As the world is facing one of the biggest challenges in the past decades to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, INGREEN partners around Europe are also feeling the impact of national measures to slow down the virus. Fortunately, many INGREEN partners have found practical and creative ways to support their local communities suffering from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Several project partners, particularly those in countries that have been hit hard by the pandemic, have donated in-kind or monetarily to show gratitude to doctors and nurses for their tireless effort to take care of COVID-19 patients, provide crucial supplies, and support high-risk groups such as the elderly, families in difficulty and the homeless.

In the Emilia Romagna Region in Italy, INGREEN partner and dairy company, Mambelli provided a donation of €5000 to the Pierantoni Hospital located in Forlì for the purchase of necessary goods. They also gave 650 dairy products to the staff of the emergency response departments working on the Covid-19 pandemic. Each item was individually packed for the doctors and nurses to provide some moral support in these difficult times. Read more

The Smurfit Kappa Board established a charitable fund of €1.5 million to be allocated across the affected communities in which they operate. One million was allocated to European charities, such as Age UK, The Simon Community and ALONE, which help older and vulnerable people in the community, as well as contributing to food banks in the UK and Ireland. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, donations were given to university hospitals that have been designated as specialised facilities during COVID-19. Smurfit Kappa is also supporting the Polish Genomics Laboratory to increase the availability of COVID-19 tests. Read more here and here.

Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna (UNIBO) has provided reagents, gloves, masks, laboratory materials and respirators to Sant’Orsola, the main hospital of Bologna. Additionally, they are employing their expertise to create prototypes of necessary components to be made with 3D printers. Read more

The Portuguese institute NOVAID, a private non-profit research organization, donated protective masks, gloves and alcohol to hospitals in the Lisbon region. To meet the growing demand for disinfectant alcohol gel by the main hospitals in the Lisbon region, they participated in the preparation of 300L of this solution, in addition to the preparation of 500 test swabs (sterilized and packed) for care homes. 

Molini Pivetti, one of the largest soft wheat mills in Italy, donated 140 kg of flour for making fresh pasta to the Civil Protection of Cento (Ferrara), who will distribute them to elderly citizens and families in need in the municipality. Moreover, the company donated 880 kg of flour, in collaboration with the company and INGREEN partner Smurfit Kappa, to the volunteers of the Red Cross of Finale Emilia (Modena) engaged in the distribution of food to families in need within the territory. On Easter Day, together with the Restaurant Pizzeria La Pergola in Renazzo, Molini Pivetti gave six departments of the Hospital SS. Annunziata di Cento 45 pizzas intended for hospital health professionals. Read more

Barilla, an Italian food company, is supporting the local community in Parma with a donation of €2 million for medical equipment for the Civil Protection, the Red Cross and the Maggiore Hospital of Parma. Barilla also donated food to associations working on the front line in the fight against COVID-19. Read more

And lastly, Tecnopackaging, a technology-based company involved in the development of innovative plastic products and materials based in Spain, used their expertise and production facilities to 3D print plastic parts for protective masks.

The INGREEN management team is very proud of these contributions from the project partners and would like to extend the most sincere appreciation to them and everyone that is contributing to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, whether it be on the front lines, by developing treatments and treating patients, or through donations such as these.