Urgent: Help this family from losing their home & livelihood

Dear Supporter,

Imagine a bailiff arriving at your gate, telling you that you had little time to find and pay €150,000 or you and your family would be evicted from your home, farm and agritourism business. Imagine finding out that an entire lifetime of work, three generations of family history, a piece of paradise you had invested in, designed and created from scratch with unwavering vision and determination, litres of sweat, nights of lost sleep, tears, and pure joy, would all be taken away from you unless you paid in full. Your family would be left with nowhere else to go and no means to make a living. Just like that.

This is the desperate situation my dear friends Calogero and Michelle, the owners of Feudo Muxarello agriturismo, are currently in. It's a situation brought about by the financial hardships they first experienced during the COVID pandemic, a situation that could happen to anyone. Between them they have ten children, six of who still live with them, the youngest of who are only 2 and 4 years old. Unless they find €150,000, by late July they will be homeless and unemployed. Their offer to repay in instalments has been rejected and they are trying their best to resolve the situation, but time is running out.

My husband and I lived with them at Feudo Muxarello, for five years and were welcomed into their home as part of their Sicilian family. We can’t just sit back and watch this heart-breaking situation unfold. So, we have started this fundraiser with the hope we can find a lender with a big heart who has the financial means to offer them a loan (with a return on investment) to save Feudo Muxarello before it's too late.

Alternatively, there is power in the many. If I share this post with 100 of my contacts who each donate €15, and if in turn if each of you who read this have the means to make a €15 donation and share this post with 100 of your own family and friends who also each donate €15 then we would collect the €150,000 required to save their home. So if you could do this for us, we would be eternally grateful!

And for anyone reading this who is in a position to offer them a loan (as per your conditions) please read on to learn more about the magical place that is Feudo Muxarello, how they ended up in this difficult financial predicament, and how your support could help to create the miracle they’ve been praying for.

Feudo Muxarello is their home...

This is where Calogero’s grandfather and, in his footsteps, father have ploughed the fields year after year. This is where Calogero first met a smiling angel, Michelle, the love of his life. This is where Calogero’s six uniquely beautiful children were born and raised. Where he watched Laura, his oldest daughter, take her first steps and fall. Where their youngest Elisa, recently learnt to crawl, then run. Where Calogero taught his only son Leonardo how to ride a tractor. Where three generations of Calogero’s family have planted, nurtured and harvested plantations of olives, grapes and tomatoes to make their golden-green virgin olive oil, natural wines and famous passata. Where every morning Calogero’s father races the sun to rise in order to milk his goats. Where Calogero’s mother taught them how to transform this silky elixir into fresh cheese and ricotta. Where Calogero and Michelle have made love under a canopy of almond blossom. Where they’ve foraged for wild asparagus and fennel with extended family and a troop of lively Jack Russells. Where they’ve nursed their babies to sleep under the captivating beauty of another fuchsia-red sunset sky. Where they want to grow old and die.

Feudo Muxarello is their livelihood...

This is where 40 hectares of fertile rolling hills form the backdrop of what Calogero and Michelle’s guests have told them is one of the most magical, authentic and friendly agriturismos they have ever visited. 8 lovingly crafted bedrooms, with Platani valley and Mount Cammarata views. This is their sole financial means of supporting their large family. Not only this, but the materialisation of Calogero’s passion to create a stunning and intimate setting for guests to connect with nature and each other. To contemplate. Appreciate. Relax. To chat and joke together. To celebrate both diversity and shared human values. This is where their family, staff and guests have often feasted together at one long table, savouring their farms bounty, lovingly turned into traditional Sicilian delicacies, under a star littered sky. This is where they’ve shared stories and tears and danced the Sicilian Tarantella barefoot on the lawn. Where they’ve listened to the wisdom of Sicilian parables told with charisma and humour by Calogero’s father. Where everyone has laughed so hard their stomachs have hurt. Where they’ve forged lifelong friendships with happy guests from around the world, who have taught them that differences in race, class or sexuality cannot create barriers to true connection.

Feudo Muxarello is a part of them...

Thanks to Feudo Muxarello, Calogero and Michelle live a simple yet extraordinary life, grateful to have a family, friendships, home, farm and business they care about and love so deeply. A natural optimist and hard-worker, Calogero has always gone the extra mile and believed in himself and the lifelong dream he has created at Feudo Muxarello. Indeed, to him it is an evolving dream, with every new season, harvest, check-in and addition to the family.

Feudo Muxarello is a truly magical place he was determined to realise to proudly share and celebrate his Sicilian culture with the world. A culture based on humble rural-based traditions; a seasonal, flavoursome cuisine; a fierce, jovial spirit; and genuine unprejudiced hospitality. I once heard him tell a Spanish guest - an astronomer by profession - that even if an extraterrestrial arrived here and parked his UFO in his carpark that he would treat the alien like every other guest, with open arms and an open mind, a glass of homemade wine and a big serving of fresh pasta. In turn the guests themselves have taught Calogero and Michelle just as much about life and love from their own respective cultures and lived experiences.

Feudo Muxarello is in trouble...

Raised by two hardworking, amazing and unconditionally loving parents, Calogero has always tried to live by his parents principles, and with age, his own. Feudo Muxarello is symbolic of these values. Calogero has always tried to do what is right in his heart. He is no pushover, nor afraid to speak his mind, but at heart he is giving and kind. Regardless his family find themselves in this difficult situation.

Many years ago when Calogero decided to realise his dream to build and create Feudo Muxarello, as a modest farmer he did not have all the funding he needed. During a 5 year period of construction and renovation he applied for and successfully received funding that the region of Sicily was then providing to invest in rural areas. Some of this funding needed to be repaid.

For ten continuous years Calogero made regular and punctual repayments. And then COVID struck and the tourism sector in Sicily collapsed. Although tourism is slowly returning to normal, for a long period Calogero and Michelle were left incomeless without any help from the government. During this time Calogero continued to provide for his family as best he could and keep his business afloat, but inevitably, without an income, he fell behind on some repayments, which he is only now recuperating. However, it is too late.

Recently the unthinkable happened. Calogero found a bailiff outside his gate with an ultimatum: either he pay €150,000 by the end of July, or Feudo Muxarello would be taken away and he and his family would be evicted with no house, no farm, no business, nowhere to go and no means to earn a living. As Calogero does not have such funds he offered his unequivocal compliance to repay the €150,000 in regular instalments. Tragically, the bailiff, and the public servants he has since telephoned, will just not listen.

Not only is Feudo Muxarello financially worth more than €150,000; it has precious non-monetary value that a public official “just doing their job” would never understand. To them Calogero is just an anonymous face in a system and his agritourism business no more than a material acquisition. To Calogero it’s not only his only financial means of supporting his family, but full of all the beautiful memories and aspects I’ve described. Having lived with them, I know that Feudo Muxarello leaves an impression on all who truly experience it. It’s a part of our hearts and soul as much as it is theirs.

Feudo Muxarello needs your help...

With their repayment deadline looming, we are all praying for a miracle. Although they are in desperate need of financial assistance they do not want anyone to experience hardship at their expense. For this reason, via this post, I am ideally looking for a lender with compassion and a big heart to help them. Someone who believes in Feudo Muxarello and understands the needs of a family. Someone with the financial means to offer them a €150,000 loan as per the repayment timeframe, requirements and interest stipulated by the lender. Alternatively if 10,000 people each donate €15 then we will raise the €150,000 they need.

Time is short. If you are not able to offer them a loan nor donate I kindly ask you to share this letter with anyone you can think of that could help. With the looming possibility that they may soon be homeless with no means to survive, this is the most difficult challenge they have ever faced.

I do believe in the goodness of mankind though, and through the six degrees of separation that unite the world I trust that this e-mail will be seen by whoever is meant to see it.

If you are interested in finding out more about Feudo Muxarello, or if you want to ask a question or discuss the possibility of offering them a loan then please contact me via GoFundMe.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Chrissy