Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Rabaiotti: “We need actions of solidarity, gestures that give hope to push us beyond today's hardships”. The solidarity collection from 7 to 22 December

Milan, November 27 2020 – Also this year from 7 to 22 December in some pastry shops in Milan it will be possible to leave a panettone "on hold" to allow those who do not have the opportunity to buy one to celebrate Christmas with the traditional dessert.

The second edition of the solidarity initiative promoted by the non-profit association Panettone suspend, which aims to collect and donate panettone to people in a state of poverty in the city of Milan, sees the participation of fourteen pastry shops: of the eleven already involved last year, in fact, "I sweets of Paradise" (the cake hub of Comunità nuova, the non-profit organization chaired by Don Gino Rigoldi), the historic "Martesana Milano" brand and the pastry making laboratory of chef Carlo Cracco have been added.

But the news does not end here. This year even those who don't live in Milan will be able to support the Association and leave their contribution "remotely" by making a donation on the website www.panettonesospeso.org: the money collected will then be "transformed" into panettone. A virtual gesture that will become real solidarity.

The initiative, sponsored by the Municipality of Milan, is inspired by the Neapolitan tradition of "suspended coffee": just as coffee is a symbol in Naples, so panettone is for Milan.

From Sant'Ambrogio (the date that traditionally marks the start of Christmas in Milan) to 22 December in the fourteen associated pastry shops (and identified by a special window sticker) anyone will be able to purchase a panettone and leave it "already paid for" waiting to be donated to those who are less fortunate. For every panettone left unfinished, the pastry shops will add another, thus doubling the actual donation.

At the end of the collection, and especially before Christmas, the "suspended panettone" will be delivered to "Casa Jannacci", the reception center in Viale Ortles which offers assistance to the homeless, and to "Milano helps" the solidarity network created by the Municipality of Milan to support citizens and families in difficulty due to the Covid-19 emergency.

“It won't be a Christmas like the others – explain Gloria Ceresa and Stefano Citterio, creators and founders of the Suspended Panettone association – and this is why this year our initiative takes on an even more powerful meaning. Unfortunately, the crisis linked to the health emergency has hit the weakest groups and the most fragile people hard, but we are convinced that the proverbial generosity of the Milanese will be stronger than the pandemic. A generosity that last year allowed us to collect - and donate - 1.644 panettoni. We hope to collect many again this year and help those in difficulty to feel less alone: ​​panettone, the emblem of Christmas and sharing, can become a small caress to partially fill a great need."

“We are very happy that the beautiful suspended panettone initiative is growing - says the councilor for social and housing policies Gabriele Rabaiotti -. Projects like this help us to discover and recognize networks of solidarity and attention towards those who have the most needs, which overcome isolation and selfish closures. The city also needs these infrastructures capable of moving and igniting social capital. It is clear that healthcare plays the leading role in this pandemic - a topic on which there would be different things to say and even more to do - but it is equally true that we need solidarity actions, interventions that bring needs back to the centre. concrete, of initiatives that give hope and that push us with confidence beyond the hardships we are going through".

Here are the pastry shops where you can donate the "suspended panettone": Alvin's (via Melchiorre Gioia 141); Cake l'hub - The sweets of Paradise (via Luigi Mengoni 3); Davide Longoni (via Gerolamo Tiraboschi 19, via Fratelli Bronzetti 2 and Mercato del Suffragio - piazza Santa Maria del Suffragio); Gelsomina (via Carlo Tenca 5 and via Fiamma 2); Giacomo (via Pasquale Sottocorno 5); Marlà (Corso Lodi 15); Martesana (via Card. G. Cagliero 14, piazza Sant'Agostino 7 and via Paolo Sarpi 62); Massimo 1970 (via Giuseppe Ripamonti 5); Moriondo (via Marghera 10); Panettone Cracco Pasticceria (Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II); San Gregorio (via San Gregorio 1); Sant Ambroeus (Corso Giacomo Matteotti 7); Ungaro (via Ronchi 39); Vergani (corso di Porta Romana 51 and via Mercadante 17).

To find out how to donate and for all information: www.panettonesospeso.org.