In the wake of a string of devastating earthquakes, in 2014 Barilla established a rapid response mobile unit, designed to work with Italy’s civil protection teams and provide emergency meals and assistance to those affected by natural disaster.
I have been involved from the start and, for me, being able to help in this way means so much. My most recent experience drove home the importance of providing comfort and basic vital services to people in times of need.
On 24 August 2016, I was sitting in my office as usual. Terrible earthquakes had hit central Italy overnight. When my phone rang and a colleague asked if I would join a group going down to the affected area, I admit I was scared. I remember I was trembling.
My diary was busy and at first I said no, but within minutes I knew I must go. I called back. By 7pm we were in the car, ready to set off. We arrived at Montegallo, in the province of Ascoli Piceno at around midnight. The municipality is made up of 24 scattered mountain villages. The people there were among the luckiest. Their villages had suffered no deaths, but the houses had been badly damaged internally. There were frequent aftershocks. I felt one very strong one at 5am, while we were sleeping in the truck, and another, in our tent, the following night. There were very many smaller shocks. The fear was palpable.
When you arrive in a place like that, it is as if time has been suspended. It was so soon after the earthquake had happened. We were experiencing people’s immediate reactions to such a deep trauma. They did not know what the future would hold.
The majority of the inhabitants were elderly. Many of the younger generations had moved away to the bigger towns, to the coast. The holidaymakers had all gone. The villagers were scared and they did not know if their communities would ever be rebuilt. There was a very real sense of loss. What would become of their homes, their lives?
On our first morning, the local priest gave a mass in the field. The church had suffered the worst damage in the village. I was very struck by something he said. “God allowed his house to be damaged, to leave yours standing,” he told his congregation. I felt it was a message of great hope and gratitude in a time of real desperation.
We were divided into two groups, one cooking and the other focused on helping with sanitary provision. I was in the cooking team.
Our kitchen lorry – once a Barilla delivery truck, which has been refashioned – has a refrigeration unit, two cooking points, including a gluten-free area, and all the equipment we need. We can provide up to 500 simple meals a day, taking in breakfast, lunch and dinner, cooking 15kg of pasta at a time. The unit also has benches and tables, so we can offer a hot meal in comfort.
Within four hours of a call, we are ready. We can drive to exactly where we are needed and then serve people direct from a hatch in the lorry. It is convenient and quick.
The recognition for what we were doing in Montegallo was huge. The people we were feeding – not only the villagers, but also, of course, the rescue services – were so grateful.
I was particularly affected by one 91-year-old man, who had a vegetable patch nearby. Each day he brought us produce, such as basil and sage.
A hot meal is a necessity for those villagers unable to cook at home, but the relationship you build up goes beyond that. People crave human contact, comfort. While we were serving them we might share a little joke. We hoped they could experience a little relief, a lightening of the burden for a moment. It is a truly humbling experience.
