NEW YORK – The Hellenic Initiative (THI), on July 26, released an update on its wildfire relief fund efforts. THI Executive Director Peter Poulos shared the following statement with the organization’s donors and friends:
Almost one year ago to the day, Greece experienced the worst disaster in its modern history. Over 100 people lost their lives and many more were injured in the fires that devastated Mati and nearby Kokkino Limanaki. THI responded by launching an online fundraising campaign with our friends Nia Vardalos and John Stamos and made a special appeal at our 2018 New York Gala.
Thanks to the generous support of over 548 donors The Hellenic Initiative was able to raise over $200,000 USD.
Your contributions allowed us to provide immediate relief to the communities affected. In addition we were able to support local firefighters by providing state of the art firefighting equipment to prevent anything similar from happening again.
Immediate Relief:
On Friday, August 24, 2018, IOCC and Apostoli employed THI funds to purchase and deliver 150 new trash bins to the municipality of Rafina-Pikermi in Greece. These bins replaced the ones that were destroyed by intense heat and flames. Delivering these bins on time was a call THI answered after meeting with the Mayor of Rafina-Pikermi and it allowed city crews to resume waste collection while making the cleanup for many residents a lot easier.
Donation to the Greek Firefighting Service:
THI has ordered an off-road 4×4 vehicle equipped with specially designed firefighting capabilities. THI will request this vehicle to be stationed at the area affected by last year’s wildfires in particular near and around the Lyreion Orphanage.
Lyreion Orphanage:
Initially, we have designed our online efforts to be around Lyreion orphanage. As the online campaign was taking place, we were informed that Lyreion children have now found a safe shelter in another orphanage and had access to a series of programs offered to them by SOS Villages Greece.
More information about The Hellenic Initiative is available online: https://www.thehellenicinitiative.org/.
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