The Italian Catholic Federation branch 374 at St. Bede the Venerable Roman Catholic Church in La Cañada Flintridge awarded two $400 college scholarships to two local high school graduates.

Dante Orlandini, a graduate of St. Francis High School, and Katherine Altmayer of Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, were each presented checks by branch president Al Restivo, Scholarship Chairman Mark Mannarelli, and St. Bede pastor Monsignor Antonio Cacciapuoti who is also Archdiocesan director of the 18-branch Los Angeles Archdiocese District.

Altmayer will be attending Dartmouth College in New Hampshire where she plans to major in medicine. During her high school years, she worked as a volunteer at USC Keck Medical and Huntington Hospital, pursuing her passion – medicine. She is the daughter of Thomas and Christina Califano Altmayer and a resident of Pasadena.

Orlandini, born and raised in La Cañada Flintridge, will be attending the Catholic University in Washington D.C. in the fall where he plans to major in political science. At St. Francis, Orlandini served on the student council in his freshman year, then served on the life team in Campus Ministry in his junior and senior years. He was also involved in the student government program at the YMCA. He is the son of St. Bede parishioners Joe and Lisa Orlandini.

ICF branches are located across the west coast as well as in Arizona, Nevada, and Chicago. They offer scholarships to outstanding students each year.

“This year we were delighted to receive applications from local La Cañada Flintridge high schools and we encourage local high school seniors to apply next year,” said Mannarelli, first vice president of the branch and scholarship chairman. “Making a decision was tough this time because of the outstanding quality of applicants, so we decided to break with tradition and award two, rather than one, scholarship.”