After the success of New York, Campus Salute – the initiative dedicated to the promotion of health prevention and volunteering in the medical field – has first stopped in Detroit. An expected appointment, made possible thanks to the collaboration between the Consulate of Italy and the Dante Alighieri Society of Michigan, confirming the vocation of the exhibition to be a bridge between health, education and culture.
Born in 2015, Campus Salute brings to Italian communities abroad a model of prevention inspired by Italian public health values and volunteering as a tool for cohesion and solidarity. The Detroit stage had long been “in the radar”: a vast territory, where the Italian presence is articulated but deeply rooted, and where the arrival of the initiative found a community “open, welcoming and ready to participate”.
“The goal of Campus Salute is twofold”, explained the organizer Pasquale Antonio Riccio. «On the one hand promote healthy lifestyles and culture of prevention; from the other to enhance the role of volunteering, which is a flagship of Italy and a valuable resource also abroad”.
At the heart of the mission there is a simple but fundamental idea: help people take care of themselves, spread awareness and bring concrete examples of civic commitment to the territory.
The more than 200 free health screenings carried out on Sunday by the doctors and volunteers of the Campus Salute, under the guidance of the President of Campus Salute Pasquale Antonio Riccio, certify the scope of the success of the initiative, welcomed with enthusiasm by the local community.
The Consulate of Italy in Detroit strongly supported the arrival of the stage, integrating it within the program of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World. “We have always wanted to promote our cuisine, not only with traditional themes related to taste, but also combining the themes of sustainability, well-being, health and the Mediterranean diet”, said Consul Allegra Baistrocchi.
The presence of Campus Salute volunteer doctors represented an added value not only symbolic, but practical: “Who lives in the United States knows what it means to have access to free health services,” says the Consul. “For this reason the contribution of the doctors who have come specially was very precious, a way to show an Italian excellence directly on the territory of Detroit”.
On Friday morning, the Campus Salute team had received a welcome in Michigan, taking part in the Italian American Summit Cup, which saw the representatives of the Consulate, Dante Alighieri Michigan and de ilDetroiter (represented by the Network of New York).
On the prestigious Detroit Pistons, he had triumphed the full yellow team of the Dante Alighieri Society, a victorious final on the Detroiter team. In the evening the teams engaged in the morning event were invited to attend the winning Detroit Pistons victory over the Philadelfia 76ers in the NBA Cup.
On Sunday, the initiative of Campus Salute volunteers was the Dante Alighieri Society of Michigan, which has been committed to promoting Italian food culture and food education for years.
“To us, promoting Italy abroad also means talking about health, healthy food and healthy food culture,” said Lia Adelfi. «With the Week of Italian Cuisine we work to explain to our students how to read a label, how to recognize Italian sounding and why the Mediterranean diet is so closely linked to well-being».
A commitment that perfectly matches the mission of Campus Salute: «To support a project based on medical volunteering is natural for us. Here in America prevention is fundamental, and it is often also expensive. Bringing a free and high quality service is an act of solidarity that reflects the values of our community”.
The Detroit stage showed how institutions, cultural associations and volunteers can cooperate to bring added value to the community. From the promotion of the correct lifestyles to the spread of Italian culture, to the creation of opportunities for encounter and civic participation, Campus Salute confirms a project able to go beyond the healthcare sector, becoming a moment of shared identity.
An initiative that, as Riccio noted, “finds in Michigan a fertile territory, where the Italian community is ready to share values, knowledge and commitment to collective well-being”.
L’articolo Great success for Health Campus in Detroit proviene da IlNewyorkese.
