“LES ANGES GARDIENS DE MONACO” TO HELP THE HOMELESS

by Enrica Guidotti

NICE. Most of the time our participation in solidarity is not so obvious, since it normally comes after our daily family and work problems. Most people try to lead a life as pleasantly as possible, but in the meantime time passes for the homeless, without food, work, and without them being granted some social rank by our society, frenetic and absent-minded. In Nice, “Les Anges Gardiens de Monaco” are there for them, committed to helping this “invisible, dark, wandering humanity”. Every Monday evening in Nice, Les Anges Gardiens organize a charity expedition, in spring and autumn, on the sultry summer evenings and especially on cold winter nights. And they have been there for over 10 years. Founded by Bruna Maule Cassio in 2007, today the association also helps families in difficulty by paying unpaid rents, or pay rent for a year to several needy families, evicted and forced to move, or offer the necessary nights at the hotel to people who are waiting for an accommodation. And yet, other aid goes to families with young children, medical care, administrative procedures, electricity bills, insurance and much more. Every Monday Les Anges help more than 450 people during their tours on the streets of Nice with the distribution of hot meals (soup and pasta), 100 kg of bananas, fruit juices, coffee, mineral water, biscuits, pizza and pissaladières, milk and cereals, as well as hygiene products offered by hotels in the Principality such as the Metropole, Monte Carlo-Bay, Hermitage and Monte-Carlo Beach. Moreover, the Association distributes blankets and over 50 sleeping bags purchased at Decathlon Monaco thanks to the “Phiilantropic Stelios Foundation”, sponsor of the Association, so that the homeless can throw the boxes and sleep in the heat. “Our association has recently been able to buy gloves and hats at the Decathlon Monaco for a total of € 284 to offer them on Monday, December 24, Christmas Eve, to these poor people who live and sleep in the streets of Nice and surroundings in this really pungent cold. A word to you, dear donors: a thousand and a thousand thanks for your support and for your encouragement,”wrote Bruna Maule on the Association’s Facebook page.  Les Anges Gardiens de Monaco are sponsored in particular by Princess Camilla de Bourbon of the Two Sicilies, committed to supporting them every month financially and sometimes dealing with emergencies with very generous donations. Very often she participates with about fifteen volunteers on the distribution’s tour in Nice.

The princess not only contributes to the distribution of meals and other products necessary for the survival of these unfortunates, but she is also ready to listen carefully to those who need to speak in confidence and feel the warmth of a sympathetic hand. Les Anges Gardiens de Monaco are also supported by 11 renowned Monaco’s restaurants, which prepare fresh food before each tour, the following: Café de Paris SBM; Italian Avenue 31, owners of Caffé Milano and La Salière in Monte-Carlo, and of the La Sibille restaurant in Tivoli (Rome); Flashman, Before, Graziella, La Maison des Pates, Mc Carthy’s, Grandma Maria, A Roca, Le Sans-Souci of the restaurateur and tenor Massimo La Guardia and Pulcinella. It’s fabulous. All this would be impossible without the donations that the Association receives from the Principality and on which it depends. “The homeless and those who come for food in the streets are the weakest and the poorest, because they often do not even have a roof over their heads to shelter.” How else can we explain why they come in the cold evenings for a bowl of hot soup, eating standing on the sidewalk or sitting on the ground … those who go to get food in the “Restos du Coeur” and other charities, still have a roof, a place where they can cook. Homeless have anything and most of the time they are completely excluded from the welfare networks. “That explains why we have to go and find them, on a case by case basis”, explains Bruna Maule Cassio. The association also organizes charity events: one of the most important, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Foundation of the Association Les Anges Gardiens de Monaco, took place a year ago, when the famous Italian singer Umberto Tozzi, residing in Monaco, chose to offer an extraordinary tour with Victoria Silvstedt, godmother of the Association, to the homeless of the Bay of Angels of Nice and distribute food and basic necessities to the most deprived. The Tozzi charity concert Gala then followed on 17 February 2018. The charity event that raised the money to meet a long list of interventions was organized by the Honor Committee, composed by the ladies Simone Pastor, Monica Tozzi, Louisette Azzaglio, Francien Giraudi, Cécile Gelabale, Brunella Pastorelli, Chantal Ravera , Ljuba Rizzoli, and in the presence of Jacques Boisson, personal assistant of HSH Prince Albert II and Cristiano Gallo, Italian Ambassador to Monaco. Discreet in his generosity, Umberto Tozzi supports various charitable actions. He also produced an French version of “Piccola Mary”, in duet with Francis Cabrel in 2012, for the benefit of the Larchet Hospital in Nice. Many singers have been involved in humanitarian work for a long time. It began in 1984 with Bob Geldof’s Band Aid group, which raised $ 70 million for victims of the famine in Ethiopia. The following year, 45 stars including Mariah Carey, Pavarotti, Gloria Estefan, Laura Pausini got together to sing “We Are the World” album written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie that collected 63 million in humanitarian aid. The great tenor Andrea Bocelli created the Andrea Bocelli Foundation in 2011, convinced that solidarity is the only intelligent response to inequality.The generosity generated by the Les Anges Gardiens de Monaco Association also found emulators in Monaco, like Alan Landry, the Voice of Monaco (he worked with Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, the Toto group, Fireball / Kassav), who decided to write with a few friends a song dedicated to the Association and whose profits are entirely and continuously donated to Les Anges. Always looking for new volunteers and those who can help, the Association really needs support, and our editorial group Montecarlotimes is happy to talk about it, giving it more visibility and be a trigger that we hope will be useful, encouraging our readers to participate in this noble initiative. The “Les Anges Gardiens de Monaco” non-profit association requires your help today. With your donations, the Association aims to spread the initiative to a wider audience, thus allowing greater fundraising and increasing charitable activity.

Donations are accepted by check or wire transfer on the order of the Guardian Angels of Monaco. Please contact Bruna Maule Cassio – Founder and Honorary President Les Anges Gardiens de Monaco – Tel: 0680862954 – Mail: poppy@monaco.mc