Livia C. Paoletti, 6, of Plainsboro, recently raised more than $100 for the Abruzzo Relief Fund to benefit people in the earthquake region in Italy. Over spring break, her plane landed in Italy just four hours after the earthquake that destroyed L’Aquila in the Abruzzo region. As she was touring she felt the aftershocks of the quake and met people who had lost family members, friends, and homes. She wanted to help so she started drawing pictures of rainbows and hearts and selling them for $1 per drawing.
Her father, Franco Paoletti, a native of Rome, teaches high school science at Hightstown High School. Her mother, Lisa M. Carlucci, is a language teacher and consultant.
A first grade student at Town Center School, Livia had been to L’Aquila, the capital city of her maternal great grandfather, on previous visits to Italy. On a return trip this summer, there were temporary campsites housing displaced persons in the same areas where Livia had once played in the fountains and run on the grass. “Unfortunately without a lot of inconvenience, you could not get there,” says her mother. “It was sad because there were tents at the bottom of a beautiful mountain. It was early evening and already the temperatures were dropping. We wondered how the people would live there when it really got cold.”
They family also toured other parts of Italy including Milan, Florence, Rome, Loreto, Stresa, and Ascoli Piceno.
At this time Livia has too many pictures on backorder but donations may be made directly to TD Bank, Legacy Commerce Bank, Washington, DC, to credit account 3980085603, with ABA routing 054001725, for credit to Abruzzo Relief Fund, 1860 19th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009.
