In May 2023, the Emilia Romagna region in Italy was hit by heavy rains causing floods in several cities including Bologna, Imola, and Faenza claiming multiple lives. The flooding was so severe that it forced the FIA and F1 to cancel the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola. In the wake of this tragedy, Charles Leclerc took it upon himself to help the residents of Imola.
The Ferrari driver contributed a generous amount of $46,000 to the city’s rebuilding efforts and help restore parks and playgrounds for the children. The city is using Leclerc’s donation to renovate a popular playground on Romeo Galli street.
Work on this project will begin on August 8. The plan is to replace the old castle and swing set with brand-new equipment and add a third play structure. City officials aim to complete the renovation by August 15, giving local children a new place to play.
Recently, Leclerc showed his continued commitment to the project. During this year’s Grand Prix event, he personally reached out to Imola’s mayor, Marco Panieri to get some updates about his plans for the playground renovation.
they’ll be redeveloping a children’s play area in imola being financed by some of the donation charles made for them last year (during the floods)!! and he even met up with the mayor to be updated on what were the plans with the money
this is so so nice pic.twitter.com/DAXI0TvWSR
— clara (@leclercsletters) July 30, 2024
Mayor Panieri said about Leclerc’s commitment, “We had the chance to meet during the Grand Prix because he himself wanted to be updated on the work planned and what will be done.”
Per Corriere, the mayor expressed his gratitude by saying, “We are designing and implementing some of the projects with the resources of the driver Charles Leclerc, whom I would like to thank again on behalf of the entire City of Imola.”
In 2023, Ferrari also made a significant contribution of 1 million euros ($1.09 million) towards flood relief efforts.
