On the occasion of International Women’s Day, March 8, 2023, the Dante Alighieri Society of Michigan celebrated with pizza and an Italian film. The film was Scusate se Esisto! (Do You See Me?) with Paola Cortellesi and Raul Bova, directed by Riccardo Milani.  

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women’s achievements or rally for women’s equality. 

Contributions by the Dante Alighieri Society and event attendees were donated to The Butterfly Collective, a local non-profit organization that provides support to survivors of domestic violence to rebuild their lives in a safe environment, and educates the community about the hardships faced by victims of domestic violence.  Founder Lynne McCabe Fiscelli was at the event to explain the mission of the organization and to accept the donation.

Ms. Fiscelli commented “Thank you so much for the warm welcome at your movie night. And thank you for allowing me to tell you how TBC helps survivors. Your support of our mission to help survivors rebuild their lives in a safe environment is so very much appreciated. We can’t do what we do without the support of good people like you. So again thank you from the bottom of our heart. PS I might just have to come back and learn Italian!”

For more information about these organizations, visit their websites at https://www.thebutterflycollective.org and https://www.dantemichigan.org.