Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Sponsorship approved for the “Building hope” project by AVSI and the Italian Red Cross to support 4.500 families in difficulty due to the pandemic

Milan, January 11 2021 – The food support action for people in difficulty continues thanks to the collaboration between the AVSI Foundation, the Milan Committee of the Italian Red Cross and the Municipality of Milan, as part of an initiative that will reach over 12.000 people by the end of January (4.500 families) in economic difficulty due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Administration has in fact approved the granting of patronage to the project “Building hope: emergency support for hospitals and vulnerable families in Italy affected by Covid-19”, promoted by the AVSI Foundation, organized in collaboration with the Italian Red Cross - Committee of Milan and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with a contribution of 225 thousand euros.

“Another piece is added to the action of the Municipality of Milan in favor of the people who are most suffering the economic consequences resulting from the prolongation of the pandemic – declares the deputy mayor with responsibility for Food policy Anna Scavuzzo -. This action integrates well with the new food aid system, strengthening, thanks also to new partners, the framework of interventions dedicated to combating food poverty and guaranteeing access to healthy food to as many people as possible: one of the priorities also in this phase for the implementation of the Milan Food Policy".

The initiative involves the purchase and distribution of an extraordinary supply of foodstuffs to 42 third sector bodies active in Milan in the field of food aid; this supply will integrate with normal sources of supply and will allow a rapid increase in the availability of food resources for families.

“With this project – underlines Giampaolo Silvestri, Secretary General of the AVSI Foundation – drawing on its experience of almost fifty years of interventions in emergency situations in the world, AVSI works to be close to the most vulnerable, exhausted by this crisis from the material and psychological. In collaboration with the Municipality of Milan and other local entities, a network has been created that aims to respond to the most urgent needs, but with a view to restarting".

Thanks to the participation of the Italian Red Cross - Committee of Milan, already a partner of the Municipality in the first food aid scheme together with many other private and third sector organisations, it was possible to purchase with this financing a further 68 tonnes of food, which will be distributed to entities by the end of January 2021.

“The effects of this pandemic will last years,” comments Luigi Maraghini Garrone, President of the Milan Red Cross, “but the next few months will perhaps be the most difficult from a social and economic point of view. Faced with this scenario, Milan once again demonstrates its ability to react as a team. Only thanks to close cooperation between institutions, third sector organizations and private individuals will it be possible to find solutions capable of looking to the future without leaving anyone behind".