Of all the organizations and groups that make up the community in Carbondale, none are quite so visible or quite so busy as UNICO. UNICO as a whole found its beginnings in Connecticut in 1922. The mission was to have an Italian American organization that could provide their service to charitable causes, support students pursuing higher education, a perform patriotic deeds.

UNICO is the largest Italian-American service organization in the United States. Unico in Italian means “unique,” but the acronym also stands for unity, neighborliness, integrity, charity and opportunity. The Carbondale chapter of UNICO has embraced this mission statement since they were chartered May 12, 1959 with 48 members. Now, thanks to increased interest in recent years, the group has grown to 63 members.