«Gym of concrete democracy” and “antidote to the toxins deceptively put into circulation by indifferences that do not condemn oppression, violence, illegality, distancing from the reasons of civil coexistence”. The Head of State Sergio Mattarella, in the same hours in which the American administration launched a verbal attack on the founding values of civil life, chooses to crown them as “true patriots” the volunteers “who know how solidarity develops the dimension of commitment” and who increase “the moral heritage of the country”. In Palermo for the final ceremony of Palermo as the capital of volunteering (in 2026 the honor will fall to Modena), the President of the Republic underlines that «proximity, the first network of solidarity, makes our lives better and more rewarding. Some skeptics ask what volunteering is for: let’s reflect on the data recently released by Istat: almost 5 million people, over 9% of our population, who dedicate 84 million hours of their time every year not to themselves, but to others, to those in need. Even in economic terms alone it represents an impressive heritage, a heritage based on gratuitousness, both an organized and individual commitment, which reflects a community not closed in on itself, but which develops and puts into practice values of social cohesion”. And again, stated the Head of State, «volunteering is an engine of research, of building relationships that broaden and make authentic the enjoyment of rights in society. A powerful lever to give closeness, human warmth, brotherhood. Ultimately to give meaning to social relationships, with particular attention to conditions of fragility. It’s an energy that communities couldn’t do without.”
Volunteering, he added, is based on the commitment «of many women and many men, of many girls and boys, many elderly people, many associations that also take care of nature, of our cultural heritage, of our environment, that heal wounds present in our society, which animate suburbs and territories prey to the despondency of abandonment. True patriots who know how brotherhood and solidarity also benefit those who develop this dimension of commitment».
Not only that, «with his experiences he contributed to important choices, just think to the path that led to the establishment and then strengthening of the Civil Protection, a system in which the contribution of volunteers is precious. However, volunteering is not just a sort of first aid in major emergencies. It accompanies and offers meaning to people’s daily lives, both personal and collective, designing, with the work of a huge number of people, the effective idea of community, qualifying itself as a social, cultural, educational and training force, standing out as a protagonist in theimplementation of the principles of our Constitution, first and foremost those of participation and solidarity”.
