Our Story
italyMONDO! was founded in 2006 by Upstate New York native Peter Farina at the age of 22. Always passionate about his Italian roots (Farina’s great-grandparents emigrated from Guardiaregia, Campobasso – Sora, Frosinone – and Savoia di Lucania, Potenza), this strong interest became more and more a passion as he grew older. After graduating with the highest honors from Fonda-Fultonville High School (NY) he began attending Syracuse University and it is here where this passion became an obsession.
In the August before his sophomore year Peter decided to clean and organize his grandmother’s attic, finding all sorts of family treasures in the process. He uncovered family photos, letters from Italy and other family heirlooms, some of which hadn't been seen in over 50 years. The following two years then became engulfed by the resulting fire which grew from what was just kindling months before, a fire nurtured by his Italian professors Lucille Pallotta and Angelo D’Agostino, as well as the Bandiera family of Toronto who introduced him to the wonderful Italian community of Ontario. In the beginning of those two years Farina researched his own family tree and traveled to Italy for the first time to meet his newly discovered family. This experience that changed his life. By the end of those two years he already had started to give that same experience to others.
Awards
2007 – Entrepreneur of the Year
(Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce)
Nominations
2007 – Young Professional of the Year
(Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce)
Citations
2008 – New York State Senate
(Albany, NY)
2008 – New York State Assembly
(Albany, NY)
2007 – American-Italian Heritage Association
(Albany, NY)
2005 – Comune di Guardiaregia
(Guardiaregia, Campobasso – Italy)
2004 – Club Guardiaregia
(Toronto, Canada)
Associations
2008 – American-Italian Heritage Association
(Albany, NY)
Sister Sites
Town Specific
Guardiaregia, Campobasso (Molise)