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About Philoptochos

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"Philoptochos, established in 1931 by the late Patriarch Athenagoras I, means 'friend of the poor.' It is a national volunteer organization that promotes charitable, benevolent and philanthropic outreach to preserve the sanctity of life and family and to perpetuate and promote our Orthodox faith and traditions." www.philoptochos.org

The Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, Inc., is the duly accredited women's philanthropic society of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The mission of the Society shall be:

• To help the poor, the destitute, the hungry, the aged, the sick, the unemployed, the orphaned, the imprisoned, the widowed, the handicapped, the victims of disasters, to undertake the burial of impoverished persons and to offer assistance to anyone who may need the help of the Church through fund raising efforts; and
• To promote the charitable, benevolent, and philanthropic purposes of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, through instructional programs, presentations, lectures, seminars and other educational resources;
• To preserve and perpetuate Orthodox Christian concepts and the Orthodox Christian Family, and through them, to promote the Greek Orthodox Faith and traditions, in accordance with its doctrines, canons, discipline, divine worship, usages and customs;
• To promote participation in the activities of the Greek Orthodox community, with the cooperation of the Parish Priest and the Parish Council.

The charitable work of the Society shall be performed with discretion, courtesy and kindness.

In 1999, our local chapter, The Ladies Philoptochos Society of St. Nektarios, was formed with great excitement. Thanks to the generosity of our members, the financial support of our community, and efforts of all involved in our fundraising, our chapter raises and distributes thousands of dollars to the charities we support. The generosity does not end with money. Our chapter donates hundreds of Christmas gifts to inner city children, hundreds of blankets to hospitalized youth, hundreds of sandwiches to soup kitchens, hundreds of snack packs to the homeless, plus many more items for new poor mothers, homeless women, and orphaned children.

In addition to supporting our National and Metropolis obligations and charities, we have our offered time, talent or treasure to the following over the years:

Ladies over age 18 who are members of our parish are invited to become members of the Philoptochos. Our annual membership drive begins in January with our annual Membership Tea and culminates in April. We, however, encourage membership renewals and gladly welcome new members throughout the year.