In July of 2019, in Las Vegas, Nevada where I live, Laura Biancalani presented me with a beautiful certificate naming me an Ambassador of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement.
The first time I heard Andrea sing my mother was watching a television show and called me over to listen to this amazing voice. That was more than 20 years ago. Then, of course, Romanza was released.
Andrea’s voice is instantly recognizable however I never knew much about him. In the fall of 2016, an Italian client, who is the cousin of Andrea Bocelli arranged for Andrea to come to speak to a group of people we had assembled for a business seminar. To be honest, I did not expect that Andrea would have the time to come. Why would the world’s best tenor come to speak to our group of 600 people?
To my amazement, at the appointed time, Andrea Bocelli walked into the venue and spoke to 600 very surprised people. It was during this event that we began to learn about the Andrea Bocelli Foundation.
I also began to learn who Andrea Bocelli is. He came to speak to our group because his cousin asked him to come to the meeting she was attending. As family is very important to Andrea… he agreed to come. His love for his beautiful wife, Veronica, is instantly evident. His children, two sons and a daughter have been taught the lessons Andrea believes are necessary to instill respect, love, hard work, responsibility. To the world, it would appear he has it all. Yet, there is much more. He is a man of compassion and he has a heart to make a difference.
My husband and I met with both Andrea and Veronica during a trip they made to Las Vegas for a concert. We spent several hours with both learning about the foundation. We believed that we knew many people that would join us in supporting the work of the foundation however before we would discuss it with others, we needed to be confident that this was the real thing. Veronica Bocelli, never hesitated to answer a single question. Financial records were provided (they are actually now published online for anyone to see), and most impressive to us was that 95% of all funds raised are used for the work of the foundation. 5% is allotted for administration … that is it! It is almost unheard of to find a charity with an administrative cost of only 5%. The other significant thing to us was their personal involvement in the foundation. Both Andrea and Veronica are hands on. Their children participate, the President of the Foundation, Laura, has a heart as big as Andrea for this work. Everyone participates. At the end of that lengthy meeting, the Bocelli’s and their work with ABF had won our hearts.
It has always been a personal goal to make a difference in this life and with ABF I have found a group of people who are committed to the same thing. 3,000 children attend school each day because of ABF. Clean water is provided to communities that need it because of ABF. Children are taught to be leaders and given the education and tools to grow up to be people who make a difference.
For the past four years I have shared my passion for ABF with many people. Everyone who has participated and had the chance to meet any of the team members of the foundation will tell you that as soon as they met the team member they instantly could feel the commitment and the love for the work that they do. This is a group of people who are making a difference and I am very honored to be a part of this group.
Consider …. a drop of water by itself is simply a drop of water, yet the ocean …. One of the greatest forces of nature on this planet … when reduced to its most simple form is nothing more than a huge collection of drops of water. When you support ABF you are joining a group of people who are committed to being a force of nature for positive change. Please join us!