The Suspended Drug: When Christmas Becomes a Gift Again

This evening, after putting my daughters to bed, I lingered for a few minutes at their bedroom door. Costanza, two, was clutching her favorite stuffed animal. Ginevra, five, was sleeping peacefully with a storybook still open on her pillow.

In that silence, watching my girls safe in their world of games, cuddles, and medicine always available when needed, I asked myself a simple but uncomfortable question: why them and not other children?

The Luck We Don't Notice

I've worked in the pharmacy for years, first alongside my father Renato, now as a partner. Every day I see dozens of people come in, buy what they need, and leave. A normal, almost banal, gesture.

But behind that normality there is an enormous privilege that we often take for granted: access to care .

Not everyone can afford antibiotics for their child with ear infections. Not everyone has 15 euros for a fever reducer when their fever rises. Not everyone lives in a town where an open pharmacy is just a stone's throw away.

A few weeks ago, my wife Giulia told me something that has stuck with me: "Francesco, our girls are lucky not because we deserve it more than others, but simply because we were born on the right side of the world."

He was right.

The Christmas We Don't Want Anymore

It's December and, like every year, the city fills with lights, glittering shop windows, and advertisements screaming "buy, buy, buy."

Christmas has become a wild ride: bigger gifts than last year, increasingly elaborate dinners, a silent competition to see who can spend more to show how much they care about their loved ones.

But is this really the meaning of Christmas?

This year, watching Costanza and Ginevra unwrap yet another toy that they'll use for two days before forgetting about at the bottom of a drawer, I wondered if we weren't teaching them the wrong thing.

We are raising a generation that measures love in gift wrapping, value in designer labels, happiness in objects destined to break or go out of style.

What if we taught them that the true gift is giving back?

That luck should be shared, not hoarded?

That Christmas can be the time when, precisely because we have so much, we decide to give something to those who have nothing?

The Suspended Drug is Born

From these reflections, a few weeks ago, an idea was born.

At Maria Cristina Pharmacy, we've already been collaborating with several local organizations on charitable initiatives since February. We collect medications, donate them, and try to do our part.

But this year I wanted to do something different. Something Christmas-related. Something that gave meaning to this time of year.

And so The Christmas Suspended Drug was born.

The idea is inspired by the Neapolitan tradition of "suspended coffee": when someone would leave a paid coffee at the bar so that those who couldn't afford it could drink it for free. An anonymous gesture of generosity, without expecting anything in return.

The Suspended Medicines Fund works the same way : from December 19th to 31st, anyone can donate by purchasing medicines that we, together with Prati-Care Onlus, will deliver to those who desperately need them.

Why Prati-Care Onlus

When I decided to launch this initiative, I knew we needed a reliable, serious partner with proven experience in providing concrete help where it's really needed.

I discovered Prati-Care Onlus almost by chance, while talking to some colleagues. It's a Turin-based organization that's been active for over ten years.

What struck me about Prati-Care is its concreteness.

These aren't just words or good intentions. They are university students, retirees, and volunteers who, every day, here in Turin, collect food, clothing, and school supplies and distribute them to families in need.

And not just in Turin. Prati-Care also operates in Sicily and Liguria, in reception centers for refugees and asylum seekers. And internationally, it supports missions in Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, and Morocco , providing healthcare, caring for orphaned children, and providing education and medical care.

Every year, more than a hundred volunteers leave for these missions. People who leave their comfort zone for months to go where there's need.

When I read these things on their website, I knew they were the right people to collaborate with.

What Does Donating a Medicine Mean?

Donating a medicine is not like donating a used toy or an old coat.

Donating a medicine means saving a life.

It means that a child with malaria in Guinea-Bissau will receive the antimalarial drug that will keep him alive. It means that a mother struggling financially here in Turin will be able to treat her daughter's infection without having to choose between medicine and food. It means that an elderly person living alone on a €500 pension will have his hypertension medication without having to give up heating in January. It's a small gesture for the donor, but immense for the recipient.

The True Meaning of Christmas

I know it may seem rhetorical to talk about the "true meaning of Christmas."

But this year, more than ever, I feel the need to get back to the essence.

Christmas is a gift, not an object.

It is the conscious choice to give without expecting anything in return.

It's the moment when we stop from the daily grind and ask ourselves: what can I do for those who are worse off than me?

I want my daughters to grow up knowing this.

I want their Christmas to be not just wrapping paper and presents under the tree, but also the awareness that we are lucky and that this luck should be shared .

This year, together with them, we'll choose some of their toys to donate. And we'll donate medications with Il Farmaco Sospeso.

Not because we are heroes or special people.

Simply because we can. And because it's right.

How to Participate

Participating is simple.

You can donate online through our website www.farmacietorino.com , choosing the type of medicine you prefer.

Or you can come in person to the pharmacy, at Corso Alcide De Gasperi 69 in Turin, and make your donation directly.

From December 19th to 31st, all collected medicines will be transferred to Prati-Care Onlus, which will purchase the necessary medications and distribute them through its verified network of projects in Italy and abroad.

Total transparency : at the end of the campaign, we will publish a detailed report with the amount raised, the drugs purchased, the beneficiary projects, and the people helped.

An Invitation to Reflection

This article isn't just an announcement of a charity initiative. It's an invitation.

An invitation to pause and reflect on what Christmas truly means for us and our children.

An invitation to ask ourselves: are we teaching our children the value of things or the value of people?

An invitation to remind ourselves that, in a world where few have too much and too many have nothing, solidarity is not optional, it is a responsibility .

I don't know if Il Farmaco Sospeso will raise a lot or a little. I don't know how many people will participate.

But I know one thing: every single donation will make a difference in someone's life.

And this, for me, is already a success.

Thank you

Thanks for reading this far.

Thank you if you decide to participate, by donating or even just sharing this initiative.

Thank you because, in a world that is racing ever faster toward nothingness, there are still those who stop and decide to give instead of take.

This year, our Christmas can be truly different. It can be the Christmas where we choose solidarity over consumption.

The Christmas in which we give back some of the good fortune that has been given to us.

The Christmas in which we give health.

I'll wait for you, online or at the pharmacy.

With gratitude,
Francis