The local Orange/West Orange UNICO Chapter was founded in 1957 originally, and the West Orange and Orange chapters merged in 1968. UNICO’s objective is to encourage the ideal of “service about self.” According to the Orange/West Orange UNICO president, Frank Gonnella, the five main focuses of UNICO are Scholarships, Cancer Research & Prevention, Cooley’s Anemia, Italian Studies, Mental Health.

The most recent big event UNICO hosted was its annual scholarship dinner on June 21, 2023. It was the first in-person dinner since 2019. Gonnella reported, “We awarded scholarships to West Orange High School, Seton Hall Prep, Seton Hall University and Rutgers Law School students in areas of study that included Italian language and studies, engineering, science, business, vocational studies such as automotive and culinary arts, music, the law and the West Orange High School Air Force ROTC.”