It’s the annual summer celebration that all friends of the United States in Greece await— the annual Fourth of July Reception at the Ambassador’s Residence in central Athens. The event’s invitation list is a who’s who of business, political and community leaders in Greece, as well as American citizens living and working in Athens.
But this year— the pandemic changed all that and plans for the reception were pivoted into an expression of American philanthropy, shared with those less fortunate in Greece.
US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt visited the headquarters of Apostoli, a Greek non-profit organization founded by the Church of Greece that supports food-vulnerable people, and shared hundreds of meals.
“Normally today we would have a huge reception at my residence to celebrate our day of independence,” Pyatt told Archbishop Ieronynos, head of the Greek Church. “Obviously, we could not do so this year because of the pandemic, but we wanted to do something to celebrate the holiday and as soon as we came up with this idea, I was certain that Apostoli would be the appropriate partner for this gesture from our Embassy.”
“This support reflects the best traditions of American philanthropy but also the deep and long-lasting ties between our two peoples,” Pyatt said in his remarks.
Pyatt also mentioned the connection that the Greek diaspora community has with Apostoli and how the previous Archbishop of America, Archbishop Demetrios, was instrumental in establishing the Apostoli center in Athens.
In addition to the visit to Apostoli, another delegation of Embassy staff visited the central Athens headquarters of Ark of the World (Kivotos Tou Kosmou) and delivered hundreds of meals there, as well.
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