Dear Members and Friends,

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, we, at the Hellenic Heritage Foundation, are deeply concerned for the health and wellbeing of our local communities as well as the health and safety of our members, friends, supporters and their families.  We extend our heartfelt salute to our governments, the medical community, front-line workers and to the many agencies that are stepping up to ensure our safety and wellbeing.

In response to the unprecedented crisis, the HHF is turning its immediate attention to support our local community partners to deal with the needs and challenges posed by the coronavirus threat.  There are many in our community, such as the elderly and other vulnerable individuals, who need our help now more than ever.  We have reached out to local partners, such as the Hellenic Home for the Aged, to offer our assistance and support. 

In our own effort to flatten the curve, the HHF is cancelling or postponing certain programs and events until we are clear of the coronavirus threat.  We are postponing the June 5th 2020 Gala to June 2021 and look forward next year to celebrating with a renewed hope and optimism.  Thank you to our Gala Chair, Peter Eliopoulos and our Gala sponsors for their leadership and generosity.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our directors, members, volunteers, partners and supporters for your outstanding commitment over the past several years.  With your support, we successfully completed the endowment of the Hellenic Studies Program at the University of Toronto, sponsored the Heritage Greece Program for study abroad, and launched the dynamic new Next Generation Committee among our many accomplishments.  We also recently launched an innovative online Greek Language Education Portal (www.GreekLanguage.ca) which is currently proving invaluable to many families and Greek language programs, helping bridge the gap for students without classroom instruction.

Our Board and Committees will continue to work towards new initiatives to advance our Greek language, education and heritage and we look forward to announcing new initiatives, most likely next year.  Our immediate priority is to help our community respond to the challenges and uncertainties posed by the coronavirus threat.  Please consider how you can help our seniors and other vulnerable citizens.

Stay safe, healthy and positive and God bless you.

Tony Lourakis

President

Hellenic Heritage Foundation