AHEPA Commends Hellenic Caucus’ Summit on Greece / Backs effort to engage Homeland Security Dept. on Refugee Crisis
WASHINGTON, DC — The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), a
U.S. Rep. Bilirakis |
leading association for the nation’s millions of American citizens of Greek heritage and Philhellenes, applauds a Summit on Greece hosted by the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 2015, at the U.S. Capitol, announced Supreme President John W. Galanis.
As part of the summit, the Hellenic Caucus drafted a letter that will eventually be sent to Homeland
U.S. Rep. Maloney |
Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. The letter requests the Department of Homeland Security to formulate and provide practical recommendations and technical assistance to share with Greece and her respective border control agencies. Currently, the caucus co-chairs, U.S. Reps. Bilirakis and Maloney, are circulating the letter to their colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives for their consideration for signature.
- AHEPA has collaborated with International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) to secure nine shipping containers of medical supplies which have been delivered all throughout Greece, totaling more than $6 million in medical supply aid. Each shipping container costs between $15,000 and $20,000 to secure.
- In March 2013, AHEPA Canada donated a rigid bronchoscope machine valued at 10,000 euros (or approximately $12,000 Canadian) to Evangelismos Hospital. The rigid bronchoscope is used to prevent lung bleeding while positioning stents in tumors.
- More than $500,000 was donated to Apostoli Mission in Athens to help feed the needy people of Greece.
- Moreover, AHEPA’s 31 chapters on the ground in Greece are helping their local communities through their own charitable and philanthropic initiatives and programs.
AHEPA was founded in 1922 in Atlanta, Georgia, on principles that undergirded its fight for civil rights and against discrimination, bigotry, and hatred felt at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan. Even as recent as the late 20th century AHEPA supported legal measures to combat the KKK. In 1990, AHEPA filed an amicus curiae brief in the Georgia Supreme Court. It backed the legal position of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of B’nai B’rith International in support of a state law banning masks in public, which was challenged by the KKK. The court ruled 6 to 1 to uphold the constitutionality of the anti-mask statute
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