by Italian Cultural Society of Washington, DC

Dear ICS Friends, Thank you to everyone for making the second charity dinner - "Amatriciana with Love, a future for Central Italy" an unforgettable evening! Thank you for your donations to the Italian Red Cross - earthquake victims. Many influential European and American friends gathered to savor a superb Amatriciana pasta (8 kilos of it, in fact), and tons of other typical Italian specialties prepared by the organizers and the participants from the US-ItalyGlobal Affairs forum, the Italian Cultural Society, SAIS Johns Hopkins University, COMITES. A special thanks goes also to the sponsors: Birra Norcia, Illy, Slow Food, Libera Terra, Pecorino Romano, Lenticchie Castelluccio di Norcia IGP, Krumiri.

The purpose was to collect money for the Italian Red Cross for the recent earthquake in Central Italy (Amatrice, Norcia, Visso, Arquata del Toronto). The organizers (Nina Gardner Olivieri, HOST of this event, Daniele Moro, Francesca Casazza, Maura Guida Maffia, Chiara Gastaldi and Susan High), the attendees, and a few generous donors who were unable to join the fun, contributed $4,220. 

On Monday, we will wire transfer of the full amount to the Italian Red Cross. We will let you know the final amount raised. We are trying to reach $5000 so, if you have not donated yet – or had such a good time that you would consider contributing more - please do so! Any additional donations over $100 will receive Maura's fantastic Amatriciana sauce recipe!!! (Maura Guida Maffia, cooking instructor at the ICS/Italian Language Program and caterer, was the main volunteer chef for the event). Please know that all donors will receive a tax-deductible acknowledgement letter. Feel free to share your pictures of the event with us! We will post them on our website and social networks.

Pictures of the event can be viewed at http://www.italianculturalsociety.org/past-events/ and http://usitalyforum.com/upc oming-events

Best regards,

The organizers of "Amatriciana with Love"