Sometimes the world stops for a child. In January 2024, to Lucas (6 years) diagnosed a medulloblastoma on the back of the brain. Two days later he had entered the operating room. His mother, Teresa Haro, remembers each stage of treatment with a mixture of amazement and strength: «He was in the hospital all year. In November the treatment ended and we thought it was going to be definitive, but in February they confirmed that it had fallen. The tumor does not find out that we don’t love him here.
Waiting to conclude with the second phase of the treatment, Lucas continues to be a child full of energy and curiosity: «He is very happy, he loves to spend jokes to doctors and nurses, the affection of everyone is won. He likes to go to school, play with his brother Mateo (4 years), go to the pool … ». Since you have memory, Lucas has always dreamed of being a firefighter or police. However, spending part of his existence among hospitals has prevented him from going to school normally, running or playing “catching the bad” with his friends.
But the day came when Lucas could stop being patient, even for a while. The Small desire Foundation – which has been fulfilling the dreams of minors with serious or chronic diseases – made its desire to belong to a police force, in collaboration with Ecoembes. Thanks to the donations of anonymous people who recycled their containers with the Recycles app, created by the organization, Lucas could be agent for a day. «We went to the National Police police station in Alcobendas, the municipality where we reside. There he was in the research area, in the briefing where they assigned the tasks, DNIS did, explored the dungeon … He even climbed into the patrol car and put the siren», Says his mother. “Since then, he asks us if we can go to the police station every day,” he adds.
Behind that unforgettable experience there is a chain of daily actions that, when joining, achieve the extraordinary. The app allows users to accumulate points to deposit empty plastic cans and bottles in yellow containers or recycled machines located in some municipalities of all autonomous communities. In return, They can allocate them to causes such as the Aladina Foundation and Juegatherapy (who collaborate to improve the lives of children with cancer) or the small foundation, which helped Lucas.
«Until you are involved in a serious illness, you don’t realize that sometimes, With nothing, you help a child who is having a very bad time», Reflect Haro. «Best of all, children do not live that help as if they were given something because they are bad, but because they care about them and because they deserve it. It is a self of self -esteem, it is joy and it is an engine to move forward ».
Nieves Rey, director of Communication and Marketing of Ecoembes, explains that «recycles was conceived with the purpose of Use technology to transform recycling into a social change agent. The app promotes the effective separation of plastic cans and bottles, but also expands our mission, reflecting on how this daily gesture can benefit those who require it most, addressing challenges that affect the entire community ».
Small desire is present in More than 35 hospitals in Spain, mostly publicand meets an average of 500 wishes a year. “We help children and adolescents, between 4 and 18 years, in treatment for any serious or chronic disease, although cancer represents 65% of cases,” explains Cristina Cuadrado, its general director. In the case of Lucas, he was the medical staff of the Navarra Clinic – where he received protonopia – who contacted the entity.
«The day the desire is fulfilled is very special for the child, for parents and for toilets. They always take care of authorizing desire, choosing the best moment or allowing hospital to leave. They consider us part of the treatment, ”he says square. “Because Fulfilling your wishes has a very direct incidence in your well -being and how they face the disease –Prosigue. In addition, many parents tell us: ‘”I finally see him smile” and what better gift than that to continue with our work.
Recycling as a social tool
What is apparently a simple act of environmental responsibility – receiving a container – is transformed, thanks to recycles, into a social change lever. In total, the app has channeled citizen commitment in more than 600 social and environmental projects. Aladina Foundation has been able to carry children -assisted therapies to children in palliative care, promote pediatric psycho -arrangement programs in hospitals or make improvements in public centers such as the Virgin of Arrixaca, in Murcia.
«One of our programs there includes adapted physical exercise, with A coach who helps children recover strength and self -esteem During the treatment, ”says Ana Dávila, DIRCOM of the NGO. “It has a lot of effect: the first, which takes a smile, and then everyone else,” he says, among which is the recovery of muscle and bone tissue or the elimination of toxins.
The Aladina Foundation is in 22 public hospitals in Spain and impacts more than 2,000 pediatric patients per year. Some of its programs in 2024 were financed with the 27,000 euros that raised through recycles. «We have benefited a lot from this collaboration with Ecoembes, first for the visibility it provides us, and second because we need resources to help these children, already many more. Our premise is that where there is a child with cancer will be Aladina, ”says Dávila.
Those who donate their points may not be entirely conscious, but their gesture comes further than they imagine. “The recycler is already someone special in itself, who has implicit generosity,” he considers square. «They are people aware of public health and who want to help. It is not surprising that on the two occasions we have collaborated with Ecoembes, the reception has been enormous, ”he says. In fact, More than 100 wishes have come true thanks to recycling through the app.
Stories like Desires, a 16 -year -old Ukrainian teenager who fled the armed conflict in his country and that dreams of being a model. «He has a neurological problem and, when we contacted her, it was in the Child Jesus. Thanks to those donations, we were able to make a professional photo shoot on a roof, with a wig and fashion clothes … It was incredible. Moving it from the hospital for a few hours was like opening a window to the world, ”he recalls square.
As for Lucas, he returned to school after his adventure as a policeman. He took the photos to class, showed them to his friends and continued to show that smile that no medical treatment has managed to erase. And it all started with a can. With a bottle. With someone who decided that his recycling could be worth more.