“Talking about people who are committed to solidarity is important. It makes us understand that the path we have taken is the only possible one to help others. I have always done everything to make my dreams come true, but if I hadn't had people who were by my side I wouldn't have succeeded. We must always remember those in need”.
Words of Kalidou Koulibaly, a Napoli player who gives jackets to homeless people to protect them from the cold and who for his 30th birthday sent a ship to Senegal with ambulances, stretchers, gowns and masks. The striker received the Rete Mediterranea award this morning from Arci Mediterraneo, the social enterprise led by Mariano Anniciello that has been operating in the third sector since the 90s and has been dealing with migrant reception in Central and Southern Italy since 2013. Recognition also for Faouzi Ghoulam, “proud to receive this award. We will continue to do what we have always done, helping others, giving smiles. But we will do it with the silence and discretion that our religion imposes on us”.
“We want to highlight behaviors that have had a tangible impact on our lives,” explains Anniciello. “Arci Mediterraneo does this every day, in silence, addressing the most vulnerable to help them survive, allowing them to build an opportunity for themselves, simply by offering them dignity. The Third Sector has shown, during the pandemic, that it is an essential force in the country.” “No one wins alone,” explains the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, “Naples welcomes everyone and everyone is a brother in an open world made up of many peoples who have found a home here. We must always work to make it even more capable of welcoming. And in this city there are people who always know how to hug, even with Covid, because they have understood that we hug with the closeness of the heart.”
“The award is a recognition for those who have made solidarity a coherent and constant commitment in their lives, through actions of support towards those who most need help,” underlines the mayor of San Giorgio a Cremano, Giorgio Zinno.
Article published on 10 December 2021 - 19:51
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