To celebrate Italian-American Heritage Month, Vincent Vaccaro will present “History of Lorenzo’s,” on at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28 at the Branigan Cultural Center, 501 N. Main St.  The family-owned-and-operated business started at the apron strings of their Mama Gina. Vaccaro and his sister Mary Ostland, owners of Lorenzo’s Italian Restaurant, remember dodging rows of drying pasta in their kitchen and baking endless rows of Italian cookies. Food was always the center of their family gatherings. Now, with 46 years of combined restaurant experience, their family dishes are made available for the community of Las Cruces.

Vaccaro and his family believe in helping the community. Just recently he and others donated clothes, food, and money to relief efforts for Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas. Earlier this year, he teamed up with three other Las Cruces restaurants and raised $800 for Aggie Cupboard, a food pantry that provides bags of non-perishable food items to students and employees at several NMSU campuses.