The “Donate a shopping” initiative returns on Saturday 11 May, the collection of food for families in economic difficulty promoted by Conad Centro Nord, which for the fifth year involves the entire province of Bergamo thanks to the collaboration of the Volunteer Service Center of Bergamo and the local associations involved in the fight against poverty and assistance. A chain of solidarity that Conad Centro Nord has been carrying forward since the first lockdown: there have been numerous initiatives attentive to the fragilities put in place by the cooperative society such as suspended shopping or support for volunteers with home shopping.
A network of volunteers, 2023 data
For the fourth edition of “Donate a shopping”, carried out in May 2023, CSV Bergamo worked to consolidate the expanded project network, involving a greater number of organizations and volunteers in the initiative compared to the previous year, with a consequent increase in kilos of goods collected. There were 66 organizations involved in the province of Bergamo alone for a total of 368 active volunteers who collected 19,573.97 kg of basic necessities. Since 2020, over 90 tons of products have been collected and donated. «We are now in the fifth edition of this project, a concrete example of how the for-profit world can support volunteering to improve the lives of the people who live in our area – explains Oscar Bianchi, president of CSV Bergamo – A very simple model, but which allows the many associations that participate on the one hand to collect donations in order to carry out their mission and on the other to make themselves known in spaces that are not usual for them: staying inside the Conad sales points for the food collection is an important opportunity to meet new citizens and raise their awareness. The numbers from last year’s collection tell us that the experience is successful and that, as always, the people of Bergamo show great heart when they are called into question: a sign that coming together between profit and non-profit, but also between different associations, is a effective way to respond to the needs of our communities.”
There will be 41 Conad sales points involved, of which 35 will be managed by the associations while a donation trolley will be placed in the others.
Saturday’s activities
On Saturday, volunteers from local associations will be present in the Conad Centro Nord sales points participating in the initiative and will give customers a bag to fill with non-perishable items needed in the pantry of thousands of families in poverty: oil, tuna, legumes, canned meat, pasta, flour, biscuits, snacks, sugar, baby food but also personal hygiene products. Every citizen can do something to help them, transforming a daily gesture such as shopping into a gesture of solidarity: the products collected will be made available to Bergamo families through the services activated by the associations that have chosen to join the initiative again this year and who work daily alongside those in difficulty. There will be 41 Conad sales points involved, of which 35 will be managed by the associations while a donation trolley will be placed in the others.
Who joins
The associations that this year will preside over the Conad sales points in the Bergamo area on Saturday are: Franciscan Convent Association of Baccanello, National Alpine Association of Trescore Section, National Alpine Association of Villongo Section, Association of Non-EU Volunteers Help of Lovere, Caritas of Alzano Lombardo, Caritas of Bolgare, Caritas Chiuduno, Caritas Clusone, Caritas Cologno al Serio, Caritas Dalmine, Caritas Ghisalba, Caritas Grumello del Monte, Caritas Leffe, Caritas Romano di Lombardia, Caritas di Sant’Omobono, Caritas di Scanzorosciate, City Angels, Croce Red Italiana West Bergamo and Valle Imagna Committee, Mani Amiche Onlus Stezzano, Society of San Vincenzo De Paoli with 8 local conferences and volunteers from other local associations.
«The province of Bergamo is a rich area, but there is no shortage of situations of poverty which are often hidden but which remain. The food bag, in addition to being an immediate response to needs, is a way to approach these situations, create a relationship of trust and then build more complex forms of help. The food collected therefore becomes a tool for meeting and gradually getting to know more in depth the people who ask for help or who are reported to be in need – underlines Anna Lisa Cesani, Councilor of the ODV San Vincenzo de Paoli and contact person for the San Vincenzos of the City – People who want to be seen and heard beyond the situation of necessity, so that someone welcomes their dreams and recognizes the abilities suffocated by the difficult contingent condition. I think I speak on behalf of all the associations that join the project in saying that this is a further opportunity to be able to carry out this function and to be able to give additional help to our territory”.
«Donate a shopping is not just a food collection, but also hope, solidarity and support for the families who need it most. Thanks to the collaboration with CSV, the commitment of volunteers and the generosity of citizens, we can be close to those who are going through moments of fragility, demonstrating that together we can make a difference” claims Nicola Rotasperti, member of the Board of Directors of Conad Centro Nord. And he continues: «This initiative, born 11 years ago in Parma, then extended to all the provinces in which we are present, collecting 646 tons of products, confirming the solidity and continuity of our commitment in the territory».
Last year, Conad Centro Nord, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of its birth, donated 60 thousand euros in total to all the associations in Lombardy and Emilia involved in the food collection for the purchase of basic necessities to celebrate the anniversary. The contribution was paid to the Bergamo organizations that participated in the project in the form of prepaid cards for an amount of 11,550 euros.
