MEETING Ladies Philoptochos Society Elpis HOLY TRINITY GREEK ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL 1200 Robert E. Lee Blvd., New Orleans, LA PHILOPTOCHOS APRIL 2013 NEWLETTER NOTICE April, 2013 Volume 2, Number 7 APRIL 6 Membership Meeting 10:30 am Church Hall DATES TO REMEMBER APRIL 6 Saturday General Meeting 7 Holy Cross Sunday Special Tray 19 Friday Lenten Pot Luck Dinner 8:30 7 Saturday Ozanam Inn Outreach 2 pm - GOYA Will Serve This Month 28 Palm Sunday MAY 5 Sunday Easter AGENDA Philoptochos National Commitments Metropolis of Atlanta Commitments Committee Reports Come and See Dinner Fundraiser April 7 Church Tray April 19 Pot Luck Dinner Election of Clergy Laity Delegates Election of 2013-2014 Board PRESIDENT S MESSAGE for I was hungry and you gave Me food; for I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. in as much as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Matthew 25: 35-36, 40 Dear Ladies, Thank you for renewing your stewardship for 2013. Expanding our membership is extremely important to the success of all that we do. As our Philoptochos year comes to a close I think about what Philoptochos means to each of us. While the word philoptochos means friends of the poor, we can add more to the description. The Ladies of Philoptochos are involved in many philanthropic activities. Whether it be on a world-wide scale, helping earthquake and tsunami victims or helping a struggling parishioner to pay a Announcing the Election of the 2013-2015 Philoptochos Board at our April 6 Meeting. Mark your calendar and plan to attend. OUR HOSTESSES for APRIL 6 Faith Kyame Koula Vennis Barbara Stavis Wolf bill, Philoptochos works to serve those in need. We help those who are in physical or emotional pain, work in homeless shelters, conduct food drives, raise funds for cancer, and send medical aid to Greece. We help our parish in countless ways by extending our hand to as many as we can. And as we do this work, we find not only the joy of giving and helping, but in creating fellowship and friendships among our members. Sincerely, Connie Tiliakos Contact Connie Tiliakos with your suggestion for the recipient for the Archangel Michael Award ASAP. Father needs the name before our next meeting.. Phone : 885-0206 Email alecon@cox.net
METROPOLIS OF ATLANTA PHILOPTOCHOS CLERGY LAITY ASSEMBLY BOCA RATON. FLORIDA JUNE 27 30, 2013 Letter from Laura Nixon, Philoptochos Metropolis of Atlanta President To: Metropolis Philoptochos Board, Chapter Presidents and Members Re: Metropolis of Atlanta Philoptochos Clergy Laity Assembly An informative program is being prepared for Philoptochos delegates who will participate in the Metropolis of Atlanta Philoptochos Clergy Laity Assembly which convenes on June 27, 2013 in Boca Raton, Florida. I encourage each Chapter to participate in this important event. This is an opportunity for your voices to be heard in helping to choose the missions that we will support for the next two years as well as sharing ideas and discussing concerns. Your Chapter Delegate has an important role in helping to decide our missions and future path on the Metropolis level! Our organization is comprised of women of varying ages, with different backgrounds, careers, talents, expertise, knowledge, skills, and education. This unites us as a Sisterhood and reaffirms our commitment to our communities and to our parishes. For these reasons, I encourage you to make arrangements to send your chapter representatives to the Assembly. Each chapter is entitled to three (3) delegates and alternates. Observers are also welcome (with no voting privilege). One of the delegates is the Chapter President. If she is unable to attend, the next ranking officer may serve as delegate. For your Chapter to be eligible to participate, 2011-2013 Per Capita must be paid to the Metropolis and to National by April 30, 2013. All Chapter Commitments must also be current. I encourage you to elect delegates and alternates at your next meeting. Please adhere to the Bylaws and guidelines of our organization. This eliminates controversy and unnecessary issues. We need to elect delegates to the Clergy Laity Conference at our April 6 meeting. Philoptochos Metropolis of Atlanta Commitments Agape Fund assists the Metropolis with various educational and youth programs. Clergy Education Holy Cross School of Theology scholarship And provide priests of continuing education Discretionary Fund Provide emergency relief for natural disasters and other critical misfortunes Gifts - The Gift Donation assists gifts, flowers and donations to individuals not in our yearly budget. Philanthropy The Philanthropy Commitment provides financial assistance to the faithful within the Metropolis of Atlanta who are in need. Special Project Building an Orthodox Church in Cameroon, Africa Stewardship - Per Capita The Stewardship Per Capita Commitment Website/Communications The Website/Communications Commitment provides financial support to maintain and update the Metropolis of Atlanta Philoptochos Website. Youth/Camp The Youth/Camp Commitment assists all Metropolis Youth Prog. $250 $100 $7 per member $40 $200
PHILOPTOCHOS LADIES WEAVE MATS FOR HOMELESS Maria Anastasiou and Diane Chronis, are pictured at the left with the mats they are crocheting for the homeless. Philoptochos is continuing with it s recycle projects by recycling plastic grocery bags into mats for the homeless. Diane Chronis, group organizer, brought the idea to Philoptochos at the end of last year. Each mat uses 600 to 700 bags and takes about 40 to 60 hours to produce. The ladies stay after Philoptochos meetings and learn how to turn the grocery bags into plastic yarn that is used to crochet the mats. The first step is to flatten the bag, fold it in half vertically and trim off the top handles and the bottom seam. They then cut the remaining material into 3-inch-wide strips and knot together the resulting loops in a way one might join rubber bands. After repeating the process for multiple bags, they roll the yarn into a ball. Lemonia Chouzouri, Evangelia Bilalis, Elaine Nugent and Connie Tiliakos are also currently crocheting mats while other members are folding and cutting the bags to prepare the plastic yarn. Elaine Nugent, pictured at the left, says, even if you know how to crochet it takes a while to become comfortable with using plastic rather than fiber yarn. Diane Chronis pictured at the left helps Koula Vennis. Ginny Zissis, Cathy Vial and Faith Kyame, seen at the right work with other Philoptochos members to fold, cut, and knot bags into plastic yarn. Gela Pembo, Argie Kleamenakis (left), Sandy Bouzon (center), Kathy Salles and Angie Kringas (right) fold, cut, loop and knot plastic bags. The plastic yarn is then rolled into a ball.
Our Kitchen Champions Stavros Kiriazis, Elias Tsatalios, Evangelia Bilalis, Lemonia Chouzouri, Anthoula Malachias, Rania Mantikos and Costa Nicopoulos. Over 50 seniors attended our monthly Senior Citizen s Luncheon on March 14. We are so appreciative of Evangelia and Petro Bilalis for sponsoring, as well as cooking, for our luncheon. A big ευχαριστώ to Costa Nicopolos and Elias Tsatalios for helping to cook the delicious meal.. Many thanks to others who helped in the kitchen including Stavros Kiriazis, Lemonia Chouzouri, Anthoula Malachias, Rania Mantikos, and Popi Rovolis. Cathy Vial helps every Senior s Luncheon become very special. This time the table decorations were plants decorated with green leprechaun hats in a St. Patrick s Day theme. Thank you Cathy for arranging the beautiful table decorations and the artistically wrapped bingo prizes. Debbie Funti and Koula Vennis did a great job leading the bingo and a good time was had by all. Lemonia Chouzouri, Anthoula Malachias, Rania Mantikos and Evangelia Bilalis serve the Seniors. Koula Vennis and Debbie Funti pictured at the right, call out the Bingo numbers. Prize wiinners are seen below. Cathy Vial presented prizes to Maria Mellis, Irene Papazis, Alex Tiliakos, Eleftheria Demarinis, Olga Christakis, George Latsis and Mary Kontos.
Koula Vennis,(left) takes minutes. Refreshment table (right) Many thanks to Ginny Zissis, Maria Mellis and Maria Anastasiou for providing the delicious sandwiches and sweets Ginny Zissis (left) sets up the coffee (right) Cathy Vial, Debbie Funti, Elaine Nugent and Maria Mellis take a break before workshop on homeless mats. Mary Kontos, Gela Pembo, Olga Christakis (left) and Elaine Nugent and Helen Malachias (right) fold and cut plastic bags. Wishing you a Bright and Happy Easter. Barbara Stavis Wolf, Corresponding Secretary Connie Tiliakos, President