BOLZANO. «The first time was in Eritrea: I was 23 years old and the impact of that trip was strong. Thirteen years later, I decided to continue the solidarity mission started by my grandfather Giancarlo who is now 97 years old.” Mattia Podini36 years old, son of Giovanni, third generation of one of the most important families of South Tyrolean entrepreneurs, has been CEO of the “Podini Foundation”.
Degree in Educational Sciences in Barcelona; in between the experience in Miami as an event organizer; then the return to Bolzano and the management of a shop inside the “Twenty” for seven years. Now a new experience: is it easier to deal with charity than with business?
It’s true that I don’t have the stress of the financial result, but I have the responsibility of continuing something important started by my grandparents Giancarlo and Isabella in the 1970s. I know I am a lucky person and I feel the need to do something for those who have less. My grandparents, after a trip to India, decided to participate in the creation of a facility for leprosy patients. A spontaneous initiative that continued for years; then, in 2010, the foundation of the Foundation as a non-profit organization; today with the new rules set for the third sector, the Podini Foundation is an Ets (third sector organisation). This is an important regularization in terms of transparency.
How much does the Podini group invest in solidarity initiatives?
Every year we decide to invest a certain percentage of profits in solidarity and humanitarian projects.
The needs are many; the difficulty will be choosing.
The difficulty lies in choosing projects that are not an end in themselves, but help you to stand on your own two feet and progress. To generate resources to invest in new charitable initiatives. Hence the importance of contributing to the construction of schools, because redemption starts precisely from education.
The countries in which you are most involved?
India, Eritrea and Cambodia: our family has a special emotional bond with this last country because that is where two of my cousins come from.
Projects you are working on?
The last one is called: «Innocent prisoners». They are the children detained with their mothers in the prison of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, and in another about thirty kilometers away. For them – together with the “Il nodo” association – we have created small centers, detached from the prison, where children can breathe the scent of freedom for 6-7 hours a day. In Massau in Eritrea we contributed to the creation of a school and supplied 700 bikes. For them, having a bike is like having a treasure.
And in South Tyrol?
We have a shuttle service to the Oltrisarco cemetery which, since the beginning of December, in collaboration with Auser, Malta Help Bz and the Volontarius association, picks up people with difficulties directly from their homes and takes them to the grave of a loved one. of walking. It seems like a small thing, but it is much appreciated, because even in Bolzano there is a lot of solitude: the “journey” is an opportunity to have a chat. We are also working on a very ambitious project which involves the creation of a facility for Alzheimer’s patients. Not a retirement home; but a place where the sick can spend a few days of vacation and can be cared for when relatives take a short break.