Trees planted in Italian memorial park for victims

On Sunday, May 29th, KKL Italy participated in an important ceremony that was attended by hundreds of guests, in memory of the victims of the earthquake that destroyed the city of L’Aquila and the small cities around it in April 2010.

In just a few minutes, 309 persons lost their lives and the “Noi per Lucoli” (Onlus) Association dedicated the park of the ancient Abbey (1077) in Lucoli in their memory. 65 trees were planted by the children of the Enrico Marrelli Elementary School and the Corradini Middle School of Avezzano, and the children will be responsible to care for the trees' future growth. The trees symbolize “the memory of the victims of the catastrophe that could have been avoided”, as Emanuela Mariani, President of “Noi per Lucoli” noted in the presence of Mayor Valter Chiappini, Land Protection Councilor Gianfranco Giuliante, the President of the “6 Aprile per la Vita Foundation” Vincenzo Vittorini and Raffaele Sassun, President of KKL Italia Onlus.



Sassun mentioned that the Abruzzo Region has recently decided to donate 10,000 trees that will be planted on Mount Carmel in Israel and that in the next days, a twinning memorandum between the Abruzzo Region and KKL-JNF Italy will be signed. By signing this memorandum, both sides express their commitment to nature's open spaces and to educating young people to love nature and peace.

The park will be named “Giardino della memoria" (Memory Garden). A plaque in the park testifies to the longtime partnership between KKL Italy and Lucoli. KKL Italy also planted an olive tree in memory of the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, and in memory of the victims of natural disasters throughout the world. A plaque also marks the olive tree at the site.



“I think we can safely say that Noi per Lucoli, Kyori Ueno, who represents the Japanese community, and Gianfranco Giuliante, who promoted the twinning memorandum, are all KKL-JNF activists, since they all see green as the color of nature, prosperity, peace and harmony between people,” Raffaele Sassun concluded.