OSIA GRAND LODGE OF PENNSYLVANIA

GRAND LODGE OF PENNSYLVANIA

The Curtis Center - 601 Walnut Street
Suite 718
Philadelphia, PA 19106

(215) 592-1713
FAX (215) 592-9152
General email: info@sonsofitalypa.com

Established in 1905, the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA) is the largest organization in the United States representing Americans of Italian heritage. It has more than 575,000 members and supporters in a network of 700 chapters coast to coast.

The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania is the largest state chapter of OSIA and is home to 150 local chapters and 115,000 members and supporters.
OSIA works at the community, national and international levels to promote the heritage and culture of an estimated 26 million Americans of Italian heritage, the nation's fifth largest ethnic group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In 1979, the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania created the Dante Foundation, later changed to the Charitable and Education (C & E) Trust, to operate exclusively for the charitable, literary and educational purposes of the Order. The Trust has continuously qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code allowing donors to deduct their contributions made to the Trust. Since 1979 the Trust has carried out numerous cultural, educational and philanthropic endeavors as a direct result from the proceeds earned at the Annual Purple Aster Awards Ball.

Scholarships

The Dante Commission on Education, through the C & E trust, conducts an extensive scholarship program throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Each year the Commission awards more than $100,000 in scholarships to college bound high school seniors and eighth grade students entering private or parochial high schools.

Charities

The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania is the forefront of all other state lodges of the order Sons of Italy in fund raising. The C & E Trust has been able to send thousands of dollars annually to such charities as the Alzheimer's Foundation, the Cooley's Anemia Foundation and through our local lodges, the American Heart Association, American Cancer society, and many more.

The Sons of Italy Foundation (SIF) is the philanthropic arm of the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), the oldest and largest organization for men and women of Italian heritage in the United States.

The SIF was founded in 1959 as a private, grant-making institution with the purpose of preserving Italian American culture, encouraging educational excellence among Italian Americans and improving lives in other areas.