Greek America Foundation supporters Lea Soupata and her husband Sotiris Zervoulias presented a check for $5,000 from the Greek America Foundation to Desmos, a non-profit organization that has helped thousands of people in need throughout Greece.
This is yet another gift made possible by the supporters of the GAF and Project Hope for Greece. To date, our small organization has distributed $95,000 to seven charities helping those in need in Greece.
Desmos is a non-profit organization in Greece playing an important role matching local and international donors (people, organizations and corporations) with Greek charities.
Since its establishment in January 2012, Desmos has supported a continuously growing network of 338 organizations having provided short and long-term support to more than 200,000 beneficiaries in Greece, thanks to the contributions of 110 companies and hundreds of individuals. So far, Desmos has successfully redistributed goods and pro bono services of more than €1 million in total estimated value.
Longtime Greek America Foundation supporters and Project Hope for Greece Ambassadors of Hope, Lea Soupata and Sotiri Zervoulias, have made earmarked this donation of $5,000 for Desmos, their second $5,000 donation to the charity.
Lea retired from UPS after 37 years of service. She was Senior Vice President of Human Resources, with 400,000 employees.
Sotiri is a retired life skills psychologist who taught at the Center of Human Skills in Athens, Greece. After visiting with Demos during the 2013 summer, Lea and Sotiri were so moved by Desmos’ work and commitment to assist families they decided to make another generous donation.
Lea and Sotiri met with the Desmos team this July and discussed in detail the organization’s progress as well as current and future projects, made possible thanks to the couple’s support.
“We are so proud to be associated with Desmos and its mission and work,” the couple said.
To date, the GAF’s Project Hope for Greece has donated $15,000 to Desmos. Donations have gone towards their “Desmos Gives Warmth!” program, which provides heating fuel for schools and social service providers in Greece that otherwise risk not being able to operate regularly due to winter weather and the budget cuts in social welfare across Greece.
“GAF has given us an opportunity to reconnect with our heritage through their various programs. We were impressed with their commitment to financial prudence – maintaining low administrative expenses through a strong volunteer network,” Soupata said. “We were especially proud of GAF’s Project Hope for Greece. We were honored to be Ambassadors for this worthy fundraising opportunity which will aid those is need in Greece.”