Greek-Americans Struggle With Response to Fiscal Crisis

WASHINGTON. (New York Times). — As Greece’s turmoil deepened, Alex Batistatos fumed. In phone calls from Athens, his 83-year-old grandmother told him how her pension was slashed and neighbors were forced to beg. She gives medicine to a friend, she said. Hungry Athenians pick over street garbage for food. Frustrated, Mr. Batistatos, a 19-year-old student, returned to his Virginia home from college determined to help. Last weekend, he, along with his brother Chris, his parents and friends, organized a fund-raising walk at the National Mall — one family’s effort to offer help in the face of what many Greeks see as a calamity.

As the ramifications of Greece’s financial problems have spread, Americans of Greek descent have been struggling with how to respond. For many, the crisis represents an emergency as acute as an earthquake or a tsunami, with the same wrenching consequences of hunger, poverty and displacement.

• Already a subscriber?
  Sign in to read full article.
• Not a subscriber?
  Subscribe now and get full access!

May 18, 2012