Scholarships for students. Initiative by Sicindustria and the Municipality
PALERMO – Two scholarships for deserving students who would not have had the opportunity to continue their education. A way to give an opportunity to those who would have had the only alternatives of looking for a job at an early age or, worse, the streets and the risk of ending up in the arms of crime.
The initiative
Thanks to the donation and commitment of Euromanager Sanità and Italtekno srl, two high school students will be accompanied throughout their school career with scholarships (of 2,500 euros each) which will be used to pay for books and teaching materials. The idea comes from Father Antonio Garau, parish priest of San Paolo Apostolo in Borgo Nuovo, who will identify deserving students who will also be supported by a tutor, to follow their performance year after year and to report, at the end of the school career, the profiles to a vast range of companies.
“Not donations but opportunities”
“We are not asking for simple donations – says the parish priest of San Paolo Apostolo – but for an opportunity and a better future for deserving children in conditions of poverty. In fact, those who offer financial support undertake to follow the students’ performance, to discuss with the families and at the end of the study cycle to help them enter the world of work. Even in this way, laborers are removed from crime.”
The project, carried out by the ‘Giovani 2017 3P Onlus’ association and in which Sicindustria Palermo is now evaluating how to extend participation, is part of the interventions carried out as part of the activities undertaken by Palermo entrepreneurs on the occasion of the solidarity dinner of last June 9th, in which, thanks to the notification of the Municipality of Palermo, a series of problems in the city were put up for auction.
Russello: “An alternative for kids”
“We have embraced this idea – explains the president of Sicindustria Palermo Giuseppe Russello – because we believe it is a concrete opportunity to offer an alternative to boys and girls who do not have the possibility of continuing their education. Unfortunately, the right to study in some areas of our city still represents a privilege.”
And again: “With these donations, for which I thank the sensitivity of the companies led by Francesco Ruggeri and Guglielmo Speciale, we will also guarantee the presence of a tutor who will evaluate the performance and needs of the students, with the hope that others will follow the example and the scholarships become many more. Because every space saved from decay, every fraction of territory recovered and every talent valorized is a piece of the future that we will give back to the city.”
“When, for the first time, Father Garau spoke to me about this idea – adds the mayor Roberto Lagalla – I immediately thought that the municipal administration had to do something to promote this initiative which for the Borgo Nuovo neighborhood can represent an example of great value, especially from an educational and social point of view. I am happy, therefore, that as part of the solidarity dinner Sicindustria Palermo and its president Russello, whom I thank, have also embraced this scholarship project and my thanks also go to the companies Euromanager Sanità and Italtekno Srl which are financing the initiative, concretely giving a great and concrete opportunity to two young students from Palermo”.
