Two places to start looking for scholarships and grants specifically made for Italian-Americans are The Italian Cultural Institutes of New York City, and again the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF). These organizations have been helping students for years and I think they will be a great resource to you.

Also, I am adding some additional links to organizations that offer sponsorships:
• Order Sons of Italy in America
• Unico

Education is very important. Best of luck to your children.

The concept of dual nationality means that a person is a citizen of two countries at the same time. Each country has its own citizenship laws based on its own policy. U.S. citizenship is granted through birth. No matter where a child is born, as long as both of the child’s parents are U.S. citizens, the child is automatically granted U.S. citizenship. In this particular instance, the child may also be a citizen of the country of birth. A U.S. citizen may acquire foreign citizenship many ways, but the most common is through marriage. Marriage is also a common way for foreigners to be granted U.S. citizenship. It is Important to remember that when traveling, most U.S. citizens, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States. Dual nationals may also be required by the foreign country to use its passport to enter and leave that country. On the other hand, Italian citizenship is granted by birth through the paternal line (with no limit on the number of generations) or through the maternal line (for individuals born after January 1, 1948).

For advice in the U.S., call the Office of Overseas Citizens Services at 202.647.5226.
For assistance outside of the U.S., contact the nearest U.S. Consulate or Embassy.

The following web sites are good references for U.S. citizens applying for citizenship in a foreign country as well as foreigners applying for U.S. citizenship:
http://www.foreignborn.com/visas_imm/start_here/7us_consulate_embassy.htm
http://www.niaf.org/citizenship/index.asp

Listed below are a few sites I found helpful in exploring my own family heritage and genealogy:
www.MyItalianFamily.com
www.ItalyEmb.nw.dc.us
www.DAddezio.com
www.ItalianGen.org

Before answering your question, let’s get one thing straight. New York pizza is delicious!!!! Restaurants serve it every which way. So, anyway, back to the question at hand. I wasn't quite sure myself, but I did a little research and came upon the site www.InMamasKitchen.com which gave some great information. Here is little overview - Despite popular belief, pizza did not originate in either Italy or America….the creation of pizza belongs to the Greeks who first made flat breads topped with various ingredients, but not tomatoes. Eventually the idea of flat bread came to fruition in 18th century Italy where these flat breads dubbed “pizzas”, were sold on the streets and in markets. Primarily pizza was a poorer dish due to the inexpensive ingredients. By the late 1800’s pizza was becoming more and more popular with the elite class. In 1889, a chef by the name of Rafaele Esposito was called to the palace to create a special pizza for Queen Margherita and her husband. This new pizza, which resembled the Italian flag, consisted of basil (green), mozzarella (white), and tomatoes (red). Esposito’s pizza was a hit with the Queen and the rest of Italy followed. Esposito named his new creation a Margherita pizza in honor of the Queen. Soon after its popularity in Italy grew, pizza quickly spread to the United States and around the world.

Some fun pizza facts:
• The largest pizza ever recorded was made in Havana, Florida. The pizza measured just over 100 feet across.
• American and Canadians will eat an average of 23 pounds of pizza, per person, per year.

For more information, visit http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/FOOD_IS_ART/pizzahistory.html.

Ahhh, the secrets of Italian cuisine! Such wonderful family recipes have been passed down in my family for several generations. Most tricks of the trade are simpler than people would think. Italian cooking is actually quite simple; it uses fewer ingredients than most other ethnic dishes. The most important thing you need to know before you begin cooking a traditional Italian meal is that Italians love tasting the flavor of each ingredient. With that being said, most Italian cooks use few herbs and wine to flavor their dishes.

For more secrets to Italian cooking, please visit www.virtualitalia.com

Ah, lasagna! Many people might think "low fat lasagna" is a bit of an oxymoron, but there are a few ways you can enjoy this favorite traditional Italian dish, without adding all of the extra fat to your diet. The secret is in selecting more healthful ingredients. Try using reduced fat cheeses, or in place of ricotta cheese, consider reduced-fat cottage cheese — it has the same creamy consistence, and once it's baked in with all of the other ingredients, you won't even notice the difference! If you're adding meat to your lasagna, choose the leanest variety of beef available and be sure to drain all of the access fat. Ground turkey is a nice lean alternative to beef. Or, if you really want to trim the fat, consider forgoing the meat altogether and adding vegetables, such as mushrooms, onions, zucchini and other squashes, instead. Not only will this cut down on fat, but you'll add other good vitamins and nutrients. Most importantly, don't be afraid to experiment with healthier choices. Be creative! After all, cooking is an art… especially Italian cooking!
Buon appetito!

You can check out the Food Resources section of this site for more useful information on Italian cooking. (link to: Food Resources Section )

Let me start by saying I’m glad you’ve had the opportunity to travel so extensively in Italy — it’s such a beautiful and culturally rich country. I also think it’s wonderful that you want to “give back” to the people of Italy through volunteer efforts. If more people took initiative like you, the world we live in would be a much nicer place!

I did some research, and found an organization which may interest you. They’re called Global Volunteers, and they’re a non-governmental organization (NGO) in special consultative status with the United Nations. The organization offers a number of "volunteer vacations," or short-term volunteer opportunities like what you’ve described. Global Volunteers runs programs in 20 countries, and as luck would have it, Italy is one of them! You can learn more on their Web site at http://www.globalvolunteers.org. Best of luck finding what you’re looking for, and congratulations on wanting to do something so wonderful!