GREENLAWN, NY – The Ladies Philoptochos of St. Paraskevi held a “Shower of New Beginnings” to honor our veterans as they transition to permanent housing on Tuesday, Mar. 21 at St. Paraskevi Community Hall in Greenlawn, New York.

President of the Philoptochos Georgia Constantine, Dorothy Pantason – Coordinator of Veteran Projects, Diane Bennis, and Northport Veterans Administration Representatives Mary Kelly and Joe Sledge were among those in attendance at the event.

The Veterans’ Wish List of Basic Household items included queen sized blankets and comforters, pots and pans, brooms, mops, pails, cleaning supplies, flatware, coffee pots, coffee, bath towels, toasters, microwaves, blenders, and other small household appliances, and gift cards to Target all of which were collected for the veterans. Refreshments were also served at the event.

The Philoptochos President Constantine and Coordinator of Veteran Projects Pantason said in a statement, “Veterans have risked everything for us – putting themselves in harm’s way – sacrificing time with their families in order to serve and protect us. We can acknowledge what they’ve done but we can’t begin to fathom – or – repay the sacrifices they’ve made. Our Veterans need more than our thanks.

Because of our love and concerns for our homeless veterans on Long Island it has become our mission as a Ladies Philoptochos to embrace the needs of the Veterans at the Northport VA Medical Center.

The Northport VA program places 2-6 Veterans and or Veteran families per month into a home. These veterans need everything as they begin anew. We held a Shower of New Beginnings to honor our veterans as they transition to permanent housing. A Wish List of household items needed was given to us by the VA.

Joe Sledge- Northport Veterans Administration Rep. , Antonia Mattheou- Huntington Archives, Georgia Constantine- St. Paraskevi Philoptochos President, Dorothy Pantason- Coordinator of the St. Paraskevi Veterans Project, Terri Addamo, Catherine Andreadis. Photo by Iris De Vita

The gift table was overflowing with housewarming donations from the overwhelming generosity of everyone. The youth of our parish made a Veteran Wishing Well and assembled wishing well gifts. Guests wrote sentiments on cards to share with the new homeowners.

Some of the Veterans from our Koumbaro Club shared memorabilia from their war experiences. Other parishioners shared memorabilia from family members. Thank you Jim Andreadis and George Dimitriou for organizing this educational display.

Our spiritual leader, Father Lou Nicholas, guided us in a prayer of gratitude for those who serve our country. We culminated the evening by singing God Bless America led by Pauline Kitsopoulos, a choir member of St. Paraskevi. It was a very moving and memorable evening for all of us.

St. Paraskevi GOYA. Photo by Iris De Vita

We are pleased to report that our “Shower” was a tremendous success thanks to the efforts of our community and all those who attended that evening and generously gave gifts for the veterans. We are happy and proud that we will be able to make a difference in the lives of our Long Island Veterans.

We want to thank Joe Sledge – Health System Specialist and Senior Leadership Assistant and Mary Kelly – the Social Work Section Chief of the HUD-VASH from the Northport Medical Center for enlightening us and highlighting the programs for Veterans at the Northport VA.

The gift table at the event at St. Paraskevi in Greenlawn, NY. Photo by Iris De Vita

A special thank you to our sister Philoptochos Chapters from St. Nicholas in Babylon, Church of the Holy Resurrection in Brookville, St. Anna’s in Hempstead, St. John’s Blue Point— for not only joining us at our event but for their generous support of our project.

We want to thank our committee – Georgia Misoulis, Peggy Pietzak, Zina Poulis, Diane Bennis, Terri Addamo, Sophia DeMonte and Elaine Hatzis for assisting us in organizing and fulfilling our vision.”

More information on St. Paraskevi Shrine Church in Greenlawn is available online at www.stparaskevi.org.