BY DANIEL DIDONNA
On Sunday, March 5, community group Feglil Maria S.S. Addolorata Association hosted their annual festival of women celebration at Gargiulo’s restaurant in Brooklyn. The event honored many women in the community and in the association who have broken barriers and who have fought for the overall theme of the evening, which was fighting for gender equality.
This was the 12th annual Festa Della Donna – the Gala of Women Celebration, as it is translated – hosted by Feglil Maria S.S. Addolorata Association, or Our Lady of Sorrow Association, as it translates in English.
This association has been run by a group of women since its inception almost 25 years ago and has been a staple in the Italian-American community near 18th avenue. Festa Della Donna is one of the few days in the year that brings this community together.
“This is one of my favorite events of the year as we not only showcase and honor all of these amazing women here, but it also shows just how hard these women had to work to get this far… in my opinion in today’s society a women has to work twice has hard as a man just to be successful and that must change soon,” said Association president Lucrezia Nardulli.
It was an exciting start to the night, as a group mostly made up of 200 women sat in their seats and watched as members of the Association, both old and young, began to walk into the dining hall. Nardulli kicked off the celebration with a speech about the importance of this event and the overall theme of gender equality.
The theme of gender equality was prevalent throughout the night as there were multiple women who spoke on this issue and why it needs to be addressed. These women were the honorees of the night who were being recognized for their accomplishments not only in their field of work but their work in the community as well.
One such honoree was Victoria Giaconia, who has been a member of the Association for almost 20 years and for her work in helping in the community and helping its growth she was honored.
“I was surprised when they told me that I was going to be honored. I just love this association and everything that it stands for… I believe that this event shows that when women are given the chance to work hard, they can do great things,” said Giaconia.
While this was an event hosted by the association and attended by members of the association, the event was also open to the public. One such non-member was Becca Carluzzo who spoke about why she came.
“I’ve heard of this event a couple of times but never got the chance to go to it and I have to say it’s really cool… I think it’s important because there aren’t that many of these types of events that I’ve seen in Brooklyn, so it makes it special… and the fact that it is a night just for women makes it means a lot to the community,” said Carluzzo.
After the dinner and dancing, the celebration ended, but the work has not stopped yet as the association is already looking ahead to next year and continuing to be a staple in the community.
“I’m hoping that next year can be bigger and better than whether or not that will happen. We don’t know but I know I’m going to try,” said Nardulli.