About The Columbus Citizens Foundation

The Columbus Citizens Foundation is a non-profit organization in New York City committed to fostering an appreciation of Italian-American heritage and achievement.  The Foundation, through a broad range of philanthropic and cultural activities, provides opportunities for advancement to deserving Italian-American students through various scholarship and grant programs. The Foundation organizes New York City's annual Columbus Celebration and Columbus Day Parade, which has celebrated Italian-American heritage on New York's Fifth Avenue since 1929.

The Foundation is made up of over 570 members who are of Italian ancestry and are grateful for the opportunities their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents found as immigrants to the United States. The Foundation’s members are proud of their heritage and their American citizenship. They are committed to improving the lives of Italian-American students, and their families, by providing scholarship funding that will help the students develop the skills and tools needed to succeed in life.

The Foundation’s most public activity each year is organizing New York City’s Columbus Celebration, including the Columbus Day Parade, which is the largest celebration of Christopher Columbus’s historic voyage and of Italian-American heritage and achievement in the world. The celebration is organized by the Foundation’s members on a strictly volunteer basis. Over 60 people donate their time and expertise to help create exhibitions in Grand Central Terminal, the Foundation’s Annual Gala Dinner at the Waldorf≈Astoria Hotel, the annual wreath laying at Columbus Circle, the Columbus Day Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the Columbus Day Parade on Fifth Avenue.

The Columbus Celebration is a series of events that celebrate the culture and traditions of Italy, both abroad and in the United States, and it is a fundraising initiative that benefits the Foundation’s scholarship programs. All net proceeds from Columbus Celebration Sponsorships go towards the Foundation’s scholarship funds.