Thursday, December 18, 2025, the Gonzaga Campus will host the Christmas solidarity dinner to support the education of Palestinian children and to support our missions.

We report the circular addressed to the entire Gonzaga Campus community.

(students, families, teachers, non-teaching staff

and volunteer instructors, families and athletes of the

Sports Association, alumni, associations

and Ignatian groups)

Dear friends,

in this time of Advent, a time of waiting and light, the Gonzaga Campus wishes to renew its commitment to protect and support hope, especially where it appears most fragile.

The Christmas Solidarity Dinner arises precisely from this desire: to transform the time of meeting and sharing into a concrete sign of closeness and responsibility.

One of the most authentic gestures we can make is not to leave alone the children and young people who are growing up and studying in lands wounded by pain and injustice. Continuing to believe in them, supporting them and accompanying them means saying, with facts and not just with words, that we feel close to them, that we carry them in our hearts and that we do not forget them.

As an educational community, we want to encourage and support all those paths of children and young people who, through education, continue to believe in a future of humanity and peace: from the children of Kenya to those of Romania, up to those who at this moment are experiencing the dramatic reality of Palestine.

With this initiative we wish to reiterate that the school is not only a place of learning, but also a space of responsibility, solidarity and shared hope.

It is for this reason that next Thursday, December 18, 2026, we renew the beautiful tradition of the Christmas Solidarity Dinner: an event that always sees great participation, during which the entire community gathers for the exchange of greetings and to make a concrete gesture for those who need it most.

Program of the evening

· From 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm: Entertainment for children

Also this year we will pay particular attention to the younger children, also organizing events specifically dedicated to them, which will accompany them from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Age group 3-5 years (Pre School-kindergarten): entertainment for the little ones (kindergarten school spaces).

Age group 6-10 years (Primary): entertainment, games, bingo (each child is invited to bring a small gift to be raffled off for the bingo) (kindergarten school spaces).

The children will have dinner with the animators.

· 7.00 pm: testimonies in the auditorium and opening of the exhibition Appointment in the auditorium for the introduction to the evening and the testimonies.

Following the opening of the exhibition "HeART of Gaza" with drawings by children from Gaza

· 8:30 pm: Dinner in the canteen

Preparation of the dinner (dishes and logistics)

We want this moment to be as inclusive as possible, involving first of all the students, educators and families but also all those who work, for the most diverse reasons, within the large family of the Gonzaga Campus (from students to parents, from teachers to non-teaching staff, from instructors to families of the sports association, from civil service volunteers to those of the school for migrants, from members of Ignatian groups and associations to our friends and relatives...) that the party is renewed in which everyone contributes generously with their active participation to a common goal.

It is for this reason that we have decided to assign each sector the task of taking care of a specific dish:

· Kindergarten: desserts

· Primary: first courses

· Middle School: drinks

· High Schools: main courses (meat) and side dishes

· International School Palermo: setting up the room, tablecloths, receiving the prepared dishes, arranging the dishes on the tables during dinner and serving in the room.

All dishes and drinks must be delivered to the Gonzaga canteen on Thursday, December 18 from 6 pm to 7:30 pm.

Each parent can agree with their class representative by communicating how many adults and how many children will be present for each family and the quantities of the dish they will prepare.

Ticket sales and beneficiaries of the fundraising

It is already possible to buy tickets: euro 5 (for children and teenagers) and euro 10 (for adults).

It is already possible to buy tickets by going to the central reception. Even those who cannot be present can contribute to the cause by purchasing one or more tickets as a symbolic gesture.

The funds raised with everyone's solidarity will flow in part into the "Education Fund" and will be used to support our missions and in particular the future of Palestinian children and young people, also giving rise to twinning between our school and some schools in those territories. In January we will try to host a group of about fifteen Palestinian children.

Even we this year have something to donate. Buying a ticket and preparing something good for dinner will be a new way to express our closeness to those who have received less from life.

It will be Christmas for everyone.

Best regards

p. Vitangelo Carlo Maria Denora SJ

General Manager