This Sunday, September 27th, the first Gratiferia took place at the Ermitage in the Notre-Dame district of Versailles. The event welcomed more than 150 people despite the rainy weather!
For several months, the Hermitage, Fondacio's headquarters, has challenged itself to be even more ecologically and socially coherent following Pope Francis' Encyclical (Laudato Si) and the 2018 International Congress. To achieve its objectives, the Hermitage is embarking on a committed program that aims to raise awareness among as many citizens as possible about environmental and social issues. The Gratiferia this Sunday, September 27, launches the dynamic.
A Gratiferia is a free party. People bring and/or take objects during the event. From 10am, the first deposits were made and it was quite impressive to see how quickly the tables that were empty at 10am filled up. It was also necessary to add many tables until 2am, the end time for deposits. At the same time, as soon as they were deposited, some objects, clothes, toys, found a new life with another owner. The turnover was fast and people came to discover the event until 5am. Thus, nearly 150 people deposited and/or left with various objects. A real success that will certainly be rescheduled during the year 2020-2021! The rest of the objects are distributed among various associative structures with which we have contacted.
A Gratiferia is above all a moment of sharing around the values of solidarity. It is not a question of making money, just of giving and/or taking, of spending a friendly and festive day. It is to prove that a non-commercial world or at least, less commercial, is possible. The gratiferia also shows to what extent we have a surplus of things at home and leads to reflection: Do we really need this or that thing, are we really going to use it? And what if, starting today, we set ourselves the goal of no longer buying anything new? Of boycotting things wrapped in plastic? Of limiting the use of plastic toys, etc. So many questions that question our lifestyles.
I promise, this is just the beginning, other events are coming. The next one is on Wednesday, September 30th with a screening of the documentary "In search of autonomy" by Demos Kratos. It will be followed by a discussion about the eco-place of the Hermitage.
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