Federottica and Assopto: conclusion of collection of funds for Abruzzo
Seven months have passed since that tragic night in April when the magnitude 5.8 earthquake, with an epicenter about ten kilometers from L’Aquila, destroyed an entire town and shattered thousands of lives. But with pride and dignity, the people of Abruzzo did not give up and, day by day, they have begun the return to “normality”.
Rebuilding began thanks to the solidarity and tangible help of people from all over Italy. Some have a new house and others have started to work again, perhaps in their own stores. They include the optometrists of L’Aquila who have received funds collected by Federottica and Assopto Terisaq (Teramo, Isernia and L’Aquila): Germano Genitti, owner of Ottica Genitti, Paolo Calcatelli, owner of Istituto Ottico Carli, Gigi Gallo and Luigi Cocco, owners of Stilottica.
The idea of donations for colleagues involved in the earthquake came just a few days after the tragedy, when the national president of Federottica, Giulio Velati, told Francesco Del Governatore, president of Assopto Terisaq, about his solidarity and willingness to help the unfortunate victims in any way he could.
“We decided to open a special current account”, explained Del Governatore, “with an initial donation of 3,000 euro from the cash reserves of our young provincial association”. Gradually, it was joined by small and large contributions from colleagues from all over Italy, until the time when Assopto Terisaq requested the Federottica National Committee to make an extraordinary donation. The Federottica Committee unanimously voted to add 20,000 euro to the sum already collected, which brought the total to 36,500 euro to be allocated to colleagues in Abruzzo.
“This tragedy has united us all! Solidarity has led to new friendships and strengthened those that already existed inside and outside our association”, said the president of Assopto Terisaq. “I volunteered to carry out free sight screenings for the Roseto evacuees (there were over 30,000 on the Adriatic coast. Ed.) and many colleagues supplied free prescription eyeglasses and gave discounts for designer frames” .
“During that time of great mobilization, I was able to get to know the people of Abruzzo, people of excellent cultural and social levels who don’t whine and complain. They included our colleagues who demonstrated true professionalism and ability at such a difficult time”, concluded Del Governatore.
”About mid-September”, added Giulio Velati, “my wife and I had a few days vacation and we decided to tour Molise without any precise destination.
Because of my close friendship with colleagues in Molise and Abruzzo, by sheer chance I was able to go to L’Aquila to find out more about two colleagues, Gigi Gallo and Luigi Cocco, who had recently reopened their business. In the hour I spent with them, it was a moving experience to see the few “customers” but many “friends” who constantly came to see them and were genuinely pleased that their favorite professional was back again. In their turn, Gigi and Luigi found it hard to hide their emotions!. In that hour I spent with them I was privileged to verify once again that professionalism combined with a genuine human relationship is so important in a profession such as ours that is close to people’s needs”.
