The Del Giudice family left their beloved hometown of Piedimonte, Italy in search of a better future. In 1958, along with 2,000 other passengers, they embarked on the Giulio Cesare ocean liner and sailed from Naples, Italy to New York, N.Y.
Italian immigrants began arriving in the United States in large numbers from the late 1800s into the mid-1960s, helping fuel a booming industrial economy. Many of those arrivals were young families leaving the Italian South seeking opportunities.
Unlike immigrants from other parts of Europe, many generations of Italian immigrants stopped and made their homes in the Northeast. Perhaps because these communities historically clustered together in enclaves, many of them never got past New York City.
Families from the same Italian regions could thus maintain their regional cultural traditions such as weddings, christenings, funerals, and le feste – parades celebrating the feast day of patron saints. To this day, these religious rituals are an important way for many Italians to remain connected to their faith and traditions of their ancestral villages. Like many other Italian immigrants from Campania, the Del Giudice family settled and to this day remains in Brooklyn, New York.
Giuseppe, the oldest of four children, describes those early days with mixed emotions, “In Italy I had just graduated from high school and wanted to become a lawyer. I played soccer and I had many friends. I missed home and my friends – I was just 16 years old”.
The adjustment to American life was hard for Giuseppe and his family, “we didn’t have much but each other to get by, and it was all we ever need it.” They, like most Italian immigrant families, were of hardy stock! Soon enough Giuseppe gained perfect English fluency; he worked during the day and attended English language classes at night. After he secured a good job as a banker for an international commercial bank, he ultimately enrolled at New York University.
In 1980, Giuseppe proudly became the first in his family to earn a college degree. Graduation was however a bittersweet moment because his beloved father Ernesto wasn’t there to share his joy and witness this great achievement. After his father died in 1979, Giuseppe stayed with his mother and cared for her because she wasn’t comfortable being alone. “She taught us respect for the family,” he says. Family, faith, and hard work helped Giuseppe and his family achieve great successes in their adopted country. But it is Giuseppe’s kind heart that distinguishes him most from others.
Although life was tough, the Del Giudice family made the best with what they had. Giuseppe remembers, “In the beginning we didn’t have much, but we didn’t seem to dwell on our economic situation”. For many newcomers, sharing with family and neighbors was the central focus of the Italian experience. Giuseppe recalls his beloved mother Costanza’s deep devotion to ‘her protector’, Saint Anthony of Padua.
“She lived a life of faith and practiced charity regularly; she often prepared extra meals to give to neighbors in greater need” he said. These gestures of goodwill from one family to another stayed with Giuseppe to this day. It shows the impact that you can have on other peoples’ lives and how one action in the world affects others.
Participation in community life through service and giving was part of a long tradition of giving back in the Del Giudice family. “It feels very good to be able to help,” he said. Family values clearly shaped Giuseppe’s ideas about generosity. But by giving to others in need he also keeps the memory of his beloved parents, Ernesto and Costanza, close to his heart. Remembering a loved one through a tribute gift is a great way to honor and remember them. Giuseppe indeed follows in their footsteps making sharing with those in need a priority in his everyday life.
For long-time benefactor Giuseppe, the Anthonian Association has been one of several charitable organizations he has chosen to support over the years in order to make an immediate impact in peoples’ lives. But, especially in 2020, Giuseppe put his strong faith and family values into action and he made a major gift to Saint Anthony’s charities that helped us fulfill our mission as well as honored his family tradition of giving. It is thanks to supporters like Giuseppe that during one of the most challenging periods in our lifetime, we were able to continue funding our outreach projects: helping many of our less fortunate brothers and sisters receive life changing opportunities (i.e., water, food, shelter, medicine, and job training) that we hope will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Thank you, Giuseppe, for your support! We are grateful for YOU!
