The mobilization in support of the Ukrainian people takes on ever wider contours. Started collections of funds, clothing, food and medicines to be sent to the border with Poland where refugees are massing. And demonstrations of solidarity continue in the province.
Mirror of the Times
The Specchio d’Italia Foundation, of the Gedi group, has opened a subscription, immediately making € 50,000 available. Everyone can make donations online at www.specchioditalia.org (by credit card or PayPal), or by bank transfer made out to Fondazione Specchio d’Italia Onlus, in via Bertano 2, Milan (Iban IT82F0306909606100000176056) or by postal order on the current account. c10511722237, indicating the reason “For the people of Ukraine).
Alexandria
“Dear Mayor and President of the City Council of Alessandria, I am writing to propose the display of the Ukrainian flag outside our Municipality”: thus begins the letter from Piero Castellano (former Brothers of Italy in the city council now in Alessandria Migliore) asking to display the Ukrainian flag at the Red Palace. “In light of the dramatic war – continues Castellano -, of the unfortunate events and the humanitarian tragedy that the country is undergoing, a victim of Russian aggression, I propose to display the Ukrainian banner from the balcony of Palazzo Rosso as a sign of solidarity and closeness”.
Tortona
With wet eyes and voices broken by emotion, the Ukrainian women who live in Castelnuovo Scrivia spoke of their families and their land. They did so in the meeting in the square organized by the Municipality and Cantiere Cultura. Numerous citizens accepted the invitation together with other mayors of the area, representatives of the library, civil protection, associations Anpi, Amnesty and the environment group. In Volpedo, clothing has been collected since yesterday: on the ground floor of the municipal building there is a point for clothes and sheets. Access is possible on weekdays and on Saturday mornings. The material will be conveyed to the departing trucks in the next few days. In Tortona, in the municipal council, the councilor Pd Marcella Graziano presented a document on behalf of the minority, then also signed by the majority and the mayor, with which they undertake “to make the Ukrainian people feel the solidarity of the Italians and the strongest moral and political condemnation of Putin and to create every possible mobilization against Russian aggression ».
Ovada
“If war is not thrown out of history by men, war will throw men out of history.” The words of Gino Strada are those chosen by Ovada to launch the peace presidium scheduled for today 2 March, at 6 pm, in front of the War Memorial in Piazza XX Settembre, a symbolic place in the heart of the city. The mobilization started from the Libera garrison, finding the support of the mayor Paolo Lantero and a network of associations and social realities that continued to grow from hour to hour: Arci, Parrocchiale, Borgallegro, Padri Scolopi, Scout, Istituto Santa Caterina Madri Pie, Cigno Foundation, Social Services Consortium, Catholic Action, Caritas, Parish of Our Lady of the Snow of Costa, EquAzione, Arts and Crafts Charity House, Lions Club, Avulss, Floribet. Others are being added, while the city says it is willing to welcome the first refugees in coordination with the prefecture.
Acqui
Last night March 1 it was the bishop, Monsignor Luigi Testore, who led the prayer vigil organized by the pastoral community of San Guido in the cathedral: today there will be Eucharistic adorations for peace, always in the cathedral, to San Francesco and to the Pilgrim Madonna . Meanwhile, in the city, the charity machine is being set in motion: yesterday, various hotels in Acqui agreed to host Ukrainian badminton athletes stuck in Uganda, but a solution was found for them abroad.
New Ligure
Daniele Pittarello, the tobacconist of Porta Genova, is still at the forefront, together with Pietro Gallo who, in collaboration with two Ukrainian volunteers, organized aid. The items collected, mainly non-perishable food and over-the-counter medicines, will be sent to the border with Poland. Everyone can participate, delivering the requested items directly to the Pittarello resale, already a precious point of reference during the pandemic emergency. We also accept winter clothes for adults and children, blankets, underwear, as well as basic first aid kits.
Casale
A demonstration was held on Saturday in Piazza Mazzini in Casale, organized by various associations and coordinated by the Filorosso Committee to ask for peace in Ukraine and to repudiate war as a solution to conflicts. The mayor Federico Riboldi has meanwhile made it known that the city is alongside the Ukrainian people and that the only Casalese blocked in Kiev, the Shaktar team’s athletic trainer, Agostino Tibaudi, returned to his homeland yesterday. Meanwhile, the Monferrato artist John Sale has created a work of street art which was then applied on Sunday night along the Naviglio Grande in Milan with the inscription “No War”: it represents a tank that overwhelms a car.
Valence
The week began with an initiative announced a few days ago by the head teacher Maurizio Carandini and put into practice yesterday in front of the comprehensive Paolo and Rita Borsellino Institute. The manager will be in front of the school every day from 9 to 9.30 to raise awareness of the “no” to war that his students will formalize in reflections on the school website. But Carandini was not found alone under the plaque that testifies to the Liberation of Valenza. Alongside him the mayor Maurizio Oddone, the commissioner Rossella Gatti, and various other representatives of the city council and the Church. Carandini says: «I will continue until the end of the war and my school is ready to host a Ukrainian family». Also in Valenza, a proposal from the secretary of the League, Daniele Boccardo, for a torchlight procession «to say no to war with no ifs and buts. To resolve conflicts, knowing how to dialogue with diplomacy at every level is a priority ”.