With sewing machine and bicycle: Fighting against the pandemic

Some things make us feel helpless. A worldwide pandemic, for example. But we can all make a contribution. A colleague from Laives shows what a sewing machine and a bicycle can achieve.

Fighting the coronavirus now plays a major role in Raffaella's life. Yet she works neither as a doctor nor in virology. The South Tyrolean works at Röchling Automotive in Laives. In her spare time, she helps stop the spread of the virus and thus helps her community.

Helping is her hobby

In spring 2020, Raffaella got really active for the first time. That's when she sat down at her sewing machine and made fabric masks in the evenings after work and on weekends. Sometimes even into the night. After just a few days, the South Tyrolean reached hundreds of self-sewn versions. She distributed her masks in her community, to friends and to the hospital in Bolzano.

No break

The work was worth it and was a real blessing especially in the initial phase of the pandemic. The virus had caught us all off guard and masks quickly became a scarce commodity.

Even after several hours in front of the rattling needle, a break was out of the question for Raffaella. A few weeks later, she even relaunched her initiative - with masks for the Red Cross: "I couldn't rest. I couldn't just pretend that everything was fine again."

3,000 euros in donations

Again she went to the sewing machine, this time on an even larger scale. For the new edition of the mask campaign, she had rounded up some helpers from her community of Bronzolo.

The effort paid off. About 3,000 euros in donations were collected. This money went to the Red Cross, which was used to better equip itself for further pandemic operations. Another part went to the children's aid project "8-13". The team even received letters of thanks from Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Arno Kompatscher, President of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano.

Sporting support

This was the latest point at which Raffaella's husband became curious. Saverio is also one of our colleagues in Laives. Meanwhile, the cycling scene knows him for his sometimes extreme adventures. Saverio wanted to use this popularity for the good cause.

That being said, he came up with a new challenge: he rode his bike 1,000 kilometers uninterrupted, 25 hours at a stretch. Corona-compliant from home. Many of his fans followed the "fundraising ride" online, raising another 1,000 euros.

Raffaella is very pleased with the result of the relief action: "A total of 4,000 euros in donations and quite a few masks. That's hard to believe. We were able to help children and support the Red Cross. Even in these difficult times." And all that with a sewing machine, a bicycle - and a lot of helping hands.

Many thanks for this effort!