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“Faith: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism” Completes Another Year of Philanthropy, Funding Various Educational and Cultural Initiatives in Support of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

A few of years ago, as a response to a challenge issued by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, a group of prominent Greek American leaders and philanthropists representing a diversity of professional fields and philanthropic values founded “Faith: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism.”  The core mission of this endowment is to promote Hellenism and an understanding of the Greek Orthodox faith through a series of high quality educational programs and cultural initiatives through an endowment to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

 Faith works to support the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in creating the ministries and educational programs that promote an understanding of our Orthodox faith, Hellenic culture, and the relationship of the two to each other and to America’s multicultural landscape.   The primary focus of Faith is to fund and encourage the development of new educational and cultural initiatives and opportunities through the Archdiocese for the community and future generations.

“More than ever, with our community membership expanding, there is an urgent need to support the Church’s existing educational programs as well as to promote new programs and opportunities that will incorporate new technologies and resources and also partner with secular, educational, and cultural institutions. We are particularly interested in developing innovative educational and cultural programs and new scholarship opportunities for young people,” said Mr.  Michael Jaharis, one of the original ten Founding Members of Faith.

As part of its inaugural year and initial funding, the Endowment supported the following in 2007:

-Faith Scholarship Awards:  Faith funded scholarships to the valedictorians and salutatorians of the parochial schools throughout the Archdiocese.  These merit-based scholarships are designated for educational purposes and underscore our commitment to excellence in education throughout our Archdiocese. 

-Technology Grants:  Faith funded two separate grants to the National Ministries for enhancing the technology infrastructure at Hellenic College / Holy Cross School of Theology and at the Archdiocese of America.  These grants provided immediate and critical funding for updating the School’s computer lab and technology infrastructure.  The upgrade of the computer equipment, software, digital technologies and technological connections are greatly benefiting the students and faculty and will allow for new educational programs and collaborations.  The Archdiocese Technology Project is a bold initiative that promises to transform how the Greek Orthodox Church ministers to her faithful.  This upgrade will empower Parishes, Metropolises, and the Archdiocese with a new state-of-the-art system of computerized tools, enhancing the Church’s ability to coordinate information for more effective outreach and evangelism.

-Oratorical Festival Awards:  With an allocation of funds from Faith, the Archdiocese provided college scholarship awards to the top three speakers in each category as well as the honorable mention candidates. Each year, hundreds of young people compete in the annual St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival of the Archdiocese.  Greek Orthodox teenagers write and talk about Orthodoxy and Hellenism to compete in the Oratorical Festival’s two divisions: the Junior Division for students in the 7th to 9th grades and the Senior Division for teenagers in the 10th to 12th grades.

-Communication Infrastructure Grant:  Faith funded a “Communication Infrastructure Analysis” of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America by an independent outside public relations firm.  This important study will provide the Church family with a roadmap for enhancing and rejuvenating the communication of Orthodoxy and Hellenism to our community. 

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios acknowledges, “On behalf of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, I extend the profound appreciation of the Church for the exemplary work and generosity of the Founding Members. Their support has enabled and strengthened the promotion of the mission and ministries of the Church and has built bridges of new opportunities in Hellenic Paideia and Culture and in the promotion of Orthodoxy.”

Looking Ahead to 2008:
In 2008, Faith looks toward continuing support of the aforementioned programs as well as working with the Archdiocese to inaugurate a series of grant and scholarship opportunities related to its mission and the development of new programs to support the enrichment of future community members and leaders.   For example, Faith plans to expand the allocations for the 2008 scholarship program and fund the participation of young people in innovative educational programs related to Orthodoxy and Hellenism hosted at cultural and academic institutions.

Also in 2008, a grant from Faith will support an exciting new program to produce a series of books for a truly effective comprehensive teaching of the Greek language and culture created by the leading specialists and scholars in relevant fields.   The Archdiocese hopes to have the first books of the new series available for use in our schools next year.  The Archdiocese will also inaugurate a series of funded feasibility studies to pilot new professional development programs for our dedicated in-service Greek Language and Culture educators at local parishes.

“Faith encourages educational programs that promote the development of academic studies, scholarly research and artistic/creative projects in relation to Orthodoxy and Hellenism.  Faith will assist the Ministry-based initiatives that incorporate and promote the development and use of new technologies such as online educational programming and resources, film and television, and other digital technologies,” states Mr. Peter T. Kikis, President of Faith. “A commitment to excellence and realistic long term sustainability is at the core of the development of new programs to support the advancement of Hellenism and Orthodoxy in the United States for young, adult and elderly audiences.”  

“Our mission is to fund a diversity of programs about Orthodoxy and Hellenism whether for grass-roots level local programming, multi-institutional partnerships, or high profile large scale events and collaborations. I feel very personally committed to this mission and encourage everyone’s involvement and participation,” adds Mr. George D. Behrakis, one of the ten founding members as well as the Endowment’s first President, who currently serves as Vice Chairman of Faith and Chairman of Leadership 100.  In early 2008, Mr. Behrakis will chair a special evening of Hellenic programming which will include the screening of Maria Iliou’s new documentary, The Journey: The Greek American Dream, in Boston on behalf of Faith.

About the Founders:
The generous philanthropic support and commitment of the endowment’s nineteen Founders have enabled Faith to have a monumental year.  The first fifty donors will be honored and listed as “Founders.”  As of December 2007, the founding members’ circle includes: Hon. George Argyros, Mr. George D. Behrakis, Mr. Nicholas J. Bouras, Mr. John P. Calamos, Mr. John Catsimatidis, Mr. George Coumantaros, Mr. Michael Jaharis, Mr. Dennis Mehiel,  Mr. Dean C. Metropoulos, Mr. Peter T. Kikis, Mr. James Moshovitis, Mr. John Pappajohn, Mr. John A. Payiavlas, Mr. Alexander J. Spanos, Mr. Dean Spanos, Mr. Michael Spanos, Mr. Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, Mr. Kyriakos Tsakopoulos, and Ms. Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis.