The parochial Caritas of Agios Loukas in Iraklio, Attica operates regularly, under the supervision and guidance of the priest Fr. Andreas Voutsinos and a group of ten volunteers of the parish, who offer their services to various fields of action, in the framework of social and philanthropic support to our parishioners who are in need.

Its income comes from:

• Money donations from parishioners all year round
• Love envelopes (Christmas & Easter)
• Revenue from the Christmas bazaar
• Donations made on the All Souls’ Day and Good Friday, as well as blessings of gravestones during the year

FIELDS OF ACTION

• FOOD-CLOTHING

Every Monday, the parishioners who wish to offer food with long shelf life, clothing, toys and other items, which are delivered and arranged by the two people in charge and are then provided to families of the parish who are in need.

• THIRD AGE
• People from the parochial Caritas visit sick or lonely people keeping them company.
• Visits are also scheduled to the two retirement homes of our Archdiocese, the “Good Samaritan” and the “Holy Cross” [Timios Stavros], where a meal or tea and live music are provided twice a year.
• Last year, for the first time, a visit was scheduled to the “Good Samaritan”. With a lot of fun, members of the parochial Caritas, young people as well as parishioners sang the carols with the accompaniment of instruments and gave every senior a small gift, in order to spread the message of the New Year.
• Visits are also scheduled to the Sisters of Carmel, where money and food are offered.
• Last, a volunteer from our parochial Caritas visits the residents of the “Good Samaritan” retirement home and entertains them, having created a choir.

• REFUGEES-MIGRANTS
• Our parochial Caritas provides Caritas Athens’ Refugee Program a sum of money monthly, courtesy of the parishioners, for the soup kitchen.
• In addition, food with long shelf life, clothing, blankets, toys and other useful items are regularly sent, whereas on the All Souls’ Day a sum of 1,230€ was gathered and milk for the refugee families was bought, as well as 480 more cartons of long-life milk.
• A large volume of clothing was delivered to a Catholic parish in Skodra, Albania.
• The Adolescents-Youth group of the parish visited the Sisters of Calcutta and offered food on behalf of Caritas for their soup kitchens.
• Moreover, food, clothing, toys and blankets were provided to Caritas “Divine Providence” of the Exarch of Byzantine Rite, whereas thanks to Fr. Andreas’ intervention, school supplies were offered to 40 children of the Exarch’s area for all the school year by donors.

• PRISONS

The priest Fr. Andreas visits the women’s prison in Thiva every month together with the Sisters of Mercy. The parochial Caritas offered shoes to the children who live together with their incarcerated mothers.

• BLOOD DRIVE

A member of our team, has been coordinating and cooperating closely with the Primary School of the Greek-French School “Saint Joseph” in Pefki for the last 7 years, in order to organize a “Voluntary Blood Drive” twice a year. Thanks to this action, approximately 60-70 bottles of blood are gathered, a gift of life and love to those who need it.

• CHILDREN-ADOLESCENTS

The parochial Caritas endorses summer vacation, as well as other activities for children and adolescents.

• PROGRAMS

The parochial Caritas actively participates in the various programs both of Caritas Hellas and Caritas Athens, such as:

 “I love and I offer”

Every month 5 families with financial problems are given a super market voucher of 40€ to buy food, a sum up to 50€ to pay a part of a Services of General Interest (DEKO) bill, as well as 50€ to pay a part of the medicine bill.