In the accompanying Letter, Italic Institute is challenging the "Columbus Citizens Foundation" straying from it's stated Mission, of Preservation of Italian heritage. In it's 1982 Corporate Filing, it's Tax Exempt Status, as reflected by their Annual IRS Form 990. 

While the "Columbus Citizens Foundation" is supposedly committed to promoting the Italian heritage (estimated at 7% of income), they are nowhere near the funds spent for general charitable giving (estimated at 49%). As an example, in 2003, the Foundation gave $284,856 to the Intrepid Museum, a non-Italic entity. But how much has the Foundation given to, say, the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum in Staten Island, which had a $40,000 deficit last year? 

Perhaps the CCF website is closer to your actual mission when it states that the Foundation "disbursed more than $12 million in scholarships, and gifts to charitable organizations and worthy causes, irrespective of race, religion or nationality." This is similar to a Rotary Club mission. It bears little relation to the CCF professed mission. 

I have long respected the "Italic Institute", and their Dual Mission of  (1) Fighting Negative Stereotyping, and (2) Educating Italian Youth to their Rich Italian Heritage and the Italian American Experience. I had spirited debates with them because I felt that since NIAF, SOIA, or UNICO seemed so impotent, that with their Accurate Focus, they needed to expand their efforts, and long ago URGED utilizing the Internet to a greater degree, their becoming National.

I endorse the complaint of the Italic Institute !!!!!!

Dear Mr. Fusco:
Thank you for your open response to our press release. Those who will monitor this exchange will hopefully have a better idea of the goals and methods we are each employing in pursuit of preserving our common heritage. We are well aware of the generosity of the Foundation and the membership of the Columbus Club.
Our complaint to the Charities Bureau came after some years of appealing to the Foundation for grant money for our *Aurora Heritage Program*. We appealed to your predecessors and were treated with absolute silence bordering on disdain. In a final appeal dated 3 June 2009 we advised the leadership, in writing, of our belief that the CCF could better comply with its corporate mission to conform with Charities Bureau and IRS requirements. Again, we were ignored. So, here we are.
Your letter to us broke no new ground. All the acts of your generosity are well documented on your website. That the Foundation has been extremely generous and has been in the forefront of Italian American affairs in the Metropolitan area are undeniable. The problem, as we see it, is a profound gap between what your corporate mission is (as stated in your 1982 corporate filing as well as your annual IRS Form 990) and what you and your board believe it to be. The public can gauge how closely you adhere to your founding mission by the amount of money you apply toward it. This is why all non-profits file a Form 990.
Although the Foundation has clearly spent funds on promoting the Italian heritage (we estimate 7% of income), they are nowhere near the funds spent for general charitable giving (est. 49%). As an example, in 2003, the Foundation gave $284,856 to the Intrepid Museum, a non-Italic entity. But how much has the Foundation given to, say, the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum in Staten Island, which had a $40,000 deficit last year? Perhaps your website is closer to your actual mission when it states that the Foundation "disbursed more than $12 million in scholarships, and gifts to charitable organizations and worthy causes, irrespective of race, religion or nationality." This is similar to a Rotary Club mission. It bears little relation to your professed Italian heritage mission.
Our own *Aurora Heritage Program*, which has introduced some 4,000 local youngsters to Italian language and history, has not been a recipient of any of the $12 million. In fact, we have had to forfeit $42,000 in state and city grants and close 12 sites because your predecessors refused to help our Program with as little as $5,000 to cover cash flow problems. There is a very good reason why the Advanced Placement tests are in jeopardy with only 2,000 students applying for them nationwide. With a population between 16 and 25 million souls our community could surely produce the required 5,000 or 10,000 test takers, if we had an infrastructure of language preparation like *Aurora*. Sadly, your policy of charitable giving is a classic case of the cobbler's family going without shoes.
I might add that we too receive heartwarming letters from *Aurora *students, parents, Italian teachers and school principals. The difference is they are thanking us for the gift of heritage not cash. It is doubtful that a 20-minute "Italian" pep-talk to teenaged and pre-teen scholarship winners by the Foundation president is comparable to 24 days of heritage training in *Aurora*.
Your patriotic explanation of the Millennium High School donation overlooked a political component in that your chairman at the time was also the head of New York's Empire State Development Corporation. This high school was not a new building but only three floors in a pre-existing structure. If you visit the Millennium High School website you will see that your Foundation's $1 million gift is not even noted. Moreover, the student body is overwhelmingly non-Italic and the only foreign languages offered are Mandarin and Spanish. Interestingly, while the Foundation was patriotically helping the city renovate Millennium High School, the Jewish community was adding 82,000 square feet to its Museum of Jewish Heritage a few blocks away. The other day I visited that massive structure to find student groups of all ethnic backgrounds learning of Jewish contributions and the Holocaust.
Your 'Better-American-than-thou' tone was noted in defending the Foundation's non-Italic donations. It echoes the fearful tone of the Foundation's first corporate filing in 1944. At that time, all Italian American organizations were suspect. Your mission statement, then, didn't even contain the words "Italian heritage." Instead it spoke of Columbus and a mission "to inculcate and indoctrinate in its members the highest ideas, ideals and conceptions of Americanism." That document specifically used the word "scholarships." In 1982, the Foundation *revised* its corporate filing and proudly changed its mission to "promoting the Italian culture and heritage." *The very word "scholarships" was deleted.* Mr. Fusco, your Foundation's mission today bears more resemblance to that of 1944 than of 1982.
We can cite many cases of the Foundation's "benign neglect" of the community's infrastructure. To our knowledge only the parochial school system can depend on your annual support, to the tune of an estimated $7 million in elementary and high school scholarships since 2001. It seems that any *non-Italic* solicitation finds a welcome on 69th Street while Italian American activists are ignored. By 2004, the Foundation had discontinued any meaningful heritage funding to community activities.
In closing, we cannot merely agree to disagree with the Foundation's charitable road to heritage preservation. However well intentioned, your approach is neither focused nor efficacious. If, as you say, the annual parade is a drain on your resources then we urge you to pass the baton. Better still, convene a summit of community leaders to discuss a new direction in achieving our common goals. With the 150th anniversary of Italy's reunification coming in 2011, it would be appropriate that we reunify our community.
Sincerely,
John Mancini, Chairman, Council of Governors
Italic Institute of America http://www.italic.org/
Guardian of the Italian Heritage 
P.O. Box 818, Floral Park, NY 11001 
 

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