Donations

Dear Friends of Abruzzo,

L'Aquila and dozens of the surrounding villages and towns were terribly damaged by a ruinous earthquake, the strongest ever in the area since 1703. 295 people died under the ruins or from the wounds, an unreplaceable loss which no reconstruction will ever bring back. Our hearts will bleed forever for our relatives, friends, neighbours, fellow citizens.

Lamberto, who had an office for the Abruzzo World Club activity in his own house in a palace in the historical center of L'Aquila, was just able to leave his house right after the 3.32 earthquake, take his wife and baby girl, together with some clothes and essential stuff. Like many apartments in the old (and so beautiful...) city center of L'Aquila, he will probably see his house demolished, and it will take years before even starting to rebuild it, with or without funds. As to our other seat in the basement of Pierangela's house, on the hill opposite the city, she could set up connections since the earthquake with emergency equipment and documented her experiences on these pages. However, after 3 days of living in her car, she too was displaced to the coastal towns.

But our lives were spared, and this is what matters. The innocent smile of Lamberto's baby daughter in his wife's arms makes him feel blessed by God, and gives us all the will to start again. Among family members and Club members everyone is safe. Our tour escorts, drivers, genealogy researchers and all the others you met or emailed to are safe, most somewhere on the coast of Abruzzo. Nevertheless, many things were lost under the ruins of apartments, some of our computers, printers and personal archives are destroyed, all business and activities are suspended indefinitely, we are using Internet Points and umts cards to connect. We have been working since 1997, when we first started abruzzo2000.com, then with the other sites, abruzzoheritage.com, abruzzoforum.com, heartofitaly.net, helping Abruzzese people abroad in doing genealogy and tracing their roots, visiting families, discovering and touring the beauties of the region.

The Government is willing to help everybody, but the Italian economy - as that of the whole world - is so weak now and there are such greater priorities that it will take years before businesses may get back on their feet again. We already received dozens of emails from many of our Internet friends, who want to know how to send us some form of support.

Any funds sent will contribute to restoring a minimum business structure, buy laptops and pay for Internet connections, maintain all tourism and genealogy contacts, restart our activities - maybe rent a small office in the near future in a caravan, contribute (even indirectly, spreading knowledge and information from "earthquake land") to the recontruction of the many masterpieces of art so tragically damaged (Churches of Santa Maria di Collemaggio and San Bernardino, the Spanish Castle, the tower of Santo Stefano di Sessanio the Ocre castle, the church in Bominaco...), and be able to offer again the beauty and the heritage of Abruzzo to future visitors. It was not the earth of Abruzzo that betrayed us, not the earthquake that killed innocent people, the killers were unsafe, badly built houses; ancient churches and monuments that were not protected as they should have been. If you wish to give us your support, you can make a free donation (subject: "Donation for Abruzzo") using the PayPal button below:

If instead you would rather send funds by check or wire, since we are now using temporary addresses and our bank branch is not yet functional again, contact us by email and we'll give the necessary information.

Your name will be mentioned - unless you request otherwise - in a specific section that we will create in these pages.

Grazie,
All the Abruzzo World Club team