“We the Italians against coronavirus”, the fundraiser organized by We the Italians, the Italian media company dedicated to telling the story of Italy in the United States, in favor of the Spallanzani Hospital, Italian excellence and the most important research and treatment center in Italy for contagious diseases, ended with a great success and exceeded the target of € 50,000.

The day after the start of the lockdown in Italy, We the Italians activated the fundraising campaign reserved to the Italian and Italian American community in the United States, also thanks to a video presentation by the Director General of Spallanzani Hospital, Dr. Marta Branca.

Through a campaign that lasted more than a month and ended on April 19th, activated through all the channels and contacts of We the Italians, the Italian American community was able to show once again its love for Italy and its generosity in helping the country where the 17 million Italian Americans have their origins. Their effort this time was particularly generous, because it happened at a time when they too are hit hard by the pandemic. Thanks to 300 magnificent donors, the collection reached €30,000, and then surpassed €50,000 thanks to the $25,000 donation of the Francesco and Mary Giambelli Foundation of New York, and in particular to the great generosity and love for Italy of the organization's top leaders: Angelo Vivolo, Justine DeVito Tenney and Claudio DeVellis.

"We are very grateful to the Francesco and Mary Giambelli Foundation and to all the donors, to those who shared and spread the campaign and to the many Italian American associations who suggested to their members to participate in the fundraising in favor of the Spallanzani Hospital" said Umberto Mucci and Edoardo Colombo, President and Head of Institutional Relations of We the Italians. "Our gratitude also goes to Renzo Arbore, Francesco Baccini and Rosario Monetti, who each wanted to make a video to ask their fans to donate and help, through us, a great Italian excellence recognized and appreciated worldwide as the Spallanzani Hospital".

"Every thought, video and donation to support the cause of the fight against Coronavirus has been important and fundamental for us to feel the real closeness from people who, although living on the other side of the world and also engaged in the fight against the virus, have decided to dedicate concrete help to us who represent a national and international excellence in the field of infectious diseases," said Marta Branca, Director General of the Spallanzani Hospital in Rome. "For this reason we would like to thank We the Italians and all those directly and indirectly involved in the fundraising that has shown us great closeness and solidarity".

The funds will be allocated to treatment and research to fight the coronavirus; when it will be possible according to the law and security protocols, We the Italians will produce a short video describing the Spallanzani Hospital to show all donors and all Italian Americans this true Italian excellence of which all of us Italians are proud, and that we really thank for the activities that all its staff has dedicated to take care of those from all over Italy who needed and still need help.

Rome, April 22, 2020