World-chang­ers at Work — The Good Sus­pend­ed video series part one

This is part one in a col­lec­tion of short, inci­sive sto­ries of peo­ple doing amaz­ing things dur­ing the coro­n­avirus pan­dem­ic, told by Ital­ian fundrais­ing expert Francesco Ambrogetti.

Written by
Francesco Ambrogetti
Added
July 02, 2020

The Good Suspended was inspired by the Italian tradition of ‘caffe sospeso’ (‘suspended coffee’: a cup of coffee paid for in advance as an anonymous act of charity). Now, ordinary citizens are doing extraordinary things to help people during the coronavirus crisis.  

Simple extraordinary acts like cancelling rent for tenants to buying an extra bag of groceries for those in need, preserving the memory of those who died alone or sending letters to a mother separated from her newborn child. Coronavirus has made it possible for thousands of ordinary citizens to become the unsung heroes of this crisis, with small gestures that inspired and changed the life of so many. Every week we’ll bring you a new episode, two minutes of stories that are changing the lives of so many and inspired many more.

Episode one - Introduction

Episode two - Rent


Not all Italian Americans are like the Sopranos or Padrino! In this episode we introduce the amazing story of ‘Super’ Mario from Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Mario cancelled rent for thousands of his tenants and donated to local restaurants so they could cook meals for people in need, doctors and nurses.

Episode three - Food


In this episode we share stories of grocery bags left ‘suspended ’ in the streets and by guardrails for those in need in Italy and Germany. We also look at stories of meals delivered to children in the slums of Nairobi.

Episode four - Love


In this episode we hear the beautiful story of Karita and Inga, in love for 50 years and separated by a border and by coronavirus, yet still meeting every day. We also discover a touching letter from Brittany, a nurse who takes care of Alli’s newborn while mother and child are separated.

Special episode - Black Lives Matter


In this episode Francesco tells the story of Rahul, an ordinary citizen who opened his house in Washington to shelter protesters fleeing the police during the Black Lives Matter march.

As soon as we get more videos from Francesco, we will upload them. To learn more about how Italian fundraisers have responded to the coronavirus pandemic, click here.

About the author: Francesco Ambrogetti

Francesco returned to Italy in 2015 after 20 years abroad, as marketing and fundraising director of UNICEF in Italy. Francesco has 20 years of senior-level fundraising leadership experience with major international charities including UNICEF, UNAIDS, UNHCR, MSF, WWF, Red Cross. His experience extends worldwide and includes raising billions of dollars in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. He launched the campaign Schools for Africa for UNICEF that raised over $200 million until now. 

He is professor of fundraising at Bologna University and frequent speaker at international & national fundraising congresses and frequent blogger and author of articles on fundraising and marketing. He is also author of the book ‘Manuale di fundraising per le organizzazioni nonprofit’ (Handbook on fundraising for nonprofit organisations) published in 2005.

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