On the first day of 1759, a Monday, Rev Dr Ignazio Saverio Mifsud – an erudite preacher who left all the sermons and panegyrics he wrote to our National Library in Valletta [see Joe Zammit Ciantar, Il-Priedki bil-Malti ta’ Ignazio Saverio Mifsud, Malta 2008] – starts his Giornale Maltese [a sort of a diary, National Library of Malta, MS 13, pp. 1 and 2] by giving details on how much money he used to give to relatives, neighbours and friends on the occasion of L-Istrina.
He writes: “Il solito tributo delle mancie, detto La Strena. .tari trenta. scudo uno. dieci .; alla serva della Sig.ra Teresa. quattro; al figlio di un cugino… tari due; alla serva della Sig.ra Rosa. tari otto; alla figliola.”. [‘The usual donation of tips, called La Strena. . tarì 30 . scudo one . 10 .; to Mrs Teresa’s servant. four; to the son of a cousin… tarì two; to Mrs Rosa’s servant . tarì eight; to the daughter of.’]
Company presents a donation of €70,000 in aid of the Istrina campaign
Notwithstanding the challenging times, GO still honoured its CSR commitments with continued support and donations of funds and equipment to several NGOs and charity organisations.
Besides supporting the annual Istrina campaign with a monetary donation of €70,000, GO is this year further cementing its support to the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation with the signing of a new four-year agreement to help it achieve its more long-term goals.
“GO has always been and will always remain at the heart of the Maltese community and this is why we have committed to a four-year support agreement with the MCCFF. We believe in the unique role that the MCCFF has in supporting the Maltese community and we believe that since this is also in line with our mission of leaving no one behind, joining forces can only lead to more positive outcomes,” GO CEO Nikhil Patil said.
Citrus Festival altered due to COVID-19, products on sale from Kitchen Garden
COVID-19 guidelines force cancellation of festival and instead citrus products will be sold from President’s Kitchen Garden
31 December 2020, 8:17am
Miriam Vella picks one of the citrus fruits from the Presidential orchard
Citrus Festival altered due to COVID-19, products on sale from Kitchen Garden
The annual Citrus Festival hosted by the President of the Republic will change this year as part of the office’s compliance with COVID-19 guidelines.
The annual event will be held in a different format than usual and instead of being sold at a fair, the citrus products from the President’s orchards will be available at The President’s Kitchen Garden, Attard, from Saturday, 2nd January 2021, until stocks last.
Vassallo Group has donated part of the money usually allocated for its social activities at this time of year to the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation (MCCFF).
The group’s chairman, Nazzareno Vassallo, accompanied by group CEO Pio Vassallo and group director Charlo Bonnici presented the donation to President George Vella, who received it on behalf of the MCCFF.
Furthermore, the group decided to commit itself to a monthly donation of €2,000 to be donated as from January 1, 2021, on behalf of its employees as part of the Employee Contribution Scheme launched by the foundation.
This comes in addition to a monthly contribution of €1,000 every month by the group as from January 1, 2021 for the duration of President Vella’s tenure in office in support of his initiative focusing on the mental health sector.
San Anton Palace citrus fruits to be sold from Kitchen Garden
The annual Citrus Festival will not be held as usual because of COVID-19 restrictions but the fruit will be sold from the President’s Kitchen Garden
30 December 2020, 6:28pm
by Kurt Sansone
President George Vella and his wife Miriam visited San Anton Palace workers as they harvested citrus fruits from the palace grounds (Photos: Office of the President)
Fresh oranges, lemons, mandarins and grapefruit picked from the San Anton Palace grounds will be sold from the President’s Kitchen Garden from Saturday.
The sale of the fruit will replace the annual Citrus Festival that is usually held on the palace grounds but had to be postponed because of COVID-19 restrictions.