AMHS OFFICIAL AFFILIATION WITH NIAF: RESULTS OF THE MEMBERSHIP VOTE AT THE SEPTEMBER 18, 2016 MEETING

At the September 18 meeting, 51 (fifty-one) AMHS members voted on the Executive Committee (EC) recommendation to formally affiliate with The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) for a second consecutive year (44 members constituted a quorum). This affiliation requires an annual payment of $2,500.00.

A presentation on the proposal was made by myself; Peter Bell, Treasurer, who reported on the financial “health” of the Society; and Ray LaVerghetta, Chair of the AMHS Scholarship, who gave a perspective on the importance of formal affiliation with NIAF for the matching scholarship program. A motion was made to accept the EC recommendation by acclimation; this motion was seconded. There was no further discussion on the matter, so the membership present voted to approve formal affiliation with NIAF for a second year. As way of background, and to remind you of what this means for AMHS, being an affiliate organization of NIAF means:

• The Society commits to be a member of NIAF’s Italian American Leadership Council (IALC);

• Continued commitment to match the Society’s scholarship program, currently at $4,000.00 annually (NIAF has matched us with funds of $33,500.00 since 2007); and

• Each AMHS member is an affiliate member of NIAF.

AMHS made its payment of $2,500.00 to NIAF on October 5; we also provided NIAF with the updated contact information for every member (first name, last name, mailing address, phone number, and email address). NIAF has already updated its system. You should have received electronic notification of your NIAF membership renewal for another calendar year.

You are not responsible for renewing your membership on your own; formal affiliation with NIAF has automatically taken care of membership renewal for you. Note that everything is being done electronically; no paper copies of welcome packages will be sent to new AMHS members and existing affiliate members.

As an affiliate member of NIAF, you are entitled to certain member-only benefits. In order to learn what these are, make sure to utilize the NIAF website (www.niaf.org) and log on using the user name and password, which would have been provided to you by NIAF for those who were affiliate members in 2015. Through the members-only site, you can make changes to your profile and reset your password. Also important to note, you can download digital copies of the quarterly Ambassador Magazine NIAF does not mail hard copies of the magazine to affiliate members. Anyone with questions related to our affiliation with NIAF, please contact me, at president@abruzzomoliseheritagesociety.org, or Alex Benedetto, Senior Development Director, at abenedetto@niaf.org or by phone, (202) 939-3117.