Originally Published: 2009-06-14

Sabrina Di Marco in Sri Lanka at a sewing school.

It’s been about two months since a devastating earthquake hit L’Aquila, Abruzzo, leaving thousands upon thousands of Italian residents and students homeless. Ever since then, Toronto’s Italian community has continued to make great strides in raising funds to help earthquake victims. The most recent helping hand is “Multiculturalism: Around the World,” which takes place on July 12.
“This is an event that is very close to my heart,” says Sabrina Di Marco, a government advisor on international development, who will be hosting the event at the AMICI Museum and Italian Interpretive Centre.
“This is an event that embraces and engages other cultural communities, for the purpose of spreading awareness of the current devastating circumstance that L’Aquila now finds itself in,” Di Marco says. “We are hoping to raise funds to support both the O.S.J. Charities L’Aquila Earthquake Trust and the AMICI Museum.”
Indeed, “Multiculturalism: Around the World” will provide audiences with a glimpse of various world cultures through photos and personal reflections of individuals from Italy, Africa, Brazil, Guyana and Sri Lanka, which for Di Marco - whose father is of Abruzzese origin and whose mother is Caribbean from Dominica - “represents an opportunity to celebrate ‘hyphenated’ Canadian cultures, while supporting those who are in need of a helping hand.”
Vaughan MP Maurizio Bevilacqua, who was born in Sulmona, Abruzzo, will also be in attendance, alongside MPP Laura Albanese and Vaughan regional councillors Gino Rosati and Mario Ferri.
“The solidarity that the Italian community here in Canada has shown has been phenomenal, and we are hoping to stretch this support across cultures,” says Di Marco.
And traveling across cultures is something that Di Marco is all too familiar with. “Coming from a bi-cultural background myself, I recognize the importance of learning about and interacting with various cultures, and so I thought that an event like ‘Multiculturalism: Around the World’ was a prime opportunity to fuse that aspect with an issue that is very close to Italians here in Canada. It’s also a great opportunity to continue to welcome in newcomers to Canada, and really appreciate the diversity of Canadian life and culture.”

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