Also this year Fondazione Veronesi takes to the streets to raise funds to support scientific research on pediatric tumors, thanks to the precious contribution of ANICAV and RICREA
Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st April 2024 the Foundation volunteers present throughout Italy.
On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April, Fondazione Umberto Veronesi ETS returns to the main Italian squares with the seventh edition of “Il Pomodoro per la ricerca. Buono per te, buono per l'ambiente®”, an initiative designed to raise funds and finance research and treatment in the pediatric field, in order to guarantee the best possible care for children with cancer and increase their recovery expectations.
The proceeds from the fundraiser will help finance the innovative research and treatment platform PALM Research Project®, an international network for the development of new treatments for the cure of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia. The platform, funded by the Umberto Veronesi ETS Foundation, which will last 5 years, will involve the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital - the main pediatric research and treatment center in Europe - as a reference center, the Centralized Diagnostic Laboratory of the Hemato-Oncology Clinic of Padua, the Department of Experimental Oncology of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan and the Department of Leukaemia of the MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston USA) as support centers.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a rare blood cancer that originates in stem cells in the bone marrow and develops rapidly, spreading throughout the body. It represents 20% of all cases of acute leukemia observed in pediatric age, resulting in approximately 70 new diagnoses per year in the 0-18 age group in Italy. AML is a disease that is still not fully understood from a genetic and molecular point of view, especially in its relapsed and drug-refractory forms, currently without effective treatments. Supporting this project is essential because it will allow the start of the clinical trial – the first in Europe – of gene therapy with CAR-Natural Killer cells for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia that is relapsed or resistant to conventional treatments.
The renewed contribution of the approximately 1.800 volunteers of the Veronesi Foundation will be fundamental, who for an entire weekend will be engaged in more than 400 distribution points in squares, commercial activities, schools, companies to support scientific research aimed at finding a cure for children's tumors. They will be the ones, in exchange for a minimum donation of €12, to distribute a package with three steel cans of tomatoes, in the peeled, pulp and cherry tomato versions: an initiative made possible thanks to the precious and renewed collaboration and support of ANICAV (National Association of Vegetable Food Preserves Industrialists) e Ricrea (National Consortium for Recycling and Recovery of Steel Packaging). Tomatoes have always been a characteristic ingredient in the Mediterranean diet; they are a fruit with little sugar, rich in fiber, vitamins C and E and mineral salts, such as potassium and phosphorus. They contain bioactive molecules such as polyphenols, powerful antioxidants, and carotenoids including lycopene, studied as an adjuvant in strengthening the immune system and in the prevention of certain types of cancer. Steel cans
in addition to being infinitely recyclable, they help ensure the preservation of the nutritional and organoleptic characteristics of the product.
"Scientific research has changed the destiny of thousands of young patients, many steps forward have been made but unfortunately it is still not enough. This is why Fondazione Veronesi has been financing excellent research for years to give concrete hope of recovery to children and adolescents suffering from cancer. I would like to thank all the donors who want to help us concretely in this new edition of the project, the volunteers who will lend their time and energy to our fundraising and I thank the partners ANICAV and Ricrea for being at our side once again" – explains Monica Ramaioli, General Director of the Umberto Veronesi ETS Foundation.
“Our collaboration with Fondazione Veronesi continues and consolidates in this important solidarity initiative in favor of research in the field of pediatric oncology that we have been carrying out for years together with RICREA. – declares Marco Serafini, President of ANICAV – Our tomato, which thanks to its extraordinary properties is good for health and supports research, will once again be the protagonist of this important solidarity campaign in many Italian squares. We are certain, given the success of previous editions, that this year too we will be able to achieve more than positive results”.
"We are thrilled to take part once again in this important initiative, renewing our commitment alongside Fondazione Veronesi - comments Domenico Rinaldini, President of RICREA -. Steel packaging, such as tomato cans, can be recycled 100% and indefinitely, and are confirmed to be good not only for the environment, but also for supporting la pediatric oncology research".
Also this year, primary and secondary schools (both first and second grade) in the national territory will be able to participate, from March 7 to May 7, 2024, in the contest “A Scuola con il Pomodoro per la Ricerca” by creating fundraising campaigns featuring the packaging of “Il Pomodoro per la Ricerca. Good for you, good for the environment” thus giving their contribution to support pediatric oncology. The novelty this year is that, in addition to the first five classified institutes, all the other schools that actively participate in the initiative will also receive a voucher for the purchase of educational materials. Equipment that can be used in their school together with information brochures made available by the RICREA Consortium on issues related to safeguarding the planet and recycling steel packaging.
For more information and to see the complete and updated list of Italian squares, visit the website pomodoroperlaricerca.it.
