Flood aid for the Waldensian Valleys

The fund raising effort to aid the serious human and material damage caused by the flooding after the heavy rainfalls the end of last May in Piedmont, and in particular in the Pellice and Germanasca Valleys, has come to a close. The donations gathered has reached the sum of 60,831 euro, reported the Executive Committee of the 1st District of the Waldensian Church at Torre Pellice: 20,900 through the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy (FCEI); 20,000 from the 8/1000 funds of the Waldensian and Methodist Churches, 10,000 from the German diaconia Gustav Adolf Werk, while 9,931 euro came through donations from members of the Italian and Swiss churches. The total donation was divided as follows: 7,000 euro to the Red Cross of Torre Pellice that had an ambulance destroyed while it was working in the days of the flood and 7,000 euro toward a new chair lift "13 lakes" of Prali, held useful for the economy of the entire population of the Germanasca Valley. The remaining sum of 46,831 euro was handed to the Waldensian Church of Villar Pellice that will divide it among the families of that small mountain community that was hardest hit by this natural disaster.

Pastor Domenico Maselli, President of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy (FCEI), expressing his satisfaction for the results achieved, said: "This fund raiser was important for us because there exists a close spiritual bond between Italian Protestantism and the Waldensian Valleys, birthplace of our Protestantism". Among the hardest hit communities, as we have said, was Villar Pellice, where a landslide cost the lives of four people, including a little girl of three.

From press service NEV - Notizie evangeliche, 30 December 2008