Zara owner Amancio Ortega is donating $107 million via the Amancio Ortega Foundation in the wake of devastating flooding around Valencia, which resulted in at least 217 deaths.
The donation will help the social services departments of the town councils affected by the flooding to alleviate the affected citizens’ most pressing needs.
The foundation said it will work with the appropriate authorities to ensure that this aid reaches the victims in the quickest and most effective manner possible.
Extreme weather has not only wreaked havoc in Valencia, where in some cases a year’s worth of rain fell in a day, parts of Catalonia, including Barcelona, were also hit by flooding.
More than 80 flights have been canceled or delayed as Barcelona’s El Prat airport was flooded.
Founded in 2001 by the creator of Inditex, the biggest fast-fashion group in the world with brands including Zara, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius and Oysho, the Amancio Ortega Foundation aims to create opportunities for the participants and beneficiaries, especially the most vulnerable, in two key sectors: education and social welfare.
The Amancio Ortega Foundation was established by Amancio Ortega Gaona, the founder and former chairman of Inditex fashion group, which is best known for its Zara clothing chain12.
Amancio Ortega is a Spanish billionaire businessman who was born in 1936 in Busdongo de Arbas, León, Spain12. He moved to A Coruña at a young age and began his career in the textile sector, eventually founding his own company Confecciones GOA in 19631.
In 1975, Ortega opened the first Zara store in A Coruña, Spain. He went on to build Inditex into a global retail empire, pioneering the concept of “fast fashion”. Inditex now owns multiple fashion brands and has over 7,500 stores worldwide.
The Amancio Ortega Foundation is a private non-profit organization that focuses on philanthropic activities in areas such as: education, healthcare, social welfare, culture
Some of his notable donations by the foundation include:
$344 million to Spanish public hospitals for breast cancer screening and treatment technology
$21.5 million to Cáritas, a Roman Catholic charity
Funding for student scholarships and early learning centers in Galicia, Spain.
Ortega stepped down as chairman of Inditex in 2011 but remains involved with the company and retains a majority ownership stake.
Through his foundation, Ortega continues to support various charitable causes, with a particular focus on healthcare, education and social welfare initiatives in Spain.
The foundation represents a major avenue for Ortega to give back to society and make a positive impact beyond his business achievements.
It runs a scholarship program, through which Spanish high school students spend an academic year in educational institutions in the U.S. and Canada, a master’s in journalism and audiovisual production, and the Impulsa project, which promotes the completion of compulsory schooling for students from vulnerable backgrounds.
On the social welfare front, it leads the construction of the first comprehensive pediatric palliative care center in Madrid, the NIPACE neurological rehabilitation center in Guadalajara, and the Únicas Sant Joan de Déu Center in Barcelona.
It also supports the most vulnerable sectors of society through initiatives with the Spanish Red Cross, Caritas Spain and the Spanish Federation of Food Banks.