HOW IT ALL STARTED…
Dear friends, these first months of our work in the new birthed association have been full of interesting experiences. I don't deny that I have asked myself many times: where do we start our work? God showed us many needs around us but... we felt helpless and it was difficult to send humanitarian help abroad. It was not easy to put the vision into practice. Graziano always encourages us in affirming that he sees a great harvest in Italy, that the poor (a growing group in our current society) would be part of it. But our questions is how could we reach them out? After the first training sessions in the autumn of 2020 the Life Share Network Val d’Aosta Team with our leaders Ken and Luana Bonfanti began a food project to help people in need. In just a few weeks an incredible amount of families have been rescued, reached and are currently being cared for. Also,10 volunteers are involved in that vision. In the region of Piemonte, where we have the headquarters of our association, we have rented a warehouse to collect clothes, toys and basic necessities for families in need and for other associations in Romania that we decided to regularly support. Due to the restrictions created by the Covid-19 crisis we have stored hundred of packages that we finally managed to send out in April. In December we started to collaborate with a local association that helps abused children and our volunteers will soon get involved in this initiative. Other projects are now in the pipeline: "Lean on me" focused on helping individuals with disabilities to live and work independently. "Hold my hand - Chiara Project" that is linked to a dear friend and work colleague who passed away few months ago after a long and painful illness and to whom we have dedicated this vision. In the last weeks of her life Chiara shared with friends and colleagues, the words of Paul: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day —and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Chiara has won her battle and she has now returned home. The last project "ReStart" relocate unemployed back into work and our volunteers will help people to register with job agencies, prepare a Curriculum and do a job interview. In difficult times like this, we hope to help as many people as possible. We are also present in Liguria with Ettore and Rina Scazzola that will soon start some new projects and they are now helping us coordinate specific trainings for our staff. In these months we are in need of more help and support. These are briefly our objectives, our hopes and as Jesus said: "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few" (Luke 10:2). We are here and we decided to make ourselves useful for others, but our desire as Jesus said is to: "Love our neighbor as ourselves" (Mt. 12:31). We want to thank Silvia, Alessandra, Sara, Raffaella, Pierangela, Rocco, Paolo, Michele for their precious contribution in these months and in the months to come. The volunteers are increasing and the Life Share Italy family is growing
