charity The experience of the Solidarity Banks Brianza area (Italy) We began the Mother Teresa Solidarity Bank in December 1997, helping six poor families. A group of three or four of us would bring a food package every two weeks. Within only a few months, we had to reduce the number in each group to something more “reasonable,” because in the meantime other families had been added and we needed to divide up. Every now and then, someone asks us how we measure the degree of “neediness” of the families who we’re told about or who we meet. Actually, we have no system for measuring; you go there the first time to understand the situation a bit, and then you begin delivering the package every two weeks. There are those who could do quite well without our package(not of very high value, about $20 to $25 of foodstuffs), but there are also those who wait for us with the fridge or cupboard literally bare. One person who joined us in this gesture of charitable work said one day, “That’s enough! The family I bring the package to is taking me for a ride. How is it possible that they don’t have enough money to get by, but they don’t want to work? How can they have an empty fridge, but the latest model cell phone? Listen to me, they’re taking advantage of you, and laughing at you behind your backs.” How can we distinguish the true poor from the imposters? How can we avoid being used? Emilio of the Food Bank told us, “Those who make you angry are the ones you need to follow the most, because they’re the poorest of the poor. Anyone who doesn’t understand that he needs to work to support his family, and that he should avoid stupid expenses, is even more needy of human companionship.” Today (January 2005), we help 49 families. Over these years, we have followed another 45, who have since resolved their economic problems. We’re still in touch with some of them. Two years ago at a meeting of Works of Charity, Giorgio Vittadini explained that providence is not a miracle that arrives from heaven, but having people who you can ask. In some way, we had already begun using this method: where we’re unable to respond to a need, we ask others. Today, some supermarkets periodically provide us with merchandise. For years now, a supermarket in Carate has had a box where clients can leave something from their groceries. A big supermarket in Giussano lets us have merchandise that previously was thrown out because it was close to its expiration date or because the packaging was damaged. Some of us organize collections of foodstuffs at work. These are small contributions, but put together, they’re an essential support today. Davide Udine The Saint Benedict of Norcia Solidarity Center was created in 1989 to respond to then-Archbishop Alfredo Battisti’s appeal to Communion and Liberation to help in some way with the non-European Union immigrants who were arriving in ever-greater numbers in Udine, and who needed “everything.” At the time, the presence of these immigrants was increasing in Friuli and Udine in an incoherent and little visible way, often illegally and underground, with all the consequences, such as working off the books and living in abandoned houses. In this simple way, the Saint Benedict of Norcia Solidarity Center was born, named to remind volunteers of the reason for the gesture, that of welcoming those who are different, the “barbarians” of Saint Benedict’s time. The encounter with these people wasn’t and isn’t easy, especially with Muslims, who often consider you weak for helping people of a different faith. At the end of the 1990s, the activity of the Saint Benedict of Norcia Solidarity Center was principally oriented to the Solidarity Bank, with the “solidarity families” project, involving a group of volunteers(over 15 always “active,” with 10 “occasional”) particularly attentive to people and families in a state of difficulty and/or social marginalization, met personally or indicated by other volunteer associations or the Social Services of the Udine Municipality, to whom we offer most of all companionship and friendship, but also support with provision of foodstuffs, collected through an accord with the Food Bank Foundation of Friuli Venezia Giulia, as well as members of some Udine parishes and individuals. In addition, for several years now, the Solidarity Center has provided foodstuffs to 6 cloistered convents present in the region. Mario Peronio