Short Summary

The Italian Cultural Center “Marco Polo” offers Italian classes to children ages 3 to 11 in the city of Philadelphia. The school started in 2000 as a need of Italian families in the Greater Philadelphia Area. Classes meet two hours a week and cover Italian language and grammar, as well as Culinary Arts, Music, Writing & Reading, and Visual Arts. We also organize several events for our families to enhance the understanding and knowledge of Italian language, culture and tradition.

So far we have been guests at the History of Italian Immigration museum. Since 2000 we have been delivering classes only on Saturdays starting from October through May. However, there is not enough space to expand the school program and offer adults classes. ICC Marco Polo believes that Italian language, traditions, arts and culture are essential tools to create a unified bilingual community. We are happy to celebrate Italian and American festivities with families of diverse background and culture. 

Thank you in advance for your generosity. Please feel free to contact us with any questions via email at [email protected].

What We Need & What You Get

With this campaign we request your consideration for a $300,000 fundraising to contribute for our building purchase. The money will be an integral part of the school finances and used exclusively to finance the real estate acquisition. In order to start this new project, we will need to reach everyone interested in supporting our vision.

Our building will be located in the Greater Philadelphia area connected with public transportation (SEPTA) to Center City. The facility will have at least one bathroom, a kitchen, and three to five rooms to be used as classrooms and cultural activities.

If we don’t reach our entire fundraising goal in a period of 5 years, we will deposit this amount in a restricted fund and be used for a down payment, while the rest of the purchase will be financed through a bank loan.

The Impact

The ICC Marco Polo’s goal is to educate students and families on the importance of Italian language and Italian Culture. Our teachers are engaged, dedicated, and enthusiastic, so that our kids really find a good reason to practice Italian as second language.  In addition to regular classes, we currently offer opportunities for our parents to join our extra-curricular activities and engage in our community. However, a new building will give us the opportunity to expand our program to adults and run Italian cooking classes during the week as essential tools to create a unified community.  

Studying a second language provides cognitive and social-emotional advantages

– Developing a very active and flexible brain 
– Developing more flexible approaches because of the ability to switch between languages
– Developing ability to ignore irrelevant information 
– Focusing, remembering, and making decisions
– Maintain strong ties with their entire family, culture, and community: social identity 
– Make new friends and create strong relationships in their second language: social diversity
– Children show better self-control 

Other scientifically proven benefits of bilingualism are

– Bilingualism may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease
– Bilingual adults have more job opportunities around the world than monolingual adults 
– Bilingual employees earn an average of $7,000 more per year than their monolingual peers
– Bilingual citizens are active members of the global community, due to their multi-language knowledge  
– Bilingualism frees people from biases and limited thinking

Other Ways You Can Help

– Help us acquire school supplies, such as stationery, furniture, PC, technologies and musical instruments.
– Help us organize fundraising events in order to create awareness, raise capital and pay monthly expenses.
– Expand the school network with potential investors/donors to support our school idea.
– Donate goods we can auction online, in order to raise money for the school budget.
– Collect information and help us apply for grants.