We thank all the people, companies, and associations who have supported and will continue to support with us the effort of those on the front lines helping and fighting against the pandemic.
For almost a year now (since the end of February 2020 and in the following months up to today), the planned activities of the Fondazione Pesenti have been completely “reshaped” to intervene in an event as dramatic as it is unpredictable: the Covid-19 pandemic. Immediately, the Foundation—together with its President and the Charity Committee—assumed a pivotal role to provide concrete help to the reference territories, especially those hardest hit by the dramatic pandemic, also involving and facilitating the intervention of Italmobiliare and the group’s portfolio companies.
First of all, interventions were carried out in favor of hospitals and frontline actors in the territories of Bergamo, Brescia, Milan, Cremona, Genoa, Naples, and Treviso, both through donations and through the purchase of machinery (ventilators), serological tests, and protective devices for medical staff. Within this framework, international contacts have also been activated to facilitate the import of equipment (from China, Thailand and Switzerland) in the absence of availability in the national territory.
Furthermore, in order to implement the best possible synergies and at the same time help the “Made in Italy” companies, a project was finalized—also prompted by numerous donors who see the Foundation as an authoritative reference on the territory—aimed at purchasing protective devices made by companies in the Italian textile supply chain, which reconverted their production during this emergency situation. In particular, the protective devices (protective suits, gowns, and masks) were supplied (in many cases delivered directly by the Foundation to ensure maximum speed and effectiveness) to the main operational realities in the Bergamo area (Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital and field hospital) as well as to Niguarda Hospital in Milan and some local authorities.
Courtesy of L’Eco di Bergamo
Niguarda Hospital, Yorick39, CC BY-SA (https.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
The total interventions carried out in 2020-21 in the “Covid emergency” area by the Foundation amount to approximately 1.4 million euros, divided into:
- about 900,000 euros raised through the Covid fund (which includes an extraordinary contribution from Italmobiliare, very significant personal donations, relevant contributions from leading companies such as Fendi, and smaller but no less important contributions from those who have placed their trust in our Foundation);
- about 500,000 euros of interventions carried out with ordinary funds.
Added to this commitment are interventions financially supported by Italmobiliare and the portfolio companies, which have often played a coordinating role in management by our Foundation.
In particular, targeted interventions were finalized in favor of communities particularly affected by the health emergency, mainly through the free supply of protective materials and sanitation interventions.
Going into detail of the initiatives with direct Foundation involvement, particular effort was made to support research and the supply of “rapid COVID-19 tests,” which have proven and continue to prove of primary importance.
Specifically, support was defined for the Policlinico of Milan, with the Foundation engaged in sourcing and delivering “rapid COVID-19 tests” (10,000 in the first phase, followed by an additional 10,000 tests) used by the Policlinico of Milan, within a project for testing all blood donors at the center, aimed at providing significant mapping of the infection’s evolution, simultaneously offering swab tests for donors who tested positive (to highlight any persistent infectious capacity, benefiting the community).
The Foundation also intervened in favor of one of the main research institutes, supporting the study project of the “Mario Negri” Pharmacological Research Institute, focused on the genetic factors influencing the course and severity of COVID-19, in a context where the mechanisms determining the disease are complex and many questions remain.
In recent months, the Foundation has also worked to source and deliver “rapid COVID-19 tests” to institutions most exposed, activating the import from Switzerland of 20,000 tests able to cover the needs of the Lombardy Carabinieri (thanks also to the contribution and collaboration requested by Intesa Sanpaolo bank to our foundation), to be administered to all soldiers of the Interregional Command “Pastrengo” to obtain screening useful for subsequent targeted diagnostic investigations.
This initiative, by enabling the identification of soldiers who contracted Covid-19 infection, has also allowed and will allow the overall identification of those who, although asymptomatic, remain positive and can unknowingly spread the contagion.
Another important supply (2,000 COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Tests) was organized and finalized for the Milan Provincial Fire Brigade Command. Additionally, 500 tests were donated to the Honegger RSA Foundation – Onlus (Albino), 500 serological tests and 800 rapid swabs to the municipality of Accettura.
With the contribution of Italmobiliare, a timely and significant import and delivery of tests (100,000) was also activated in favor of one of the most important and frontline centers in the Veneto Region, namely the Microbiology Operational Unit of Treviso.
The import and donation of tests and rapid swabs was also activated for realities (from Albino to Accettura) where the explosion of emergency situations and outbreaks makes widespread “mapping” crucial.
4,300 protective suits were donated to the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital of Bergamo; to the Alpini Hospital at the Bergamo Fair; to Niguarda Hospital in Milan; to San Giacomo Hospital in Novi Ligure; and to the Carisma Nursing Home in Bergamo, while 1,991 gowns were donated to the Soncino Foundation Onlus – Residential Health Care.
From the beginning, the Foundation’s Charity Committee approved a donation to the Papa Giovanni Hospital of Bergamo to support its activity in a situation of severe emergency.
Support was also approved for the initiative “Living Care” (“Abitare la cura”), aimed primarily at freeing beds in hospitals under serious strain and helping families unable to manage the quarantine period at home. This project, promoted by Caritas, Confindustria Bergamo, and Eco di Bergamo, created two hospitality facilities, with rooms adapted with all technical and sanitary measures necessary for the convalescence of patients recovering—but still requiring a quarantine period—and those who contracted Covid-19 with a not-too-severe illness.
Following the evolution of the emergency, the Charity Committee also approved significant support for the initiative “Restarting Together” (“Ricominciamo insieme”)—promoted by the Bergamo Diocesan Caritas—aimed at creating a “Covid-19 Emergency Family Fund” to help cover the main household expenses, from rent and related costs, to school, work, elderly care at home, supporting those who, in the complicated recovery phase, experience or will experience severe poverty and widespread precariousness.
Equally important was the intervention made—with the support of the Italmobiliare group—in favor of the Alpini Hospital at the Bergamo Fair for the complete realization of the plants. “The flexibility of the Alpine organization,” said National President Sebastiano Favero, “and the habit of operating in emergencies produced a small miracle: the work began on March 24, 2020, and was completed on April 1, 2020. A success made possible by the close and fruitful collaboration between ANA Civil Protection and Alpine Health, as well as the commitment of hundreds of volunteer Bergamasque craftsmen who, alongside the Black Feathers, worked competently, passionately, and dedicatedly 24 hours a day to achieve the goal in just seven days. An effort also made possible by the fundamental, generous, and tangible support of numerous donors, both locally and nationally.”
Additionally, the Foundation supported, in collaboration with other Italian companies, a plan for the acquisition and import of 210 transport ventilators (ambulance / emergency use). Fifty of these care systems were supplied to the National Alpini Association (which oversaw the construction of the dedicated Covid hospital at the Bergamo Fair) that also managed their distribution to other frontline emergency response entities.
Through the valuable work of the Wamba and Athena Onlus organizations, the Foundation also supported the Intensive Care Unit of Niguarda Hospital in Milan, providing funds to enable the ICU psychologists to carry out their support work, which is even more important at this time for the heavily stressed healthcare teams as well as for the families of Covid-19 patients who must not be left alone in these moments of fear.
The Foundation’s help also extended to the Milan Committee of the Italian Red Cross, supporting frontline operators with rescue activities and sanitary transport of people directly affected by the virus and with assistance activities for the population.
Finally, several thousand masks were delivered to employees of Italgen and Italmobiliare S.p.A. to safeguard staff health, as well as to the Santa Maria Assunta Parish in Bobbio.
Support was also important for the municipalities of Travo, Piozzano, Valbondione, and Corteno Golgi for sanitation interventions and for the purchase and management of personal protective equipment.
This has certainly been an unusual effort—from an economic, operational, and emotional involvement perspective—for our Foundation, which we believe has been made possible by the authority and skills comprising its Board and structure.
Fundamental to finalizing the numerous interventions was also the support of many donors who wanted to participate and add their contributions to the funds allocated directly by the Foundation. On the Foundation’s dedicated “Covid emergency” account, in recent months dozens of significant donations have been received from companies and individual citizens, with amounts ranging from 50 to 268,400 euros. The total “Covid emergency” funds currently amount to almost 900,000 euros.
This effort continues even today and will keep us engaged in the near future, with the ambition to further improve the effectiveness of interventions and the synergy—already extraordinary—that has further developed with numerous institutions.
All of this, obviously, without losing sight—even in an absolute emergency situation—of the statutory mission of our Foundation, and its primary focus on innovation, positive social impact, and the enhancement of new generations.
REPORTING (CLICK ON THE TABS TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF)
