Greek Australian mums rallied together in November last year to raise $20,754 (12,786.54 euro) for the DESMOS Foundation in Greece to put towards wildfire relief.
The fundraising was made possible when Effie Moraitis and Tina Tzanopoulos from ‘Greek Mums and Bubs Melbourne,’ Rea Liapis from ‘The Hellenic Heart Australia‘ and Kristina Agaliotis from ‘Are You Even Greek?‘ saw wildfires ravage the Greek island of Evia in August 2021 and decided they wanted to do something to help.
READ MORE: Greek Australian mums rally together to raise over $20,000 for wildfire relief in Greece.
In the end, their huge act of filotimo and kindness paid off as Desmos confirmed to The Greek Herald on Sunday that the funds went towards building a new 5×5 soccer field at Limni, Evia, adjacent to the area’s Elementary School.
The soccer field was officially handed over to the local children and residents on Sunday, where they enjoyed a soccer game together with balls donated by Adidas.
The initiative has been praised by the local Evian community including the President of the Limni Community of Evia, Giannis Triantafyllou, who thanked DESMOS and those who donated for their support.
“It is a stadium that will enable young and old to enjoy their favourite sport in a renovated and modern space,” Mr Triantafyllou said.
The General Manager of Desmos, Emily Kern, also thanked the Greek Australian mums for their trust and support.
“We could not have done it without you,” Ms Kern said. “We hope that [the soccer field] will be a source of joy and hope for the residents, not only of the Limni Community but also of the wider area, for many more years.”
In a statement to The Greek Herald, Kristina Agaliotis from ‘Are You Even Greek?‘ said that she’s really proud Greek Australian mums could play their part in Evia’s bushfire recovery.
“We are thrilled and incredibly proud that all our efforts have contributed to the new soccer field for children and residents of Evia to enjoy,” Kristina said.
“Desmos have been a pleasure to work with and very transparent with how they are using funds to rebuild the fire affected areas. We look forward to a long and successful working relationship with Desmos.”
Desmos, a non-profit foundation, responded immediately to support the fire-affected areas throughout Greece last year, offering real help and relief to those affected.
