Sons of Italy Foundation to Honor Italian American Leaders at May Gala in D.C.
Press
Contact: Kylie Cafiero, (202) 547-2900 kcafiero@osia.org
 WASHINGTON, D.C. - February
25, 2005
The
Sons of Italy Foundation (SIF), a premier Italian
American philanthropic organization, will honor
four Italian Americans who have excelled in their
respective fields at the SIF’s 17th annual National Education & Leadership
Awards (NELA) Gala, May 26, 2005, at the Omni Shoreham
Hotel in Washington, D.C.
The SIF is the philanthropic
arm of the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA),
the nation’s oldest and largest national organization for
people of Italian heritage. Over the years, the SIF
has contributed nearly $89 million to medical research,
disaster relief, and scholarships. The NELA Gala proceeds
help fund these philanthropic programs. This year’s
honorees are:
• Dana
Gioia, the chairman of the National Endowment
for the Arts (NEA), will receive the SIF 2005 NELA
award. An internationally acclaimed poet, critic,
and translator, Gioia was nominated by President
George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the
U.S. Senate as NEA chairman in 2003. The NEA is
an independent agency of the federal government
that funds the arts and art education.
• Karen
Ignagni, president and chief executive officer
of America’s Health Insurance
Plans (AHIP), will receive the SIF 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award
for Excellence in Association Management. AHIP members
provide insurance to cover health care, long-term
care, dental and disability to more than 200
million Americans.
• Joseph Battipaglia, chief investment officer,
Ryan Beck & Co., LLC, will be
recognized with the SIF 2005 Special Excellence in Business Award.
An expert on investment policy, Battipaglia heads
Washington Crossing Advisors, an investment advisory
program offered by Ryan Beck.
• Joseph G. Procacci, chief executive
officer, Procacci Brothers Sales Corporation, will receive the OSIA/SIF 2005
Centennial Award. Like the Sons of Italy, which was founded in 1905, the
Procacci legacy began in the early 1900’s when,
as Italian immigrants, they sold produce from push carts. Today, Procacci
Brothers Corp. supplies the supermarket industry with a full line of fresh
repacked and private labeled fruits and vegetables from around the world.
Also
honored at the SIF gala will be the 2005 NELA Scholarship
winners. Every year the SIF scholarship program helps
outstanding young Italian American men and women
attend Harvard, Princeton and other top colleges
and universities.
Past NELA honorees include U.S.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, entertainer
Tony Bennett, AIDS researcher Anthony Fauci, breast cancer activist Fran
Visco, numerous corporate CEOs, labor leaders and sports figures.
For the second
time, actor Joe Mantegna returns as
the evening's master of ceremonies. Mantegna can currently
be seen in the weekly television series
Joan of Arcadia and in the sleeper hit movie, Uncle
Nino, which opened nationally
earlier this month.
About 1,000 guests attend the annual NELA black tie gala,
including Cabinet officers, Members of Congress, business
leaders and celebrities. The 2004 NELA Gala saw the
attendance of President George W. Bush and Italy’s
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. It marked the first
time a sitting U.S. president and a prime minister
of Italy attended a major non-profit event in America
together.
For more information on the SIF 2005 NELA
Gala, call 202/547-2900 or email: nelagala@osia.org.
Web site: www.osia.org.
Established in 1905, OSIA has a network of more than 700 chapters coast to coast. OSIA works at the community, national and international levels to promote the heritage and culture of an estimated 26 million Italian Americans, the nation's fifth largest ethnic group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. To learn more, visit OSIA on the Web at www.osia.org.
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