YOUNG ITALIAN STUDENT TRYING TO HELP SCHOOL AFFECTED BY EARTHQUAKES

At our January 28, 2018 program, we heard from a young Italian student who is raising money to help a school in an area of Italy that has been hard hit by earthquakes. The student, Matteo Ferramondo, was introduced to the audience by Olga Mancuso, president of C.O.M.I.T.E.S.

Specifically, Matteo is raising funds for the Simone De Magistris school in Calderola, a middle school affected by the 2016 earthquake in the Le Marche region of Central Italy. In his remarks to our members and guests, Matteo asked if we could please assist him in helping these students.

Matteo describes his plans in his own words as follows:

My name is Matteo Ferramondo and I am a 12th grade Italian student at the George C. Marshall High School located in Falls Church, Virginia. In order to graduate, my classmate Gianmarco Starke and I have the requirement to organize and complete a volunteering project.

We decided to organize a charity fundraiser for the students of the middle school Simone De Magistris, located in the city of Calderola, province of Macerata, in the Marche Region. The decision to do such project resulted from a discussion with other Italians in my class that we must do something connected to our Italian roots.

The Simone De Magistris school was chosen due to my aunt being one of the teachers there, therefore, it was easier for us to contact and organize with the school’s administrators. The goal of our campaign is to raise $3,000 to buy enough new sports supplies for the young middle school students. We believe that by doing so we are able to shine a bit of light on the tough times these students are going through. In fact, the students were first moved out of the school due to the earthquakes and were placed in temporary trailers. Now, they went back to the school, but part of the school is still inaccessible. So, we believe that our campaign can be of great help for these students during these tough times.

Anyone wanting to help can get in touch with Matteo at matteowferramondo@gmail.com for details on how to contribute.