Projects

The Knights of Rizal – Firenze Chapter has mobilised 35 of its Volunteer Corps with the support of FEA Empoli to take part in the Puliamo Empoli Cleaning Drive organised under the patronage of the city government of Empoli, province of Florence. Over 50 large sacks of garbage were collected from Empoli’s main parks and plazas. ‘Clean Empoli’ closed in…

The COVID pandemic returned in its second wave and to respond to the financial difficulty experiences by some members and their family, the chapter organised COVID-19 Financial Support to Members in Difficulty. Members to be supported were identified and received a total of Php15,000 and several sacks of rice.

In the beginning of 2021, the Order of the Knights of Rizal – Firenze Chapter supported a researcher of the University of Nottingham. Firenze Chapter Pursuivant Sir Rob Carrillo, KOR was invited to take part in an interview as part of the Cultures of Occupation in the Twentieth Century Asia (COTCA) about the Knights of Rizal and the Rizal monument….

Following the end of the first wave, there was a slight return to normalcy during summer. During this time, the chapter to part in the Fortezza da Basso Cleaning Drive in collaboration with the Honourary Consulate General of the Philippines, Florence. This was particularly special for the chapter as the Fortezza da Basso is the allotted location by the Florence…

The year 2020 was marked by the COVID pandemic. In response to this, the chapter, led by Chapter Commander Sir Dennis Reyes, KCR provided COVID-19 Community Outreach and Support to families in financial difficulty in collaboration with local organisations within Tuscany. The chapter was able to provide support to more than 100 households in difficulty due to the pandemic in…

A Visit to the Nicoli Workshop was arranged and an interview was conducted with his direct descendant, Prof. Dr. Alix Nicoli who currently runs the Nicoli workshop, now a UNESCO Messenger of Peace Centre.  Carlo Nicoli’s Al Martir de Bagumbayan originally won first place in the international design competition for Rizal’s monument. While Carlo Nicoli no longer lives, his workshop…

The Order of the Knights of Rizal sponsored the RGI Alakdan Italy Guardians Summer Sports Festival which was held on 20 Sept. 2019. This event engaged around 200 members of the Filipino community around Tuscany providing significant visibility to the Knights of Rizal. The chapter sponsored a trophy in remembrance of Rizal’s habit of always keeping fit through physical activity.

From 2019, the Philippine Embassy-Knights of Rizal Firenze Chapter Collaboration was established appointing several key members as emergency contacts for the Filipino community across Tuscany.  The Embassy requested the chapter to put forward select members to act as emergency contacts for the Filipino community in major cities in Tuscany. Four members have been identified and continue to serve as emergency…

The chapter’s first key activity for RY 2018-2021 was the Initiation, Elevation, Exaltation and Awarding Ceremony held in Siena, Italy, 9 Sept. 2018 which honoured Prof. Vasco Caini for his translations of the full works of Dr. Jose Rizal. The event also brought together members of the Filipino and Italian communities to the event.  Prof. Caini maintains the Rizal.it website,…