ACHIEVEMENT
The Italian Welfare League is one of New York’s oldest Italian charities. Proudly, we celebrated our 100th anniversary in 2020 where it all began on Ellis Island.
​
Babies born aboard ships arriving from Italy on their way to the United States during the 1920’s, were greeted at the piers with a bassinet and enough clothes for a year. These items were distributed to the infants and incoming immigrants and were assisted at a desk on Ellis Island – run by the Italian Welfare League. In nine decades, this charitable organization has gone from helping Italian immigrants on the New York City piers to assisting children of Italian descent who have medical problems or are suffering from emotional trauma. These youngsters are affectionately called, “I Nostri Bambini” and have been adopted into the League’s family of caring members and supporters.
Since the year 2001, the League has raised and donated approximately $3,000,000 to its growing family of Bambini. In addition to individual cases, grants have been made to, for example:
-
Helping Hands Behavioral Outreach (Old Bethpage, NY)
-
Assn. for Children with Down Syndrome (Plainview, NY)
-
Children’s Skin Disease Foundation (Walnut Creek, CA)
-
Circle of Care
-
Cooley’s Anemia (New York, NY)
-
Rocking Horse Rehabilitation (W.Orange, NJ)
-
Adults and children with Learning & Developmental Disabilities (Bay Shore, NY)
-
Special Strides (Monroe Township, NJ)
-
Alpine Learning Center (Paramus, NJ)
-
Dancing Dreams (Bay Shore, NY)
-
Angela’s House (Hauppauge, NY)
-
Shooting Stars Gymnastics (Wycott, NJ)
-
Autism Think Tank (Warren, NJ)
-
Catholic Charities (New York, NY)
-
Developmental Disabilities Institute (Smithtown, NY)
-
Yellow Boots Long Term Recovery (Staten Island, NY)
-
Speech Language Pathology in Motion
These are small steps in a big world. The League cares about these “Bambini” and hopes you do too and are willing to support its mission.