UNICO plans Brian Piccolo Award scholar-athlete event Nov. 13
Members of UNICO Delaware District 1, which includes both Southern Delaware and Maryland chapters, took a break in a community service project at St. Edmond Church Aug. 10 to plan the 4th Annual Brian Piccolo Award event.
This award is earned each year by a high school senior athlete of Italian origin in good academic standing. He or she is nominated by the athletic director or coach and receives this honor from UNICO National, awarded across the country in chapters chartered in more than 35 states in the U.S. A donation of $1,000 is given to the high school athletic department of the recipient who strongly exhibits the character traits modeled by Brian Piccolo, former running back for the Chicago Bears: courage, friendship, loyalty, teamwork, dedication, sense of humor and anti-bias, to be shared by fellow teammates.
The winner will receive a specially engraved plaque and, along with all other nominees, gift bags worth over $200 and the privilege of including this honor on an application for higher education or employment.
This is one of the many events being planned by officers and volunteers of UNICO – the largest Italian-American Service Organization in the U.S. In addition to community service projects, there are events to raise funds for local and national charities, and others to promote Italian heritage and culture: a yearly bocce tournament, Opera at the Beach, St. Joseph's Day Table (to provide freshly blessed bread and nonperishables to local food shelters), Italian film night, Cooley's Anemia Walk-a-thon, Italian language lessons and more.
The chapters hold monthly meetings from September to June. For more information on UNICO, contact District Governor Maria Teresa Morrison at mtmbeach@comcast.net.
