Porto Santo Stefano, the governor Cerulli reveals the gesture of great generosity: “I tried to thank you, but you wouldn’t let me”
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PORTO SANTO STEFANO. A last gesture of generosity from the largest of Italian TV to the land where he loved to take refuge, the Argentario. Just before he died Raffaella Carrà signed by a notary the donation to the Confraternita della Misericordia of the gym where he trained in Porto Santo Stefano, so that the non-profit organization could use it to expand its charitable activities towards the population. The fund is 160 square meters, five meters high and is located in the upper part of the village, on the Via Panoramica, near a nursery school. Raffaella Carra used to train during her stays in Cala Piccola, the house by the sea a few kilometers away.
The governor of Mercy reveals it Roberto Cerulli a few days after the artist’s death, and all the volunteers remember with emotion the many gestures of acknowledgment and help, always performed in a subdued way, away from the spotlight.
A few weeks ago Raffaella Carrà, aware of her health conditions, summoned Cerulli to a notary in Rome. And there the revelation: he would have donated one of his buildings to the Confraternity for the activities of the association. “I tried to thank her – remembers Cerulli – but nothing: she wouldn’t let me. With Renato Tulino, another great friend of his, we went to see him: a great gift for its real estate value “.
Thinking back to that meeting, Cerulli relives the availability and sweetness of the Carrà but is also traversed by a strange presentiment. “Despite his usual dynamism – he observes – he remained with dark glasses and a well-fitted mask: he seemed to want to hide something… and perhaps, in the light of this tragedy, I think he wanted to keep his ugly secret for himself and not show it to anyone. We gave her a picture with a beautiful view of Porto S. Stefano, a shot of our volunteer Marco Solari that from the top of his drone put together our headquarters, the beautiful promenade and the square “. And on the right a dedication to her: “To Raffaella Carrà, as a small sign of gratitude and gratitude on the part of every volunteer who, thanks to his gesture, finds the stimulus for a renewed commitment to service in favor of the suffering and needy”.
He did not want to make the news public “at least for the moment” and that sentence, with hindsight, is very bitter. It was the last greeting before the birthday wishes, last June 18, with a small message. The last act of a relationship that began on the night of the sinking of the Concordia and continued with many donations, meetings with volunteers, exchanges of ideas and compliments.
Last year, in the midst of the Covid emergency, as soon as she learned that Misericordia was raising funds to donate a responder to the resuscitation of the Grosseto hospital, she called the governor to give the whole amount herself.
“We will miss Raffaella very much – says Roberto Cerulli visibly tried – and not for material reasons, for her very high human skills. We all have the duty to treasure ”.
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