This past year has turned the spotlight on the elderly, many of whom live in long-term care homes that were hit hard during the pandemic.
For Rubén Lucero Acosta, from our Pinos Altos site in Mexico, and his family, improving the quality of life for senior citizens has been a labour of love for many years.
Rubén has been fundraising and inspiring his family and friends to support the residents of the Long-Term Care Home of San Vicente de Paul, in the city of Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico.
“We must always value the elderly people in our communities and treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve. I consider them to be a treasure for the community in Parral. They have contributed so much, not only to their own families, but to society in general. It is my privilege to support them.”
For his dedication and commitment to Family, one of Agnico Eagle’s core values, Rubén is the 14th recipient of our annual Paul Penna Community Service Award. Each year we salute the generous spirit of our employees by bestowing this award on the Agnico Eagle employee who best exemplifies the philosophies of our founder for community involvement, dedication, and hard work.
Rubén began working with Agnico Eagle in 2008 and today, he is the Head of Process Maintenance at our Pinos Altos Mine in Mexico.
Rubén is a member of the Pinos Altos mine rescue team and helps mentor local youth through community and sporting events.
The Paul Penna Award was presented to Rubén during a virtual ceremony held on April 30th to celebrate the achievements of all regional award recipients.
Over 45 seniors, aged 85 years and older, live at San Vicente de Paul. Rubén volunteers there, helping the Home to maintain and improve the services and accommodations it offers to its residents to improve their quality of life and well-being.
This past year has been especially challenging because COVID-19 heavily impacted the Home’s ability to raise funds for badly needed improvements, funds they used to raise with the activities they carried out. In Rubén’s honor, Agnico Eagle will donate $10,000 CAD to San Vicente de Paul to help fund urgent repairs including:
• waterproofing bedrooms, the dining room, kitchen, and living room;
• fixing the boiler that provides heat to all the rooms; and
• replacing all the handrails in hallways and bathrooms, to improve safety throughout the facility
ROLE MODEL: In presenting the Paul Penna Award to Rubén, Ammar Al-Joundi, President said, “This donation will not only help improve the residents physical surroundings, it will help ensure they can continue to heal, feel valued, and safely enjoy their lives. Rubén is a role model for his spirit of generosity and for contributing his time and his financial resources to advance this crucial work.”
Rubén commented, “The pandemic has opened my eyes, realizing how fragile life is, realizing that nothing is guaranteed. It is important to know that life will never be the same again and the sooner we realize that, the faster we can adapt to the new normal.”
“The residents want to live a more dignified life. This is not a one-time job – the food runs out, the clothes get worn out, the integrity of the building suffers damage and that is why the needs increase with time, and even more so today with the pandemic. If today we can contribute, we will gladly do it for the smiles and gratitude of our elders. For us it is a great blessing because giving is greater than receiving.”
We congratulate Ruben for living our values in both his professional and personal life – to give more and to do more for those who have given much to us already.