OSIA Elects National Officers
September 11, 2009 – The Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), a major supporter of the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, elected a new slate of national officers, headed by Joseph Di Trapani of New York, during its 51st Biennial National Convention in San Diego, Calif., August 9-15.
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Mr. Di Trapani, senior vice president of sales for insurance brokerage agency Professional Group Marketing, Inc., was sworn in as OSIA’s 33rd national president on August 15, succeeding Alfred Affinito of California.
Vincent Sarno of New Jersey, who served as OSIA National President from 2005-2007, was elected to lead the Sons of Italy Foundation (SIF), OSIA’s philanthropic branch. Established in 1959, the SIF this year celebrates 50 years of philanthropy and more than $105 million given to education, medical research, disaster relief, cultural preservation and other special projects.
Santina Haemmerle of New York was chosen as president of the Commission for Social Justice (CSJ), OSIA’s anti-defamation branch. The CSJ fights the stereotyping of Italian Americans by the U.S. entertainment, advertising, and media industries. It also collaborates with other groups to ensure that people of all races, religions and cultures are treated with dignity and respect.
More than 300 OSIA national officers and trustees, state presidents, national delegates, and their guests were present to review OSIA’s last two years of activities, elect the new national leaders and set the organization’s cultural, philanthropic and administrative agendas for 2009-2011.
During the convention, OSIA lodges announced they had raised $600,000 for the Order’s main charities: the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, the Alzheimer’s Association, and L’Aquila Earthquake Relief Fund. The money was raised by members and their lodges over the past two years.
Established in 1905, OSIA has more than 500,000 family members and supporters and a network of more than 650 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 www.osia.org.