THE GLOBAL VOLUNTEERING NETWORK
GIFT ECONOMY IN MILAN
Quick Summary: A 3-day fundraising event for four charities dedicated to saving elephants (Save Elephants Foundation), moon bears (Animals Asia), wolves (Cooperativa Eliante) and cats (Le Aristogatte) in Milan, Italy.
Milan has earned its rightful reputation for elegance and is considered the capital of haute couture, fine dining and sophisticated Italian culture. These stylish Milanese also have an inherent love for humanity and animals as manifested through the many initiatives to help the less fortunate across the world. Three Milanese professionals teamed together to extend this love to the animal kingdom by holding a 3-day event (October 14th - 16th 2016) to raise funds for four charities dedicated to saving Elephants (Save Elephants Foundation - www.saveelephant.org ) and moon bears (Animals Asia - www.animalsasia.org) in Asia, besides wolves (Cooperativa Eliante - www.eliante.it/progetto/pasturs), and cats (Le Aristogatte - www.learistogattect.blogspot.it) in Italy.
What made their effort truly unique is that they went about the fund raising drive using a method that had not been seen in Milan, perhaps entire Italy, before. They decided on a “Garage Sale” in a stylish dress boutique (https://www.instagram.com/ciasmo_atelier/) and promoted the “Gift Economy” model when pricing the items: theysimply asked visitors to contribute whatever they could afford based on their possibilities and generosity.
The response was amazing. In addition to raising almost 3000 euros for the charities, they were able to spread the awareness about endangered animals. Hopefully their enthusiasm had permeated among many other Milanese well-wishes, spurring many to plan similar initiatives. The material remaining from the sale has been donated to another charity holding a similar fund raising drive a week later. MegaReach can only applaud the vision, enthusiasm and humanness of these wonderful people. In a world consumed by negativity, they have demonstrated that love can triumph over adversity. Please contact us if you would like to get the advice of these inspirational individuals when planning your own efforts.
