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Massimo at Centro Astalli: from private banker to future volunteer

“I am still giving service two days a week. We prepare meals in individual bags and distribute them. It is no longer possible to welcome people in the canteen. The legal office, job recruitment services and the Italian school have also been suspended together with the shower service, the outpatient clinic in Piazza Vittorio and the 4 reception centres". This was reported by Massimo, 63, married with two daughters aged 29 and 25, a former bank manager, who has been a volunteer at Centro Astalli for four years. “I often passed in front of the headquarters of the Centre, on my way to work. I had noticed the license plate and seen several migrants lined up. When I retired I looked for information on the site.  It was 2016. I always had profound enriching experiences serving as a scout. So, I sent an email.  Fr. Alessandro Manaresi replied. He interviewed me to see my interest and my availability. I started volunteering and I am still here today. I go to Via degli Astalli on Monday and Friday between 9.00am and noon. Before the pandemic, while serving breakfast, I met many young migrants. I used to try and talk to them. They wanted to exchange a few words. The look of their eyes remains with me as if saying that despite constant suffering there is still hope to start life anew.  Some 21-year-olds who made use of the centre have become volunteers,” he recalls. "I went to deliver meals to the San Saba Centre with them and so I listened to their stories, about their countries of origin, the ethnic groups, their journey to find a better future. I have come to know them in depth. The media often misses this aspect.

The streets in Rome are deserted, but people in front of the Centro Astalli are always there. Keeping a distance of one meter, about 200 arrive every day for the bag. They speak the few words that they know and ask for information about the services that are still being given in the city.  Many parishioners but also non-believing friends have asked me about the Centre these days.  Before the lockdown there were 250 volunteers, 40% were between 18 and 30 years of age. During the current circumstances they are serving together with many men and women religious.”

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