Fundación Felisa launches a Relief and Recovery Fund for the people affected by the DANA floods in Valencia

The fund, which combines immediate relief with long-term rebuilding projects, sets out to mobilize resources and partnerships worldwide to drive the region’s social, economic and environmental recovery.

The Foundation, set up by Iker Marcaide and Margarita Albors, positions itself as a local partner, working from the ground to channel solidarity from around the world into projects that rebuild the communities affected.

The fund has the backing of families and organizations in Spain and abroad, and takes a whole-system approach that combines direct action with work alongside public and private bodies in order to have a greater effect.

Valencia, December 12, 2024.- The DANA storm’s passage through the Region of Valencia has left devastation behind it, affecting hundreds of thousands of families, along with infrastructure and local businesses. In the face of this crisis, Fundación Felisa, set up in 2022 by the entrepreneur and impact investor Iker Marcaide, founder of Zubi Group, and by Margarita Albors, founder of Social Nest Foundation, has activated its Relief and Recovery Fund. The fund will finance key projects in areas such as housing, training and employment, education and sport, logistics and waste management. Its aim is to support recovery as a whole, from a whole-system perspective and with an eye on the medium and long term.

From Zubi Help to Fundación Felisa: a commitment that lasts

Zubi Help started out as an operational platform for urgent emergency response, mobilizing resources and volunteers to cover immediate needs. From its 7,000 m² logistics center, set up together with Matteco, Zubi Help organized in record time the arrival of more than 200 truckloads of essential goods, which were distributed to 20 municipalities, with 1,500 volunteers and 90 partner companies taking part across the different phases. In just one month, more than €4 million worth of goods were handed out to over 5,000 families. That work now continues from Fundación Felisa.

Aware that recovery calls for a long-term approach, Iker Marcaide and Margarita Albors decided to go a step further and create the Fundación Felisa Relief and Recovery Fund. As an organization based in the area affected, working in close coordination with companies, associations and institutions, it puts resources into rebuilding and into strengthening the local economy and community.

The fund, which already has the backing of families and organizations in Spain and abroad, rests on a whole-system strategy: tackling the challenges as a whole and acting on the right levers to have the greatest effect, working alongside others.

The Fundación Felisa Relief and Recovery Fund works in the areas that matter most for covering immediate needs and for encouraging a lasting recovery. Its main lines of work, at this point, are focused on the logistics of basic goods and furniture, and on finding answers for repairing homes, youth unemployment in the areas affected, and getting sport up and running again. It is also working on projects on mobility, waste management, early years education and support for small shops, so as to support development that is both broad and lasting.

A specialist team works from the ground, and the foundation works alongside public and private bodies, managing every donation transparently and making sure the results can be measured. “We want to turn solidarity into real solutions,” says Iker Marcaide, president of Fundación Felisa. Margarita Albors, vice-president, adds: “Our commitment is to contribute urgent answers, and coordinated, sustained effort, to rebuild resilient communities and encourage development that is inclusive and lasting.”

Anyone — individuals, companies and organizations — who would like to join the Relief and Recovery Fund can donate easily through Fundación Felisa’s official website at: https://fundacionfelisa.org

Contributions come with a tracking system that makes it possible to measure their results and guarantee real impact in the communities worst affected. Every donation is designed to have a multiplier effect, getting the most economic value out of the goods and services that reach the people they are meant for. In some cases that effect has reached up to 50 times the value of the resources contributed, as the logistics center showed.

About Fundación Felisa

Fundación Felisa was set up in 2022 as an initiative of the Marcaide Albors family, with the purpose of having a positive effect in three key areas: children’s wellbeing, poverty relief and environmental conservation. It was created in response to the need to take on some of the biggest global challenges, such as climate change, social conflict and growing inequality.

The foundation runs projects aimed at supporting children’s all-round development, guaranteeing equal opportunities for vulnerable communities and protecting natural resources. Its mission centers on backing lasting solutions that contribute to a fairer future, acting with urgency, with empathy and with the commitment to face problems that demand both immediate and long-term answers.

More information:

For more about Fundación Felisa’s work, you can contact Luz Martínez, the Foundation’s director of communications:

• Email: luz@fundacionfelisa.org
• Phone: 627 75 28 77