GREECE WILDFIRES RELIEF FUND

WILDFIRES!!!

During August, Greece was suffering by enormous wildfires. The situation in Greece was dramatic. Zero organisation, unmet needs, devastated people, fire victims were helpless. Me, and my partner, Aris Katsigiannis, became one of the responsible teams in the country for allocating the food and supplies from Athens to Peloponnesus and Euboea. We volunteered to the social kitchen o Allos Anthropos who’s been cooking for people in need for many years and other NGOs such as Humanity. We and many volunteers were driving to Euboea and Peloponnesus to provide local fire victims and volunteer firefighters with food and supplies. 

Me and Aris Katsigiannis came up with the idea of a gofundme page in order to be able to help as much more as we can. We knew we were capable to gather together a remarkable amount in a short period of time, considering our social network and expertise through digital world and above all the will people had to find a trustworthy source to help. Especially, even after the wildfires were settled down, this is when people need funds the most in order to get back to their daily lives, as many people here work in rural Greece. One of the pinpoints we addressed is the firefighters in Greece, both in service or volunteers (low key equipment, few fireproof uniforms etc). Furthermore, firefighter volunteers’ meals prior to our intervention was dry food (croissants and potato chips).

Having lived in the States and graduated from NYU, I acknowledge that GoFundMe is the most trustworthy source. Taking under consideration that is not affiliated with any Greek organisation, we contacted our dearest friend Ognen Hristovski, who is a US citizen to help us in the process of the fundraiser. Ognen Hristovski will be withdrawing the funds and will deliver them to Aris Katsigiannis Greek bank account so we can process with the following donations. 

After thorough research, we decided to focus on the most devastated areas from the wildfires such as Euvoia and Peloponnesus, helping the core firefighter stations in need. Furthermore, we will donate to NGOs and fire victims in in Euboea (Istiaia, Mantoudi, Hronia) and in Ilia Region in Peloponnesus. 

Specifically, the money of this fundraiser will go to: 1. Equipment for firefighters and volunteer firefighters 2. Donation to NGOs such as the social kitchen “o allos anthropos” who helped enormously by offering more than 1500 meals per day and Humanity, which was the other NGO along with we organised the logistics for the supplies all over Greece 3. Donation to elderly and fire victims in the villages with the most needs. 

Thank you all friends and family around the world for your immediate response and the opportunity we created together for the people in need. Many families are still in a cruel situation and we are blessed we managed to gather this amount for them to build hopes and feed souls with love.

-Aris
-Elena
-Tilemachos