Last week on Thanksgiving, we collaborated with Marathi Greek Bistro in Tribeca to prepare and deliver meals for food-vulnerable people in New York City. Thanks to generous donations, we were able to prepare more than $2000 in sponsored meals. The preparation took place in Marathi’s kitchen, and the meals were hand-delivered to The Bowery Mission, a Lower East Side institution that has provided for New Yorkers in need since the 1870s. It was a humbling and inspiring day spent alongside friends, family, and Andreas Koutsoudakis, proprietor of Marathi. Koutsoudakis was recognized as a member of Greek America’s Forty Under 40 Class of 2022. Inspired by the foundation’s work, he wanted to deepen his collaboration with us and generously offered his time, restaurant, and resources to co-plan this Thanksgiving project.
We met some beautiful people, including many new migrants to the United States who are seeking refuge from war and conflict in their countries. It reminded us of our ancestors, not to mention tens of thousands of Greek immigrants who were all supported and served by organizations much like this one.
Roda Plakogiannis, who brought her two daughters to help, expressed her gratitude to the Greek America Foundation and the Marathi team for instilling in her young girls the “real; meaning” of Thanksgiving.
“This is what Thanksgiving is really about,” she said. “And I’m grateful for the opportunity given to Ourania and Evangelia to understand how good it feels to help people in need.”
Thank you to all who donated money and time to make this happen!
