Charity in a selfish society

Charity

Italy is one of the countries, as you have just seen, that was hit hardest by the covid19 crisis in Europe. The healthcare cuts and the increasing number of infections has put the Italian healthcare system in a bad position: the number of doctors and ICU’s spots were/are not enough.

While the situation was getting worse and worse, the Italian people decided to help hospitals, health providers and average people in every way they can.

Research shows that more than half of Italian have donated to charities and other initiative linked to the coronavirus.

One of the most immediate way to help hospital and doctors, and keep us save, was to start or contribute to fundraising using platform like GoFoundMe.com.

In Italy 956 charity initiative have been activated of which 714 from private company and association and 235 from private or no profit company.

Number of initiatives per beneficiary

Fundraiser

Across the country, the government imposed limits on the public's movements and social contact to halt the spread of the virus. This has meant little or no public fundraising activity, face-to-face markets have been shut down and major events have been canceled.

Fundraising organisations have been quick to adapt, turning to digital channels for a range of working needs, video conferencing, delivering charitable services and, last not least, for delivering fundraising itself.

Medical and healthcare charities with a role in protecting the public from the virus are among many that have launched emergency campaigns in an attempt to plug the funding gap.

If we look to the GoFoundMe page Insieme contro il coronavirus, it is possible find 69 fundraising with a total of almost over 18 million euro.

One of the first and most effective fundraisers was made by the influencer Chiara Ferragni and her husband, the rapper Fedez, which has raised more than 4.4 million €, at the time of the writing. The couple have used their social media influence to create awareness of how bad the situation was in Lombardia and to ask for help to build a new ICU at San Raffaele Hospital. The money collected has been used to buy fans, non invasive ventilation devices, hemodynamic monitoring and monitors.

The football player Zlatan Ibrahimovic collaborated with “MindTheGum” to start the fundraiser "Kick the virus away" to help the Humanitas Hospital buy: suits, masks, gowns and personal protective equipment, lung ventilators, monitoring systems and telemetry.

Private companies changes in order to help

Some Italian companies have decided to help in this difficult situation by rethinking their workflow.

Automobili Lamborghini has converted some departments of its production plant in Sant’Agata Bolognese to produce surgical masks and protective medical shields for the Sant’Orsola-Malpighi Hospital in Bologna, which is involved in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, in collaboration with the University of Bologna.

Daily, one thousand masks were/ are been made in the Upholstery Department which produces the interiors and customizations for Lamborghini cars. At the same time, 200 protective medical shields in polycarbonate are made inside the composites production plant and at the Research and Development department with the use of 3D printers.

The Armani Group ordered the conversion of all of its Italian production plants to produce disposable gowns intended for the individual protection of health workers engaged in dealing with the virus.

The historic Milanese company the mother of Amaro Ramazzotti, has chosen to produce its own special hand sanitizer. Produced in the historic factory it is a mixture based on alcohol and hydrogen peroxide and will be given to the Italian Red Cross, Fire Brigade and Civil Protection free of charge. What makes it stand out is the unmistakable citrus aroma.

Humanism

In these difficult months help has come not only in the form of fundraising. We become aware of the reciprocity that is at the basis of our life as much as we have during this terrible emergency. Realizing that every life is a life in common, together we make up life, and life comes from “the other.”

We had the opportunity to rediscover ourselves more human, to feel connected even at a distance.

Panaro solidale

To combat the poverty generated by the coronavirus emergency, some Neapolitan citizens have decided to use the traditional Panaro to help those in need. The classic baskets lowered from the balconies therefore were accompanied by a sign with the inscription of the doctor Moscati.

In short, an invitation to those who have the most financial resources to leave food for those who have begun to suffer economic difficulties. A supportive response in countertrend with respect to the invitations, which arrived via social media in recent days, to attack the supermarkets launched to encourage the poor.

Milano aiuta

“Milano Aiuta” is an initiative of the municipality of Milan to respond to the need for food aid to support elderly and families in difficulty. At the fruit and vegetable market in Milan volunteers collected crates of fruit and vegetables together, packed them for each family and brought them to one of the many collection points in the city to distribute it to families in the area.

The initiative has also been suported by many influencers. Here a video that the rapper Fedez have made to make people aware of this opportunity.