For immediate release: July 23, 2007

Contact:  Emily Wofford Cobb
Communications Manager
775-784-6006
ecobb@medicine.nevada.edu

Order of Sons of Italy in America donates $1,000 to

School of Medicine’s Savitt Medical Library

Reno and Sparks lodges donate annually to library for birth defect research materials

RENO, Nev.—Each year two local lodges from the Order of Sons of Italy in America make a significant financial contribution to the University of Nevada School of Medicine Savitt Medical Library.  The Giuseppe Verdi Lodge in Sparks and the Christopher Columbus Lodge in Reno each made a $500 donation to the library to support the purchase of birth defect research materials.

Bob and Mary Jane Filippi and Suraj Zutshi from the Reno chapter and John and Shirley Menicucci from the Sparks chapter made this year’s check presentation to Jim Curtis, Director of the Savitt Medical Library.

The local Sons of Italy chapters have been contributing to the Savitt Medical Library since 1979.  At that time, the local chapters joined other Sons of Italy orders in contributing to the organization’s Birth Defects Library Program which was originally started to further research of Cooley’s Anemia, a fatal blood disorder that affects peoples of Mediterranean descent.  The purpose of the Birth Defects Library Program is to provide funding to major medical schools for research materials on pediatric genetic birth defects and other related topics.  The research materials are essential for faculty and students to learn about, research and treat genetic birth defects.

“We are proud to make this donation each year,” the group agrees.  “We hope our contributions to the Savitt library help the School’s medical students learn more about the cause of birth defects and help lead to better outcomes for their future patients.”

              In order to raise funds for the Birth Defects Library Program, each lodge holds an annual dinner banquet.  The Reno Lodge hosts the Festa Prima Vera in the spring while the Sparks Lodge celebrates a Columbus Day dinner in October.  Proceeds raised from each event go toward the donation to the Savitt Medical Library in addition to funding local high school scholarships.

The Reno and Sparks Sons of Italy lodges are governed by the Grand Lodge of California.  Since 1974, all lodges governed by the California Grand Lodge have distributed more than $400,000 to nine major medical schools in support of their Birth Defects Library Program.  To date, the Christopher Columbus Lodge and Giuseppe Verdi Lodge have contributed more than $32,000 to the Savitt Medical Library.

“The Savitt Medical Library is honored to receive funding from the Sons of Italy,” says Curtis.  “We appreciate the hard work they put in raising the funds and hope to continue our relationship with the group well into the future.”

With two lodges in the Reno / Sparks community, the Sons of Italy originally started in 1905 in New York as a social group for male Italian immigrants to assimilate culturally and learn the English language.  There are now more than 600,000 male and female members and more than 750 chapters throughout all 50 states.  The national organization is dedicated to many social causes including the research of genetic diseases and birth defects.  For more information on the Order of Sons of Italy of America please visit http://www.osia.org/.

As the state’s only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been meeting statewide healthcare, educational, and clinical needs since 1969.  The School of Medicine encompasses 16 clinical medical education departments, including Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, as well as ten nationally-recognized departments within basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering.  As the largest multi-specialty healthcare focus within the state, the School of Medicine employs more than 185 doctors who both teach and practice medicine throughout Nevada.  The school’s statewide faculty physician practice group has a combined 25 different medical specialties with seven physician practice offices located in the Reno-Sparks area and five physician offices located in Las Vegas.

The University of Nevada School of Medicine utilizes a best-practice approach to medicine and is committed to addressing the health needs of Nevada now and in the future. For more information, please visit www.medicine.nevada.edu.

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