Margarita smiles all the time. Her phones don’t stop ringing and people keep entering the soup kitchen but she doesn’t get tired; she has a hug and words of affection for everyone. She speaks quietly and calmly. But when she listens to a child crying, she immediately stands up and shouts: “Where is the kid?” Her love for them doesn’t allow her to see them suffering.
That true love pushed her to create the soul kitchen Los Piletones almost two decades ago, where she helps thousands of families each year. Her name was present in the campaign speeches of president Mauricio Macri, who always said that she is the person that inspires him the most. For all those reasons, in Le Banana we have chosen her as the woman of 2015: a fighter who is always helping people and giving everything for the others.
What pushed you to create Los Piletones?
The memories of my mother. I will tell you an anecdote that I will never forget: when we were children, at lunch time, my mother served us food in sweet potatoes tins, but she also served some food in the only plate that we had: a deep, yellow and big one, and she put it in the middle of the table. I didn’t understand why she did that so one day I asked her if we could eat from that plate, but she told me we couldn’t because we had to keep that plate for God. Sometime later, I arrived home and I saw that a homeless was eating from that yellow plate, so I ran to tell my mother that he was not God, and she answered me something I will never forget: “Do you know God?, if you don’t know him, then this man is God. Never ask someone where he comes from or what his name is, just give him something to eat”.
This year, Perfil magazine chose you as one of the most influential women of Argentina, what do you feel when you receive those praises?
I didn’t know I have been chosen, but it makes me feel good. I am proud for what I do and if I had to create another soup kitchen or to start all over again I would definitely do it.
President Mauricio Macri and the First Lady Juliana Awada have said many times that you are a mentor for them, what do you think about that?
It doesn’t surprise me that Mauricio has said that because he has said that to me many times. When he was the mayor of the City of Buenos Aires, if he needed some peace, he got the car, drove here, ate with us and before leaving he told me: “Now I am full of energy”.
How do you see Los Piletones in the future?
I imagine myself solving other problems. I would like that the time comes when people don’t need to come here to eat, my dream is that they can work and eat at their homes because that will give them dignity. If we achieve that, I would like to help in some other way, supporting children so that they can go to College or to High School, for example.
She is 54 and she created the soul kitchen Los Piletones, located in Villa Soldati, 19 years ago, where between 200 and 300 children and adults go every day to have breakfast, lunch and dinner. Nowadays, besides, the place has a kindergarten, a medical attention center and an old people’s home. 120 volunteers work at Los Piletones in all, and 30 of them help at the soup kitchen. Margarita coordinates all the tasks and she is in charge, as she says, “of adding up and multiplying the love and solidarity of all the people that help her”.
Is there any story of some boy or girl that you have helped and who could finish College or get a good job?
Yes, there are many nice stories. There is María Paredes, who is a doctor and now helps us here; and also Denisse, who is an architect; and another boy who is now a pediatrician.
Which are your wishes for 2016?
My wishes are that we have peace, security and education. And I will fight so that in the future soup kitchens do not exist. I want children and families to be independent. I hope that there is work for everyone and that everyone can choose what to eat, that is my dream.
