LETTER: A Reminder Of What The Italian American Community Has Given To Wilmington Over The Years

Dear Editor,

With all this talk about Italian Americanism and Columbus Day and the Wilmington school calendar, I think it’s important that we look at what Wilmington means to the Italian American community and what the Italian American community means to Wilmington. The Italian American community of Wilmington, including the Sons and Daughters of Italy, has been dedicated to the Town of Wilmington, and more importantly, to the school system that educates our children.

Through the years, The Sons and Daughters of Italy have donated the money for two parks and playground equipment, a pavilion at the Yentile Recreation facility, a police cruiser, and a thermal imaging camera for the fire department. We have supported high school theatre productions and have worked closely with the band parents and supplied band uniforms. We have sponsored sporting events, including subsidizing the wrestling tournament. Team uniforms for all high school sports is provided to the school on a rotating basis. Also, high tech sport scoreboards have also been donated to the schools by the Sons of and Daughters of Italy.

We, The Sons and Daughters of Italy, also believe that we should help those in our community who have fallen on hard times. We donate quarterly to the Wilmington Food Bank. During the holiday seasons, we have an outreach program which works with the community churches to provide financial assistance to those who are most needy at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also, at Thanksgiving we provide gift cards from the supermarket to the local veteran’s organization. We have also contributed to the iPods for wounded veterans.

All this has been done because The Sons and Daughters of Italy believe that community involvement enriches everyone, and that it really does take a village, for this community to continue to be vibrant, active, and welcoming to all.

Lennie Malvone