By Cecilia Snyder | Community Marketing Manager, GlobalGiving
Due to your generous donations, our fund recipients – UNICO and Slow Food Italy – have been able to assess emergency situations and respond quickly and efficiently. As they move to more long-term recovery actions, they will be updating on their progress. Here are their most recent reports:
From Kathleen Strozza, UNICO:
With the Abruzzo Region in Southern Italy still suffering earthquake aftershocks, UNICO National and its 130 Chapters are reacting with a broad vision and plan to help those in this devastated area. More than 40,000 were left homeless and over 27,000 students of the University of L’Aquila have been displaced.
Building on its previous experiences, UNICO has harnessed the energies of its dedicated members to raise funds and take a lead position in providing relief for disaster victims in the Abruzzo region.
The initial funds collected have been used for distributing food, blankets, hygiene items and clothes.
UNICO is now in the second phase of Earthquake relief, to residents of the province of L’Aquila, in the Abruzzo region. Our objective is to raise all that we possibly can, to assist the victims and help them rebuild their lives and community. We thank those who have already contributed, but more needs to be done. We certainly encourage all members of the public to join us in the humanitarian effort. No donation would be considered too large or too small. Together we can provide much needed assistance, for those so badly in need.
From Shayna Bailey, Slow Food Italy:
Over one month ago a massive earthquake struck the Region of Abruzzo, Italy. Though press on the disaster has slowed to a halt, the problems of the residents of this area remain varied and daily. Of the 80,000 refugee inhabitants, 50,000 are living in tent communities, and 30,000 are living in hotels. No one is going about life as usual: commercial activity has all but stopped, local groceries and cafés are closed or destroyed, and tourism - which is fundamental to the local economy - is nonexistent, even in the areas of the region with no damages from the earthquake. Without a stimulus in the local community, the people will continue to exist as refugees with lives that hardly resemble their former realities.
Slow Food has taken immediate action and - together with local partners - has promoted new initiatives in order to give new life to the local economy, and to reinforce the identity of the community.
To date, two important initiatives have been implemented:
Community Gardens
Thanks to the commitment of Silvia De Paulis, Governor of Slow Food Italy, this proposal made some days after the earthquake has taken shape.
With the support of many organizations, we are now setting up community gardens in ten refugee camps. The community organizers and the coordinators of the Slow Food School Gardens project are working together to give assistance to the affected people involved in the gardens. With summer approaching, children have the opportunity to play while learning at the same time, harvesting the fruits of the gardens that they have grown. In addition to being an educational endeavor, the initiative directly impacts local food security for the people who have been displaced by the earthquake.
Earth Markets
Certain allocated funds from the contributions will be used to buy a new wooden building in the city of L’Aquila. This building will host all local food producers who meet the requirements of the Slow Food Earth Market, meaning that the food they produce is good, clean and fair. The goal is to create a permanent farmers' market for all the producers who have lost their historical market location to the earthquake in Piazza Duomo in L’Aquila. Now they will have a new place to sell their products and to re-establish their connections with local consumers. This strengthens the normal daily routines of the people and the economy of the community, assists the farmers in making a living, and gives locals access to greater food security.
Our heartfelt thanks to all who have contributed to help the people of Abruzzo meet their basic needs and jumpstart life after the disaster. Your assistance gives hope to residents that life will continue as it once did, and that economic stability and food security will return without loss of traditional culture or livelihoods.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
When a disaster strikes, recovery efforts led by people who live and work in affected communities are often overlooked and underfunded. GlobalGiving is changing this reality. Since 2004, we've been shifting decision-making power to crises-affected communities through trust-based grantmaking and support.
We make it easy, quick, and safe to support people on the ground who understand needs in their communities better than anyone else.
They were there long before the news cameras arrived, and they’ll be there long after the cameras leave. They know how to make their communities more resilient to future disasters, and they’re already hard at work. GlobalGiving puts donations and grants directly into their hands. Because the status quo—which gives the vast majority of funding to a few large organizations—doesn’t make sense.
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