FAI, search for new volunteers is a huge flop: overwhelmed by criticism, they remove posts

“Do you like to tell about the beauty of the places you love? Are you convinced that the area where you live is full of exceptional treasures that you would like to make known to others? Share your passion with us: become a volunteer for the FAI Autumn Days!”: this is the text of the post that FAI - Fondo Ambiente Italiano published last Sept. 11 at 4:30 p.m. on Facebook, promoting it, moreover, with a sponsored post. As every year, the FAI, on the occasion of its days (the Fall days, in this case, which unlike previous years will not be on a single weekend, but on two: October 17 and 18, and October 24 and 25) has in fact published the announcement for the search of volunteers who will lead their public to discover the many artistic treasures, scattered all over the peninsula, during the days.

This year, however, things did not go as FAI hoped, as the Environmental Fund was overwhelmed by criticism, mostly from cultural professionals, many of them tour guides who lost their jobs this year due to the health emergency. In just a few hours, the sponsored post racked up more than 300 comments, almost all of them strongly indignant and critical of the choices made by FAI, which continues undaunted to make use of volunteers, often inexperienced and untrained, to bring the public to the sites of the Days.

Merciless comments have therefore flowed in: those who confined themselves to a “no more volunteers,” those who recalled Article 4 of the Constitution (“The Republic recognizes the right of all citizens to work and promotes the conditions that make this right effective”), those who recalled that at the supermarket, dentist or gas station workers are paid, those who pointed out that at this time when so many guides are suffering it is inappropriate to look for volunteers, those who took it out on the organization directly (“Once again FAI proves itself blind and deaf to professionals in the tourism and cultural sector by promoting the free work done by volunteers”), those who branded their volunteering as “modern slavery,” and many who made it known that they would not renew their FAI membership.

Eventually, FAI, around 9 a.m. this morning, removed the post, without explanation. This is an unprecedented situation: as much as FAI’s choices have been much criticized in the past, never, at least to our recollection, had one of their posts received such an overwhelming avalanche of negative comments, and never had FAI been forced to remove a post from its Facebook wall. So now the question arises as to whether the Fall Days scheduled for mid-October will be able to take place regularly, and more importantly, whether FAI, given the beating it has taken, will decide to change its patterns.

Pictured is the post submerged in criticism.

FAI, search for new volunteers is a huge flop: overwhelmed by criticism, they remove posts

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