diario Sur how moved he was "to remember her at this dinner and raise funds for her project. Today we feel very close to her."

"Tonight we celebrate the 31st Fundatul Gala which is the charitable and philanthropic work to which my mother dedicated her entire life, a Foundation that I am very fond of because it is dedicated to the guardianship and social and labor integration of the disabled. We have almost 300 people in seven projects and this Gala today means for us the emotion of continuing the work of someone enormous," stated the president of Fundatul.

Del Río assured that they never considered dissolving the Foundation after his mother's death. "We have lived with someone who combined, now in retrospect I can say it even better, a tremendous degree of demand and desire for improvement with the security that unconditional love provides. We have a very big responsibility, which is to look after almost 60 people and provide social and labor opportunities to almost 300, and we are going to continue with it. We will continue to fulfill my mother's wish and we will continue to do it as she did, even if it is a bit daunting to step into the shoes of a goddess."

Working in hotels

Two clear examples of what Fundatul means for people with disabilities are Emilio Conejero, 39, who has been with it since 2014, and Francisco David Lazo, 22, in the foundation since 2019. Both are currently working in two hotels on the Costa del Sol, integrated into the workforce and happy to feel useful. "We feel the loss of Remedios because she was a very special person, we have always loved her, she has helped us find a good job and she will always be in our hearts," they assured Diario Sur before the start of the Gala.

María José Pando, who has been working at the Foundation for 10 years and is currently the manager of Fundatul, told Diario Sur that "our primary objective is to normalize the living conditions of people with disabilities and we are focused on labor integration and independent living, because it is one of the concerns that families always convey to us, the question of 'what will happen to my children in the future'."

"Guardianship, job orientation, pre-employment training, employment, autonomy, and independent living. That is what we work on and all of us at Fundatul are people committed to the values of Remedios del Río and believe in what we do," concluded Pando.

At this year's Gala, which was attended by about 200 people and hosted by journalist Nacho Abad, there was also a fashion show featuring models, all friends of Remedios, who wore her outfits, dresses, tunics, hats, earrings, necklaces, etc., which the family generously made available to Fundatul to raise funds.