Nicholas took on the guise of American “sky soldiers” ahead of his usual feast day as members of the Army’s famed 173rd Airborne Brigade became toy distributors for their Italian hosts For the 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion troops the annual toy donation that took place Tuesday as part of the Community Alliance Program brought a range of benefits and good feelings have been very gracious to us,” said battalion commander Lt “This event serves as a small token of our appreciation.” Vernon Snyder was credited for doing the legwork and coordination needed to make the event happen and he estimated a threefold increase in donations over last year’s amount Snyder believes that such events helps the soldiers find a sense of purpose and belonging and gives them a way to enjoy the holidays despite separation from their loved ones stateside All the donated toys were purchased by members of the battalion and some soldiers bought extra gifts including one who bought six of them in wrapping paper The toy haul will be divided among the four elementary schools in the city The toys will be used by the schools and will not be given to children to take home “This event means a lot to us because we have a historical friendship with the Americans,” Marangon said dressed up as Santa and took group photos with youngsters The annual toy drive is one of the ways the unit takes part in the Community Alliance Program which allows personnel to engage with the Italian communities Each Vicenza-based battalion in the 173rd Airborne is paired with a community through the program This is the third plantation by Parco Italia in Veneto after the 3,858 trees planted in three hectares in Camisano Vicentino (VI) and the 8,763 trees in seven hectares planted in Mogliano Veneto (TV) a fourth project will launch in the surrounding area of Verona bringing the total number of plantings in Veneto to 28,941 more than 60,000 trees and shrubs have been planted in sites throughout Italy Parco Italia is also taking care of the first three years of maintenance This content is hosted by a third party (www.youtube.com) you need to consent to cookies by selecting Accept all in the popup banner and then select On under Functional Cookies Performance Cookies and Advertising Cookies VP and Country Manager Amazon Italy and Spain said: “Through our Right Now Climate Fund (RNCF) we support nature-based initiatives like Parco Italia that can help preserve and improve the natural world benefiting the communities where we operate The achievement of these goals requires strong collaboration between public and private sectors the projects in Veneto represent a benchmark.” The national reforestation programme Parco Italia Parco Italia's long-term vision is to plant one tree per city resident across 14 metropolitan areas in Italy: 22 million trees by 2040 in order to create a national network of green ecological corridors able to increase and protect biodiversity strengthening and expanding the presence of protected areas along the Peninsula Italy should increase the percentage of protected areas by at least 8.7% by 2030 completed by the Parco Italia team in October 2023 highlighted that the increase in protected areas and the protection of natural resources – managed in order to minimise the risks of fragmentation and increase ecological connectivity – are key tools for the mitigation of the negative effects of habitat loss and ecological fragmentation Amazon contributed to the planting of more than 6,000 trees in the Metropolitan City of Milan through the Forestami pilot project Our contribution to Parco Italia is part of our Right Now Climate Fund (RNCF) established in 2019 to support projects that enhance climate resilience and biodiversity while driving social benefits in the communities where Amazon operates This work, Out & About - Veneto & Tuscany - MAY 2018 (2), by Anna Terracino, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright