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UniCredit’s historical and deep-rooted presence in our country means our Bank is at the forefront of supporting the communities in which we operate, and this is even more true in difficult times. As a Bank, we have a social responsibility, and the UniCredit Foundation is an important vehicle through which we achieve positive social change.
The initiative was also made possible thanks to the contribution of €500,000 from the Carta Etica Fund, financed by UniCredit’s ethical credit cards which, at no extra cost to the customer, allow charitable contributions with each use. Thanks to the €2.3 million donation in 2022, with a particular focus on southern Italy, 53 national and local non-profit organisations involved in supporting the recovery and redistribution of food surplus have been able to provide the equivalent of 1.8 million free meals to those in need.
A conversation with...
Giuseppe Tessitore, Presidente, Banco Alimentare della Campania
Can you tell us about the support you received from UniCredit?
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As the Food Bank of Campania, every day we are committed to preventing food waste, restoring value to food, and distributing it to those in need. We were the beneficiary of a €510,000 donation from UniCredit Foundation, which helped us in the distribution of food to different charitable facilities in the region and to vulnerable people in the area. For us at the Food Bank of Campania, this provided concrete support from UniCredit and UniCredit Foundation, which is fundamental in such a difficult and complex moment as the one that has just passed and that also awaits us in the coming months.
How did these contributions support Campania overall?
Thanks to UniCredit Foundation's contributions, we were able to respond to more requests for help. Through the recovery of surplus food and its free redistribution, the Banco Alimentare (Food Bank) currently supports an average of over 201,000 people in Campania. Even more, at the time we received the donation, another 12,000 recipients were on the waiting list. Therefore, UniCredit's contribution came at a critical time for us. With the new larger warehouse that we are building, thanks to the donation, we have been able to respond to the demands of these individuals. For this, I extend a warm “thank you” on behalf of each of them.
In 2022, the Food Bank distributed over 10 million kg of food in Campania, with a commercial value of over €28 million. We carried out over 2.4 million interventions through the distribution of food parcels, as well as providing more than 600,000 served meals or take-away items distributed in the affiliated soup kitchens.
Why are you particularly proud to have worked on this initiative?
I am particularly proud because I believe that collaboration between the business world, institutions and the non-profit world is the right way to be able to give concrete answers to complex problems. And that is what we have done with UniCredit. Our motto reads "Sharing needs to share the meaning of life", and with UniCredit, we have precisely shared the basic needs of this select population. Together, we have managed to give them a positive response, to help even more the people in need. And together, we can do great things for the common good.
