I don't know how many know Ripi, a town in the heart of Ciociaria, but Mr Aldo Verrelli certainly knows it very well. Aldo is an American citizen who donated 250,000 euros to build a health center that he donated to the municipality.
Last Saturday there was the inauguration of the medical center with a very touching ceremony moderated by the mayor Piero Sementilli and the entire municipal administration. Virtually all the workers of the municipality and many citizens were present to pay homage and thank a person who made an unusual thing for our country.
Aldo Verrelli was born in Ripi but left his town very early to join the rest of his family who had moved to Ohio. In the American province he learned about his new country gradually, without too many traumas, but the real luck was when he arrived at the university and in New York.
He was one of the most brilliant students and when he had to decide between a university career and an entrepreneurial one, it was his own mentor professor who pushed him to achieve great goals as a free spirit.
Aldo had the success he deserved (http://www.averrelli.com), and which can be achieved in a country like America where talent is rewarded and not hindered, but his heart has always remained a Ripi where two of his sisters lived.
For this reason, over the years he has maintained strong ties with the Italian community by donating scholarships for 10 years, dedicated to those who excelled in English, and musical instruments for school.
A touching moment of the ceremony was the speech by Francesco De Angelis, President of the Industrial Consortium of Lazio, also from Ripi who spoke about their town and of the new next road junction to favor the development of the health center.
We at Discoverplaces were present and awarded the Town Ambassador Award of Ripi to Mr. Aldo Verrelli together with the mayor and councilor Enrico De Angelis. The city of Ripi strongly wanted to honor this incredible generosity and the love that Aldo has shown for his town in all these years.
The regional councilor for tourism and local authorities Valentina Corrado, very active in promoting root tourism, sent a letter of greetings to congratulate the new Town Ambassador:
‘The commitment that Mr. Aldo Verrelli has lavished over the years to keep alive relations with his hometown of Ripi fills our hearts and represents the best of Italian spirit.
I wish with joy that this journey can continue and that new bridges will be built between young Italians and the descendants of all those who have had to reluctantly leave their beautiful villages of origin.’
The ceremony ended at the restaurant where Aldo Verrelli invited all his friends and the entire municipal administration and where the two mayors Piero Sementilli and his predecessor Roberto Zeppieri joined in the thanks telling the whole long story that unites Aldo Verrelli and the village of Ripi.
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