“Everyone has to work together to improve health care and reduce poverty, but business has a special responsibility to give back and show the way forward,” U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said on September 20, 2004, at a ceremony at the Casa de la Amistad para Niños con Cáncer, I.A.P., during which Pfizer Foundation donated more than seven million pesos for the construction of a new building. “This kind of generosity comes from a deep sense of personal and corporate responsibility,” Garza added.

“Today we are celebrating the generosity of the Pfizer Corporation, a worldwide leader in corporate responsibility,” said Ambassador Garza, who presided at the event, along with Pfizer CEO for Mexico and Latin America Jorge Bracero, Casa de la Amistad Board President Tessie Gutiérrez de Picazo, volunteers and staff members. The large donation has enabled Casa de la Amistad to construct a new building that will provide comprehensive service and a warm, caring environment to many more children in need.

Founded in 1992, the Casa de la Amistad is a home that offers support and medication to children suffering from cancer from low-income families throughout Mexico. While the child is undergoing cancer treatment in Mexico City, the institution offers food and lodging, transport and care to the child and a parent. With a staff of 55 and over 165 volunteers, Casa de la Amistad accommodates 500 children and a parent on a rotating basis.

Also supported by the Casa de la Amistad is the medicine bank that operates in Mexico City as well as in thirteen states. The cost of providing medicines to children enrolled in the medicine bank is approximately USD$200,000 per month. Currently 1,400 children throughout Mexico receive their cancer medications through this service.