The donation of the wheelchairs took place this morning at the Community House in the presence of the director of the Castelfranco Emilia Health District Cristina Maccaferri; of the coordinator of Cittadinanzattiva in Castelfranco, Romano Ansaloni; of the deputy mayor and councilor for Welfare of the Municipality of Castelfranco Emilia Nadia Caselgrandi; and Fabia Ferrioli, environmental services manager for the Modena district and northern area municipalities of the Hera Group.
The initiative also saw the precious contribution of the two Castelfranchese voluntary associations ‘3A (Amore,aiuto e elderly non-profit organization) and Arci Solidarietà, which have long collaborated with the Hera Group in the area with projects oriented towards environmental sustainability.
The caps were collected through containers located in various areas of the city (Coop and Conad sales points, Spallanzani Institute of Higher Education in Castelfranco) and also thanks to the commitment of the employees of the Castelfranco Community House and the Municipality.
Thanks to the sensitivity of many citizens and the commitment of the associations, over the course of about three years they were well collected ten tons of corks then sent for recycling: Hera and the municipal administration thus recognized Cittadinanzattiva with an economic contribution for the commitment made to this and other initiatives to protect the environment. This contribution was used to purchase and donate the four wheelchairs to the community house, to replace the old and obsolete ones.
The collection of corks, which began a few years ago, had led to a first socio-health project, namely the donation of two beds for non-self-sufficient elderly people to the ‘Delia Repetto’ shelter in Castelfranco. Given the success of the initiative, the collection continued and has now resulted in another donation, this time to the community house.
“I intend to thank all those who contributed, highlighting above all how small daily gestures, such as the simple recycling of a cork, can transform into the gift of a useful object used by many – underlines the Director of the Castelfranco Emilia District Cristina Maccaferri – I hope that initiatives like these will also spread within various contexts, spreading a culture of sustainability and respect”
“The involvement of citizens and associations has made it possible to transform an environmental protection activity into a concrete action of solidarity – explains Fabia Ferrioliresponsible for the Hera Group of environmental services in the Modena district and municipalities in the Northern area.- Everyone’s commitment is needed to achieve significant objectives like this, it is no coincidence that in Castelfranco we also started the #wehavenelcuore competition, which sees citizens, businesses and associations engaged in the development of projects oriented towards decorum and sustainability, for example to prevent the production of waste and separate it correctly”.
“From the beginning, the Municipality of Castelfranco as well as the Union of Sorbara have shared the project and are committed to spreading it and making it increasingly a social project, of active involvement of citizens, of many local activities, including municipal employees – comments the Welfare councilor of the Municipality of Castelfranco Emilia Nadia Caselgrandi – This is an extraordinary example of a circular economy, where environmental value is associated with social value. But it is also a practice that will help us spread the need for recovery by aiming it at social actions that many citizens share, an incentive that many have shown they share.”
“For the associations Cittadinanzattiva, Noi and Arci Solidarietà, waste recycling must not be an imposition but a cultural choice which materializes in this very simple activity of collecting caps where we can find a solidarity aspect in the donation to the Community House, a social aspect in involvement of citizens to achieve a common objective and also the environmental aspect with an activity to promote separate waste collection” declares Romano Ansaloni coordinator of Cittadinanzattiva in Castelfranco Emilia.