We are proud to announce a $5,000 grant from our #ChildrenOfGreece campaign that supports charities whose work directly impacts the most vulnerable members of Greek society — the children.
The recipient is the ELIZA Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, a Greek charity established in 2008 which aims to protect children suffering from abuse and neglect.
This latest grant brings our total support of children’s charities in Greece to $35,000 since the beginning of our #ChildrenOfGreece campaign in 2019.
ELIZA’s initiatives focus on educating and mobilizing society to act against the maltreatment of children. The organization also works to detect and identify cases of child abuse in order to encourage public action on behalf of abused children.
ELIZA’s programs are designed in cooperation with highly prestigious institutions in Greece and abroad. Through such collaborations, ELIZA has provided training for 5,000 professionals who work with children including teachers, physicians, nurses, judges, prosecutors and police officers.
In collaboration with the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, ELIZA created its “Safe Touches” program which teaches children ages five to nine how to protect themselves from sexual abuse.
Another one of ELIZA’s initiatives is creating special hospital units dedicated to managing cases of suspected child abuse.
Thanks to the organization’s efforts, the Child Safety Care Unit “Sofia Varvitsiotis” of the Second Department of Pediatrics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens was founded at the “P. & A. Kyriakou” Children’s Hospital in Athens. The unit was inaugurated by then-Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos on June 5, 2018, and is the first hospital-based child protection unit in Greece.
ELIZA is now in the process of creating the second hospital unit at the ATTIKON General University Hospital under the guidance of the Third Department of Pediatrics. The goal of these units is to identify infants and children at risk of abuse and neglect — at the youngest possible age — and to safeguard vulnerable families.
Our support for ELIZA comes at a critical time, as child abuse remains a prominent and largely overlooked issue in Greece. According to research: Nine out of 10 cases of severe child abuse are not recorded by Greek authorities which results in no action; one of every two children has been the victim of at least one incident of physical abuse and one of five children has been the victim of sexual abuse.
For its efforts ELIZA has received notable recognition, including in November 2020 when the Greek Parliament projected the organization’s message of “Zero Tolerance of Child Abuse” on its exterior. The projection is part of ELIZA’s national public awareness campaign which will continue through 2021.
The organization has also been recognized as a Country Partner by the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect.
Through its website, ELIZA shares scientific data, articles and other materials related to its efforts to prevent and raise awareness about child abuse.
Greek America Foundation Founder & President Gregory Pappas held a Zoom meeting with ELIZA Strategy Manager Vanna Marketaki and Communications Manager Emy Ntotsika, both of whom spoke about their organization’s important work and the situation of child abuse in Greece.
Watch the video of their conversation below.
How we give to Greece
Interested in learning more about how we fulfill our financial commitments to partner charities in Greece? Click here.
#ChildrenOfGreece campaign progress report
We are committed to supporting charities in Greece that tend to the vital needs of the most vulnerable members of Greek society– the children. As of February 2021, our campaign has sent $35,000 to our five partner charities in Greece. Click here for a summary of our previous grants.
How to support our #ChildrenOfGreece campaign
Numerous options are available to help raise funds and awareness for the most vulnerable members of Greek society — the children — through our current campaign.
Click here to make a direct donation.
Click here to learn how to create a birthday fundraiser.
Click here to sign up for Team Greek America, our virtual team of athletes who raise funds for our campaign by creating their own races.
Become an Ambassador of Hope
Since 2013, with the support of donors throughout the United States and Canada, the Greek America Foundation has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for worthwhile charities and individuals in Greece through our Project Hope for Greece campaign.
Ambassadors of Hope are those who donate or raise $1,000 or more for this initiative.
In past years our Ambassadors of Hope have hosted events at home or even full-fledged dinner dances and epic parties. Many people have also donated their birthdays while several of our entrepreneurial supporters organized fundraisers around product launches or promotions.
Click here to learn how to become an Ambassador of Hope.
