FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Elissa Ruffino (NIAF) 202/939-3106 or elissa@niaf.org

**Award Presentation at Cabrini College Campus**
*Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 11 a.m. at the Mansion*

(WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 14, 2010) Antonella Durante, a sophomore student at Cabrini College in Radnor Township, Pa., has received the 2010 NIAF Filomena Peloro Scholarship.

The NIAF scholarship will be presented by Joseph V. Del Raso, Esq., NIAF president and Matthew J. DiDomenico, Sr., NIAF senior executive vice president and chair of the NIAF scholarship and grants committee Dr. Marie Angelella George, president of Cabrini College, also will join the Foundation’s leadership at the award presentation at the Mansion on Cabrini College at 11 a.m. on September 16, 2010.

“NIAF has awarded $10 million in scholarships and grants across the country since its inception, including more than one million dollars in 2010,” said DiDomenico.

NIAF celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. The scholarship program has grown from four scholarships of $250 each to nearly 100 annual scholarships that range from $2,000 to $15,000 each in the humanities, medicine, business, engineering, music, Italian language and culture and other specialized fields.

Scholarship winners are selected based on academic merit and are academically outstanding, with an average GPA of 3.95. The average scholarship in the United States was more than $4,000.

In addition to NIAF’s scholarship program, this year NIAF offered assistance to Italy’s earthquake-stricken region of Abruzzo and Lago del Bosco, an Italian language and cultural immersion camp in the U.S. NIAF also sent college students to Italy’s Campania and Umbria regions to participate in the Ambassador Peter F. Secchia Voyage of Discovery program, an educational and cultural initiative, and funded university grants to Italian clubs and cultural and educational grants.

Contributors to the NIAF scholarship program include corporations, individuals and organizations across the U.S. NIAF will consider matching scholarships with other organizations. Apply online for a 2011-2012 NIAF scholarship at www.niaf.org/scholarships. Application deadline is March 4, 2011.

Students do extraordinary things at Cabrini College, a residential Catholic college welcoming learners of all faiths, cultures and backgrounds. Since its founding in 1957 by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Cabrini College has been a national leader among higher education institutions in social justice education. Cabrini offers more than 30 majors, pre-professional programs, concentrations and minors to undergraduate students, and has graduate programs at 15 off-site locations. The College’s serene 112-acre campus is located in Radnor, Pa., 30 minutes from Philadelphia.

The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., and dedicated to preserving the heritage of Italian Americans. Visit www.niaf.org.