For the seventh year, dozens of young adults from the United States and Canada traveled to various parts of Greece to participate in the Greek America Foundation’s summer volunteer program, Greek America Corps, which aims to serve the country’s most vulnerable populations while immersing participants in local culture and society.
This summer saw 24 young North Americans take part in four two-week programs in Athens, Thessaloniki, Chios and Chania, Crete, working alongside our Greek charity partners doing important work on the ground to serve vulnerable people.
Volunteers took on various service projects such as recreational activities with refugee children from Ukraine, Afghanistan and other war-torn countries; saving thousands of pounds of fruits and vegetables from farmer’s markets; painting projects; cleaning parks and beaches and numerous other endeavors.
In Athens, volunteers spent their days supporting Boroume, Emfasis Foundation, the Greek Council for Refugees and the Nursing Home of Athens.
In Thessaloniki, volunteers worked alongside Elpida Home, the Ukrainian Greek Initiative and Boroume.
In Chios, volunteers worked with METAdrasi and Kivotos Tou Thodori (Ark of Theodore).
And for the first time, we were proud to launch a new program on the island of Crete where our focus wasn’t vulnerable people, but rather the vulnerability of the fragile environment and ecosystem. Volunteers worked with Archelon, Ecogenia and the 7th Elementary School and Kalo Dromo, an initiative raising awareness for road safety.
Consistent with the Greek America Corps program mission to immerse participants in local customs and history, non-volunteer days were filled with unique cultural activities. Participants experienced visits to museums, archeological sites and other historically significant places; live music; wine tastings; mastiha harvesting in the fields; hiking and sailing excursions; beach trips and more. Weekly schedules also included multiple lunches and dinners at authentic tavernas and other restaurants to expose volunteers to Greece’s rich and diverse cuisine.
The 2024 Greek America Corps program costs were funded thanks to the generosity of Mr. Michael Psaros. We’re grateful to Mr. Psaros for his support of this critical program which instills the ideals of philanthropy in young people from throughout the United States and Canada and supports vulnerable people in his ancestral homeland of Chios.
We plan to keep building on our success in summer 2025 and offer more life-changing opportunities for young adults to engage in service in Greece.
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