At a rooftop gathering in Athens, friends who had traveled from across the world gathered around a shared belief: our love for Greece can become something that makes life better for its people.
The Greek America Foundation’s second annual Athens dinner, A Night in the Cyclades, brought that belief to life on October 14 at Olympias Rooftop. Friends from Athens joined longtime supporters visiting from California, Florida, Alaska and Chicago for an evening of food, friendship and philanthropy that raised thousands of euros in support of Greek America Corps.
The evening celebrated ten years of bringing young people from North America to Greece to serve vulnerable communities alongside local nonprofit partners. It also offered those partners an opportunity to explain, in their own words, what the volunteers’ presence has meant.
A Community Built On Generosity
Honorary Chairwoman Natalia Bougadellis helped bring the evening to life through her generosity, longstanding support and commitment to the Foundation’s mission.
Her contribution reached beyond a single evening. In explaining why she supports the Foundation, Bougadellis has emphasized the connection between Greek heritage, philanthropy, education and global citizenship—and the importance of welcoming people from all walks of life with compassion, openness and love.
Those values were reflected around the dinner table: people with different backgrounds and experiences, brought together by a willingness to contribute.
“Supporters like you are the fuel that keeps this work going,” Foundation founder Gregory Pappas said in his prepared remarks honoring Bougadellis. “Your generosity brings young people to Greece. Your belief in our mission gives us the confidence to grow.”
The Foundation is deeply grateful to Natalia for the care she brought to the evening, for bringing others into this community of support, and for her continuing belief in what the Foundation can accomplish.
Pappas also recognized Patricia Lambrecht, who attended from Palm Beach, Florida. During COVID, her challenge grant and generous support totaling several hundred thousand dollars provided a lifeline for the Foundation, helping sustain its work through an uncertain and difficult period.
“Your foresight and generosity helped make this evening—and the work that continues beyond it—possible,” Pappas’s remarks acknowledged.
What Service Leaves Behind
The evening connected the Foundation’s history of direct support for charities in Greece with the relationships built through Greek America Corps. Over the years, that support has grown to more than $1 million, while the volunteer program has given young North Americans the opportunity to contribute their own time, energy and compassion.
Eleni Anagnostopoulou, who connects volunteers, program development and local partner organizations, introduced former volunteer Vasiliki and representatives of the charities that welcome GAC participants into their work.
Their accounts showed how a volunteer experience can continue making a difference long after a summer ends.
Dafni Tsakyraki, Executive Director of Ronald McDonald House Hellas, described volunteers cooking for families with hospitalized children, building outdoor furniture and bringing energy and warmth into the House.
One project has had a particularly lasting effect: the volunteers designed and built the organization’s first mobile lending library, allowing books to reach children and parents on hospital wards who could not come to the House themselves.
“They spent just a few days at our House. But the impact of their contribution continues to this day,” Tsakyraki wrote in the remarks she shared after the dinner.
For Boroume, the connection stretches back to the Foundation’s early financial support in 2013. Kalliopi Mytilinaiou, Project Manager of Boroume at the Farmers’ Market, described GAC volunteers joining the program from summer 2021 to rescue fresh fruits and vegetables for charities supporting people in need.
“Together we saved 35 tonnes of fresh produce,” she wrote of the partnership’s cumulative impact, expressing the team’s gratitude for its practical and moral support over the years.
Maria Karra, Co-Founder of Emfasis Non-Profit, spoke about people experiencing visible and less visible forms of homelessness, including working people without stable housing and older people facing isolation and insecure accommodation.
She recalled GAC volunteers working alongside Emfasis teams during COVID, delivering essential supplies to homes, shelters and people on the streets. In her testimony, she described that presence during quarantine as “literally saving lives.”
Efpraxia (Efi) Nerantzaki of METAdrasi’s Education and Integration Department, who attended with colleague Katerina Skouloudi, reflected on three summers working with GAC volunteers. On Chios, she has seen the connection they build with refugee and migrant communities, and the joy their presence brings to adults and children alike.
“And especially now, when the humanitarian sector is facing funding cuts and staff shortages, the support of volunteers is more valuable than ever,” Nerantzaki wrote in remarks shared for this story.
Flavors Of The Cyclades, A Tribute To Limnos
Chef Iosif Sykianakis and his team generously shared their time and talent to create the evening’s menu: Santorini dry-farmed cherry tomatoes with caper leaves, sea fennel and Pichtogalo cheese; crab tartare with green asparagus, citrus and Greek truffle oil; sweet pumpkin risotto with anthotyro cream and smoked herring; and rum baba with Vinsanto-infused cream cheese.
The wine selection traveled beyond the Cyclades to Limnos, honoring Bougadellis’s ancestral island with Limnia Gi, Taxidi Stin Limno and Aroma Limnou.
The Foundation extends heartfelt thanks to Chef Iosif and his team, food sponsors Keyfood, Fine Foods Collection, Eletro A.E. and Karantinos, and Steve Tsaropoulos for the time and care he devoted to bringing the evening together.
A Piece Of Greece, A Gift Of Hope
Greek heritage also inspired a special fundraising initiative: fourteen Cycladic-inspired, 3D-printed sculptures, created by 3D60, were made available as thank-you gifts for €100 donations.
The sculptures connected the forms of ancient Greek art with contemporary creativity and an invitation to give. Guests could support young people coming to Greece to serve—and take home a reminder of the purpose that had brought everyone together.
The Foundation is grateful to everyone who attended, donated, contributed to the meal, shared their experiences or helped make the evening possible. Above all, the dinner celebrated a community whose generosity becomes care, relief and opportunity for people in Greece.
As Pappas’s remarks put it: “For us, the Foundation has always been a way to bring people together around our love for Greece—and to turn that love into care for its people.”
To support Greek America Corps and help more young North Americans serve vulnerable communities in Greece, visit greekamerica.org/give.
An Evening of Community and Generosity
