FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:   Elissa Ruffino (NIAF) 202/939-3106202/939-3106 or 202/939-3106 elissa@niaf.org

(WASHINGTON, DC – October 10, 2001) Actor Nicolas Cage, accompanied by Lisa Marie Presley, will be the first inductee into the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) new “Italian American Hall of Fame” at the Foundation’s 26th Anniversary Awards Gala, Saturday evening, October 20 at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington, D.C. In 1994, Cage received a NIAF Special Achievement Award at that year’s Gala Award Dinner.

Cage will be joined by actor Christopher Reeve and his wife, Dana Morosini Reeve. The Reeves’ will receive the NIAF’s “One America” Award for their outstanding work raising funding for spinal cord injury research. Business honorees at this year’s gala include Domenico De Sole, president and CEO of Gucci Group NV, and Roger Enrico, vice chairman of PepsiCo, Inc. Mr. De Sole and Mr. Enrico will receive NIAF Special Achievement Awards in Fashion and Industry, and Business, respectively.

United States Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania is this year’s dinner chairman. Yankee legend Yogi Berra and actor Dennis Farina will join other celebrities that evening.

Italy will be represented by the Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Deputy Prime Minister, Gianfranco Fini. United States Members of Congress of the Italian American Congressional Delegation, and prominent Italian American leaders in business, entertainment, and the arts will also attend the awards gala. During the Gala Awards weekend, the NIAF will hold a CEO conference for leading Italian American business executives, Friday October 19. Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, will brief the executives during a private luncheon on Capitol Hill followed by a White House briefing. Conferences on Italy’s treasures and preservation of its cultural heritage, the traditional celebrity luncheon and auction, and a wine and olive oil tasting hosted by Bolla Wines and Colavita USA are part of the NIAF weekend events.

Proceeds from the events benefit the NIAF scholarship and education programs and “Gardens of Hope,” an inner-city food program to benefit the homeless. The NIAF has already earmarked $250,000 in educational funds for children of rescue workers who perished in the September 11 attack on America.