BOSTON – The organization Faith: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism, will donate the sum of 20 million dollars for the completion of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center in New York. The decision was made on Tuesday evening, February 11, 2020 with consensus and solidarity, and it concluded the meeting of the board of directors of Faith, presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.
The National Herald has learned that the decision came after a long and exhausting process that determined that Faith should participate in the historic project of St. Nicholas, which is not only an expression of pride for Orthodoxy and Hellenism in America, but monument for the entire World.
After this big step taken Faith, it is believed that Leadership 100 will also be called to decide if it will also participate in this sacred and magnificent project of the Greek Orthodox Church in America or not. Next week Leadership 100 will hold its annual Conference in Florida.
It should be noted here that after this sizeable donation, the biggest ever for the project of St. Nicholas, Faith will continue its mission of supporting Greek-American Youth by providing scholarships for academic excellence and also for participation in the summer camp programs of the Ionian Village at Vartholomio Greece.
The Faith donation is of pivotal importance because it secures the deadline for the completion of St. Nicholas of September 11, 2021, which Archbishop Elpidophoros announced at the last meeting of the Archdiocesan Council in October.
Former Archbishop Demetrios of America after a meeting with Archbishop Elpidophoros supported, the decision of Faith, handing him a letter appealing to the organization reminding its members that the initial purpose of establishing Faith was to serve the needs of the Church. Archbishop Elpidophoros presented the letter at the meeting which was read by Fr. Alexander Karloutsos, Vicar General of the Archdiocese. After the reading of the letter Archbishop Elpidophoros reportedly told those present that “as you see, the request to contribute to St. Nicholas doesn’t come only from one Archbishop, but from two.”
TNH has learned that the initial proposal for the donation was made by prominent Greek-American businessman Dean Metropoulos.
The initial idea for establishing the Faith endowment fund came from the late Michael Jaharis, then-Vice Chairman of the Archdiocesan Council under former Archbishop Demetrios tenure, and it goes back to the year 2004. The idea was for wealthy Greek-Americans to contribute one million dollars each. The group began with ten members.
On the official Faith website, it is written that “FAITH: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism promotes an understanding of the Greek Orthodox faith, Hellenism, and excellence through a series of high quality, innovative educational programs and cultural initiatives.”
The following aims are also listed under a header that reads, Promoting Hellenism, supporting the Greek Orthodox faith and celebrating excellence in education for future generations:
Providing financial aid grants for young people to travel to Greece through Ionian Village summer camp. Each year, the Endowment underwrites partial and full scholarships to young Greek Americans who otherwise would not have been able to attend.
Challenging young, talented and intelligent Greek Americans to attain (and sustain) excellence by offering college scholarships.
Enriching the classrooms of Greek Language programs nationwide by underwriting the publication and distribution of new textbooks and multimedia resources that will update and enhance the classrooms for our youngest children and their teachers.
Partnering with the Fulbright Foundation to support scholarly exchanges between Greece and the United States.
Supporting programs to educate and raise awareness about our Greek Orthodox faith throughout the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the world.
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