The "mud angels" of the Marches have the young and clean face of Jonathan, Alexandra, Francesca, Michele, Matteo and many other girls and boys who took to the streets this morning to remove the disaster caused by the flood.
From Ostra to Sassoferrato, passing through Barbara and many other small towns in the Ancona area, hundreds of young people and adolescents armed themselves with boots and shovels and without fear they went to work.
The vast majority of them do not know who the "mud angels" of Florence were, so much so that they are surprised and partly pleased when they are told what happened in 1966 in Tuscany.
"It is our duty to help in these moments, our homes and our lives have been invaded by water and mud,
"We - explains a group of five young people - live in Ostra town, where there has been no damage, but here in Pianello we have many friends and therefore we thought it appropriate to come down and help them".
The splashes of mud on their faces have dried up when it is now afternoon and threatening clouds appear on the horizon.
"We do not move from here and we will be here to shovel tomorrow and in the next few days", says Alexandra who dreams of being a journalist when she grows up.
"We stay here - another boy with a blond tuft echoes from a distance - but we need to be helped, so we will never finish".
They shovel and remove mud all the time, to the point that none of them see themselves with their mobile phones: "in these moments you have to face the real reality and not that of social networks", says Luca, a teenager but with the wisdom of an adult.
Even if the tam tam of solidarity, especially among the very young, in fact, ran right on whatsapp and other chats.
The "mud angels" of the Marches are also many in their twenties and thirties who in these hours, in addition to cleaning up, are a comfort to parents and especially elderly grandparents.
A blond girl with glasses struggles to hold up an elderly lady in tears.
But among these young people there are also those who in turn need support, as in the case of a boy who for a couple of hours clung to a tree in Contrada Cave, thus avoiding being carried away by the flood.
All day he was surrounded by the affection of his friends.
The "mud angels" of the Marches, in addition to having their faces smeared, are also showing that they have such a big heart.
And the first to be proud of these young people are their parents: "They are giving a great example, there are also kids of 12-13 years old on the street, it's touching", says a young mother, while trying to dry the aprons of the six-year-old daughter, just entered first grade.
Children are the most affected by the disaster, some wandering through the dirty streets looking for the comfort of adults or the target of the cameras that have reached these affected locations.
"Maybe I'll see you on the news tonight", say two little friends, who in the meantime clean the bikes from the mud.