A shared lunch, the exchange of good wishes, a family and festive atmosphere accompanied by the melodies of the Police Headquarters choir and capable of warming up even the most difficult stories. This is the meaning of Christmas solidarity lunch organized by Milan Police Headquarters in collaboration with the Geronimo Stilton FoundationOpera Cardinal Ferrari, “Farsi Prossimo” by Caritas Ambrosiana e Christian familywhich took place on Tuesday in the historic Garibaldi Barracks, a stone’s throw from the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio.
Sitting at the same table, homeless people, lonely elderly people, families with children, people marked by material poverty and personal fragility, welcomed not as “users” but as guests. The police commissioner of Milan will do the honors, Bruno Megalewho had lunch for the people welcomed and remembered the most authentic meaning of the initiative, now in its fourth edition: «The mission of the State Police is to be among the people, especially close to those who suffer. This lunch is a small thing, but it can make Christmas a little more pleasant for those experiencing difficult times.”
Guest stories
Sitting at the same table, homeless people, lonely elderly people, families with children, people marked by material poverty and personal fragility, welcomed not as “users” but as guests. The police commissioner of Milan will do the honors, Bruno Megale, who recalled the most authentic meaning of the initiative: «The mission of the State Police is to be among the people, especially close to those who suffer. This lunch is a small thing, but it can make Christmas a little more pleasant for those experiencing difficult times.”
An initiative made possible thanks, in fact, to the collaboration with “Farsi Prossimo” of Caritas Ambrosiana and with the Opera Cardinal Ferrari, realities that every day encounter stories of poverty and fragility of the city. And thanks also to the presence of Geronimo Stilton, who arrived together with his creator Elisabetta Damiwhich discreetly brought lightness and smiles, especially to the little ones.
Different lives, distant origins, still open wounds intertwine between the tables. TOhmed Serag, Egyptian, has lived in Italy since 1991. He is 65 years old and talks about a life of work and sacrifices, interrupted by difficulties that today led him to ask for help. Next to him is Patricia, 56 years old, born in Brazil and Italy in the early nineties: «This Christmas is sad», she confides, «in June my mother died. But today I am not alone: my companions from my day center are here.” A place that for her has become a space of care and rebirth: «I am undergoing a process of reintegration into work. Before I had problems with the law, now I’m starting again.”
At the Opera Cardinal Ferrari, the volunteers say, every story is different, but they all need time and accompaniment. «In the day center we follow 13 people on a stable basis», explains Nicoletta Mereni, a volunteer since 2017, «the center is open from 8.30 to 17.30: we offer breakfast, lunch, basic services such as a hairdresser and doctor, but also creative workshops. What has changed over the years is the number of people who come to us which has doubled: in 2017, when I started, we had 60-70 people for breakfast and today we reach 120 while we went from 100 to 220 for lunch».
In the city of wild concrete and design, fashion, digital, book, pet, cartoon and strip, beauty, supercar, runner and biker events, in the city that is preparing for the 2026 Winter Olympics, the face of poverty has also changed: «There are separated people, men and women who have not earned a pension and have lost their jobs. And then there are those who are truly poor, with nothing”, continues Mereni. Numbers that tell of a wounded city, but also of a network that tries not to leave anyone behind. Patricia, who arrived in Milan two years ago from the Ivory Coast, this is the first solidarity lunch. He works in the cleaning sector and smiles: «I really like this lunch. Christmas for me is a beautiful celebration.” At the table next to her Safiatou Aissata, also Ivorian, with her two children: for them this lunch is above all a moment of shared serenity.
For Tatiana, Ukrainian, who has been in Italy for 42 years where she has been a psychologist and yoga teacher, it is the first time she has participated in the Police Headquarters lunch and her thoughts turn to her country where peace, despite diplomatic talks, is still far away: “It will be the third Christmas of war”, she says, “we live in constant fear and uncertainty”. His voice cracks when he remembers that one week a bomb fell on the house where he had lived, 12 kilometers away from Kyev: “Knowing that there is no home there anymore, while I’m here, is hard.”
Among the tables to welcome guests and chat with them are the women and men of the State Police and Don Gianluca Bernardini, the chaplain of the police station. At the end of the lunch, all that remains are the greetings, the best wishes, the gifts offered by the guests, some gadgets from Geronimo Stilton and the panettone. But above all, the idea remains that the Garibaldi Barracks have become a home. A place where Christmas is not an abstract word, but a concrete gesture of sharing and solidarity such as sitting next to each other. In a city that runs fast, this lunch tells of another Milan: the one who chooses to stop, listen and share. Even, and above all, at Christmas.
