National Philoptochos is pleased to announce that on July 3, 2017 its Executive Board approved disbursements totaling $115,000 for aid to the people of Greece and Cyprus bringing total support to $789,120.

Click here to read the July 2017 press release

Since the crisis began in Greece and Cyprus, the Philoptochos chapters have demonstrated their love and concern for our brothers and sisters in Christ, numerous times.  The intense ongoing crisis may be rooted in economics, but the effects are felt not only in the lack of tangible goods and comforts, but also spiritually and emotionally.
This year in our Heart to Heart Campaign, we prayerfully ask you to renew your commitment by commemorating OXI Day (October 28) with a fundraising event, perhaps hosting a loukoumades and coffee fellowship following Liturgy on Sunday, October 29.  Please ask your Parish Priest to bless this endeavor and to inform the community about the severity of the situation to encourage Parish involvement.

Heart to Heart Pop-Up Kafé Initiative

Across the U.S., stewards of the Philoptochos Society are hosting friendly and intimate Heart to Heart coffee socials to benefit the National Philoptochos Aid to Greece & Cyprus Fund. These “Pop-Up Kafés” are designed as a simple, achievable and fun way to fundraise, with a minimal financial goal for each event, and that may be duplicated many times throughout the country.
Each organizer hosts a coffee event in a home, church facility or commercial venue, such as a local coffee shop. The host invites a small number of guests, perhaps 10, and each guest offers a small donation for Aid to Greece & Cyprus, perhaps $10 per person.  This concept was considered to respect the attendee’s limited time availability, the amount to be donated by each attendee, as well as to minimize the host’s expenditure.  The gatherings are sessions of camaraderie, purpose and awareness – a coffee break with ease and simplicity that will produce a steady income stream for the Fund, as the Pop-Up Kafés continue through the year.

Now more than ever, our help is needed.  With an acute level of unemployment, the Greek economic crisis is considered on the scale of the U.S. Great Depression of the 1930’s, though the Greek crisis has lasted longer and continues to spiral downward.  In addition to the loss of jobs, healthcare and public services, the people of Greece and Cyprus continue to suffer with a serious loss of dignity and hope.  As sisters in Philoptochos, it is our privilege and responsibility to offer our love by assisting our brothers and sisters in Greece and Cyprus. If you would like to learn more about this program or host a Heart to Heart Pop-Up Kafé, please contact a member from the Aid to Greece & Cyprus Committee or your Direct Archdiocesan District or Metropolis Philoptochos President.