The HV Foundation Gala evening at the Teatro Filarmonico and the Arena di Verona

Verona - The best of Verona united in the name of charity. The Hellas Verona Foundation, created two years ago by Hellas Verona to provide support and assistance to young people in fragile conditions, called together the worlds of art, culture and sport in the wonderful Sala Maffeiana of the Teatro Filarmonico this evening. The common goal was to raise funds to be donated to ABEO, Associazione Bambino Emopatico Oncologico, for the ‘Casa ABEO Alloggi’ (ABEO House Accommodation) project, which involves building a flat for the families of young patients undergoing treatment.

The evening, organised to celebrate Hellas Verona Foundation's second anniversary, took place in two exceptional locations: first at the Teatro Filarmonico with a dinner, and then closing with a viewing of the opera ‘Turandot’ in the Arena.

It was an evening of charity for Hellas Verona, which welcomed more than 150 guests to the splendid location of the Teatro Filarmonico. The event opened with an aperitif in the foyer of the theatre, followed by dinner in the wonderful setting of the Sala Maffeiana, to the notes of pianist Stefano Meleri. Among the numerous guests, the Gala evening was attended by the President of Verona and Vice-President of the Hellas Verona Foundation, Maurizio Setti, the General Manager, Simona Gioè, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana, the Mayor of Verona, Damiano Tommasi and Stefano Trespidi and Andrea Compagnucci, respectively Artistic Director and Marketing Manager of the Arena Foundation.

The evening was opened by a speech by Massimo Mamoli, Director of the daily newspaper L'Arena, in which he emphasised how history, culture and sport together represent the identity that gives body and substance to the roots of the city of Verona.

These are some of his statements: "Thank you for the invitation, it is an honour to make a small contribution to this evening that sees the union of the HV Foundation and the Arena Foundation. It is an honour to do so starting from this place because I believe it is rich in votive meanings. When Maffei had these rooms elaborated, after the city had left the plague behind, he could not have remotely imagined that hundreds of years later a group of students from Italy's oldest classical high school would give birth to the city's team, Hellas. A story that from its origins is as far from predictable as it gets. In an anthropological sense, a close relationship has settled between culture, art and sport. Football has increasingly taken on the guise of an art form, understood as a popular novel, as anger and prayer, transformation and freedom. The values of sport and culture make up universal elements of the city of Verona. The beauty of the city is not just an amphitheatre, a football team, but a place where creativity wins. A goal in which the city stands before the eyes of the world, as was seen yesterday at the premiere in the Arena".

Immediately afterwards Stefano Trespidi took the floor: "Turandot opens the summer opera season. We are very happy about this evening organised by the Hellas Verona Foundation on the occasion of the performance of this opera and I would like to thank the Arena Foundation for this proximity. One might think that they are two totally different realities, but in reality we are two worlds more similar than one might think. Every week there is a play, every week we have a premiere. Happiness is ephemeral because from the next day we set off for the next goal, in both worlds".

During the dinner, Maurizio Setti also took the floor to thank those present for their generosity: "First of all, I bring you greetings from the President of Hellas Verona Foundation, Elena Setti, who due to commitments could not be here with us tonight. It is a pleasure for me to share this evening with you, and I would like to thank all those who have worked hard in recent weeks to make it a success. Particularly deserving of praise for the realisation of this event is the Arena Foundation, which, like each and every one of you, placed its trust in us and stood by us to make something special happen. With our Foundation we want to continue to be close to the most fragile people. For this reason I would like to thank ABEO, the association we have long supported. It is an honour to realise such an evening and the wish is that it can be repeated more often in the future".

Closing the evening's speeches was Lorenzo Fontana: "I would like to thank ABEO because it has been helping children and families in difficulty for so many years. I want to thank the club Hellas Verona for what it does in this and also for the great satisfaction it gives us. Being a Verona fan means being part of a big family. For six years now this club has allowed us to experience Serie A consecutively. Hellas is part of our identity, our tradition. For the people of Verona it is more than a club, it is belonging, it is identity".

The evening then ended with the guests moving to the Arena to attend the performance of ‘Turandot’.

A unique event, closing a season that culminated in the best possible way, aimed at celebrating solidarity towards the projects supported by the HV Foundation and appreciating the beauty and art of Verona, of which the city is a protagonist not only nationally but also worldwide.

Many thanks to all the Partners who collaborated with Hellas Verona Foundation for the success of the evening. In particular to Oxigenia, Fil De Gin and the Noahlity Group, which contributed with its generosity to the donation in favour of ABEO.