Council honours John Mastrogiannakos for his community work during COVID

Three Greek Australians were nominated for their service and commitment to the Merri-Bek community ahead of the Merri-bek City Council annual awards ceremony.

In the ceremony that took place on 19 October, President of the Elderly Association of Brunswick Anna Giannakakos; Treasurer of the Elderly Association of Brunswick Nikos Litinakis and former President of the Pallaconian Brotherhood John Mastrogiannakos were acknowledged by their peers for their 2022 work.

Of the nominees, John Mastrogiannakos was awarded a High Commendation for his volunteer efforts in the past 12 months. John has been a member of the Merri-bek community for more than 66 years.

Mr Mastrogiannakos was referred to as “a truly selfless man who despite his age and many personal hardships, has chosen to passionately give back to the community”.

When he was 14 years old, he travelled from Greece with his father to build a better life for himself and his family. Having endured the difficulties of migrating to a new country John has always been determined to support incoming Greek migrants.

While listening to the radio one day John heard of how a community group had started an initiative to help raise money for overseas students who were not entitled to government payments due to being non-residents.

Having experienced the uncertainty and many challenges one contends with trying to make a living for themselves in a new country, John was inspired to coordinate a food drive.

Whilst the event was advertised on social media, John called members of the Pallaconian Brotherhood (serving as president of the Pallaconian Brotherhood at the time) and wider Greek community to encourage them to donate what they could.

Thousands of dollars’ worth of non-perishables, sanitary products, and other essential items donated were organised into care packages and provided to vulnerable members of the community including the elderly, isolated students and young families.

John worked tirelessly to locate those in need, delivering much of the care packages himself despite being 78 years old and being most vulnerable to Covid. When not delivering packages, John spent much of his time calling members of the community to check in with people, especially those living on their own during the lockdown.

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