Among the many activities of the Monteceneri Lions Club, one of the newest projects is undoubtedly "A Smile That Remains: Dolls for Hope," an initiative that combines creativity, dedication, and charity.
The dolls, entirely handmade by students at SAMS – Lugano's School of Arts and Crafts of Tailoring, are not just toys. Each is the result of painstaking and passionate work, designed to bring comfort and joy to children suffering from serious cancer. The proceeds will be donated to Childhood Cancer Switzerland and the Ronald McDonald Foundation. The project fits perfectly with the Lions' philosophy: doing concrete good, combining values of solidarity, responsibility, and care for those most vulnerable.
These dolls will be protagonists on several occasions during the Lions year 2025/2026. Among the most important events, the following stand out: Charity Night on December 19th, the Club's traditional Christmas greetings dinner, also open to non-members, at the prestigious META event space, and the evening with Paolo Ruffini on January 28th, a special dinner-show featuring the famous actor in his show “Presente”.
The value of the project goes beyond simple donations: it's an opportunity to engage the community and raise awareness among young people about urgent issues, demonstrating how teamwork, creativity, and youth commitment can transform into a concrete gesture of hope. Each doll produced represents a great act of generosity, capable of raising a smile and reminding us that caring for others is the heart of Lions' work.
Our other historical Activities are also strategic, including “Water is Life” which, in collaboration with San Clemente water, brings water to countries where it is lacking; “Photo-WeServe”, the photography competition reserved for Lions Members, now in its fourth edition, which aims to finance projects in support of global humanitarian causes and “The Cartamancer”, the engaging Burraco tournament that unites beginners and enthusiasts in a fun tournament aimed at supporting needy local organizations.
The Monteceneri Lions Club demonstrates once again how volunteering and service can be combined with creativity, culture, and social inclusion, making every member feel like a key player in tangible change. The Club's projects not only support those in need, but also strengthen the bond between members, young people, and the community, forging a meaningful path of solidarity.
Will gratitude save the economy?
Last October, the Monteceneri Lions Club organized a roundtable discussion titled "Love in the Age of Smartphones and the Spherical Economy" at the USI Aula Magna, featuring Oscar Di Montigny, Gabriele Balbi, and Massimo Cerulo. It was an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between technology, society, and the future of the economy.
Oscar Di Montigny, an expert in Innovative Marketing, Relationship Communications, and Corporate Education, addressed the topic of how gratitude can be a social technology for a regenerative economy.
There's a word we're forgetting, yet it could be the key to addressing the crises of our time: gratitude. This state of mind is often confined to the private sphere, to childhood education ("What do you say? Thank you!"), to religious rituals. It's rarely taken seriously as an economic category, as a productive factor, or as a strategic lever for social transformation. Yet, my research and experience in recent years have convinced me that gratitude isn't simply a noble sentiment, but a true social technology: a concrete, measurable, replicable tool capable of generating economic value, community cohesion, and individual well-being.
Gratitude is an awareness of interconnectedness. It's the recognition that no one made themselves, that we are all radically dependent on each other and on the ecosystem that hosts us. And this seemingly simple awareness has revolutionary consequences.
The dominant economic culture of recent decades has been based on an individualistic narrative: the self-made man, the heroic entrepreneur who triumphs against all odds, and competition as the sole law of the market. This narrative has generated enormous wealth for some, but also frightening inequality, mass loneliness, the depletion of natural resources, and social fragmentation.
Gratitude is the antidote to this toxicity. When I recognize my dependence on others, I stop seeing them as competitors to be eliminated and begin to see them as co-creators of value. Gratitude transforms economic logic: from extraction to regeneration, from competition to collaboration, from individual accumulation to shared prosperity.
But gratitude isn't just a beautiful ethical principle: it produces concrete and measurable effects on individual well-being, relationships, organizations, and communities. Dozens of scientific studies have documented that people who regularly practice gratitude are happier, have stronger relationships, suffer less from depression, sleep better, have stronger immune systems, are more resilient, and are more generous.
I've placed gratitude at the heart of the Spherical Economy® model I'm developing with the Grateful Foundation. The Spherical Economy transcends linear (production-consumption-waste) and circular (closing material cycles) paradigms, adding a third fundamental dimension: that of consciousness and spirituality.
A spherical economy recognizes the centrality of the person in his or her entirety, integrates environmental sustainability as a horizon of meaning, makes innovation a tool at the service of the common good, and is founded on absolute values such as gratitude, respect, and love.
Monteceneri Lions Club Events Program
December 2025 – February 2026
- December 12, 2025 – Charity Night “Best Wishes Dinner” – META event space
- January 01.2026 – Conference “A Smile That Remains: Dolls for Hope” with Paolo Ruffini & SAMS
- February 2, 2026 – Conference “Educating on Feelings for a Future Without Violence” – The Emotional Side of Society: Neuroscience, Crime, Social Networks, and Human Relationships” with Dr. Alberto Pellai, Dr. Roberta Bruzzone, Michael Casanova, and Prof. Benecchi – USI Aula Magna
- 02.2026 – Conference "Artificial Intelligence: A Human Factor to Fear or Embrace” with Prof. Luca Gambardella, Alessandro Marrarosa – USI Aula Magna
