Dear friends, first of all: happy Italian Heritage Month! I am writing this editorial excited by the fact that after three very long years, in a few days I will finally be back in the US. I will be in Washington DC for events, meeting and presentations, If you will be able to be in Washington DC on October 29 at 10.30 AM at the NIAF Gala Forum, or in New York on November 1 at 6 PM at the Columbus Citizens Foundation, I’ll be very happy to meet and greet you! I will tell you everything in next month editorial. Can’t wait!

At the beginning of October We the Italians participated in two events here in Rome. On October 3, Letizia La Sorte, our event coordinator, and I greeted friends from OSDIA, Order Sons and Daughters of Italy, who were visiting our city as guests of our friend Carmelo Cutuli, President of the Rome Chapter of OSDIA. During the Roman event, two other Italian Chapters, based in Sicily, were inaugurated.

On the day after Love Italy, the wonderful charity initiative that helps Italian art thanks to donations from so many American friends, organized a beautiful reception in which We the Italians was a partner. It was a wonderful evening of joy and fun. It also raised over €1,200 for the restoration of the Confraternity Statues in Gallipoli, bringing the campaign closer to its end goal. The evening also brought a generous donation of €5,000 to ensure the restoration of the Frate Elia Aedicula in Assisi, from Heidi Kuhn, CEO of Roots of Peace.

A few days later I had the pleasure of being a guest again at my friends at the Italian American Podcast, with whom I tried to describe the results of the Italian elections and explain what the institutional steps would be that would lead to the formation of the government. It is always a pleasure to talk with John Viola and Patrick O'Boyle: if you are interested in the episode, you can find it here.

Finally, the great and beautiful Amy Riolo stopped by Rome. Together we reasoned about a project that we would like to propose to the Italian institutions when the new government will be in place. It is about Italian food and Italian-American cuisine, and if we succeed in realizing it, it will be something that will change forever (for the better!) the collaboration between Italy and the United States from the culinary point of view. We will keep you updated!

Let me remember you the yearbook of We the Italians is available with the 24 interviews of the past year, both in Italian and English. This is our eighth book: one in English, one in Italian, and six yearbooks like this one, in two languages. In this first month the edition of 2021 has sold much more than the editions of previous years in their first months of release, and this makes me very happy because it rewards the work of all of us. I hope more of you will want to purchase the volume, which you can preview and buy here.

Please don’t forget our virtual store, the perfect place where to buy gifts for your family, your friends and – why not – for yourself! You can find more than 20 products in different colors: t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, onesies, mugs, notebooks, pillows, totes, tapestries, pins, laptop and smartphone cases, magnets, stickers, masks. Buy We the Italians!

It’s all for this month, please stay safe and take care. Ciao from Rome