Nearly 150 guests sat at tables for a meal prepared and served by L'Epuisette's team of professionals and students from the Salesian hotel school. Special mention should be given to the five past pupils who returned especially to support the Marseille’s youth: the head sommelier of L'Epuisette, Yann Durieux, as well as his co-workers in the same, fine dining establishment, Adrien Lombardo, Damien Cau, Nicolas Cantareil and Fabien Augusto.
During the evening, the purposes of the event and the Salesian Pastré Foundation's strong relationship with the city of Marseille were recalled. That relationship grew out of an encounter between Don Bosco and a family of wealthy Marseille shipowners, the Pastré. In 1883, Madame Mathilde Pastré donated the Villa Pastré to Don Bosco in recognition of her niece Marguerite's miraculous recovery. Today, members of the Pastré family are still involved in the foundation’s administration, among them, Henri, in charge of welcoming guests on the evening of Monday, October 17.
Thanks to the gala evening, young people from Marseille's at-risk neighborhoods, accompanied by the local branch of "Le Valdocco" Association, shall benefit through the sustenance of four educational work camps for young people aged 11 to 18.
Founded in 1995, a few months after violent urban riots in the banlieu at that time, from the meeting of a group of residents and Salesians in the Dalle neighborhood of Argenteuil, the association has 9 facilities distributed in 6 cities, between Lille in the north, and Nice, in the south.
About 2,000 young people are accompanied each year throughout France. Among them are those from the Frais Vallon and La Rose neighborhoods in Marseille. Their names are Hicham, Louis, Dina, Delia, Adama - they are between 11 and 18 years old, some newly arrived in France after traumatic migration experiences, others born there but from whose parents often do not speak French. And most of them live in increasingly culturally and socially isolated neighborhoods.
Moreover, the proceeds from the gala evening will also support the Salesian Family's initiatives in favor of Ukrainian refugees received in Eastern European countries, with an amount equivalent to the cost of setting up a reception center for 50 people at the Salesian center in Różanystok, northern Poland.
