My Experience with The Loukoumi Foundation in 2022-2023
By Maggie Hynes
I have been a member of the Loukoumi Kids Club Board for a year and a half now. In this article I am going to talk about my past experiences with this foundation and why this program helps the world we live in!
Visit to the Animal Shelter
This past June classmates from my school, Anne Hutchinson Elementary, visited the Yonkers Animal Shelter. We donated supplies for the cats and dogs. We also got a tour of the facility and got to see all of the animals. I brought my dog Skittles (Keeping in mind she is a black lab which is such an ironic name for her) and we had such a great experience. If it weren't for the Loukoumi Foundation, Founder Nick Katsoris, and the kind staff of the Yonkers Animal Shelter, none of this would have happened. I loved seeing the animals, watching them doing tricks, barking at the other dogs, and making us laugh. It was great to donate the supplies so that the animals could have toys, food, and treats. That day was so amazing for everyone there and I felt like we made a difference.
The Good Deed Bus
October 2022 was Make a Difference with Loukoumi Day. We all got on the Good Deed bus and started a day of kindness. We donated books to underprivileged kids. We met Mr Met at the The Variety Boys & Girls Club in Queens. One of the stops was at the Fountains at Riverview nursing home in Tuckahoe. Once we got there, we gave the nursing home residents little goodie bags. We also wrote some little positive post-it notes beforehand and then put them on the doors of their rooms. Some of my friends played instruments like the cello, saxophone, violin, and even did some singing! I could see the residents’ enormous smiles, which brightened up everyone’s day. I could tell that this is what the residents needed to see, which made me and others so happy. I'm so grateful for everyone who organized this event and gave my school a chance to make others smile. This was one of the best things that The Loukoumi foundation has given me - a chance to do. I can't wait for the next time we do this!
Anne Hutchinson Good Deed Celebration
Last year towards the end of the school year. The Founder of the Loukoumi Foundation Nick Katsoris talked about how we were going to make multiple tables for different causes and do fun activities at the tables. We were all really excited and got to work right away with no further questions asked. Brainstorming, designing, and working together made the Anne Hutchinson Good Deed celebration happen! We collected food supplies for the Oasis homeless shelter, animal supplies for the Yonkers Animal Shelter, baseball and softball equipment, made cards for nursing home residents and so much more. We raised over $230 for the St Jude Children's Research Hospital and $161 for environmental causes. That's almost a total of $400 raised which is so crazy and wild! This was such a great opportunity for my school and we laughed and smiled a lot that day, thanks to everyone who helped make this happen!
Loukoumi Make a Difference Awards Ceremony
On June 1, 2023 a couple of friends from Anne Hutch were so fortunate to attend the Loukoumi Make a Difference Awards ceremony. Myself, Anthony Napior and Vivienne Palazzo all got to present awards! It was nerve wracking, but we all did it and felt very proud of ourselves. We had such a great time partying and dancing all night long, topped off with great food and speeches. My school, Anne Hutchinson, got an award for our Adopt a Nursing Home Project. We all got so excited when accepting it and it felt amazing. There was music, cake, and videos of all these amazing people who raised money and donated tons of supplies to foundations, shelters, and centers, and helped save the environment, which was very inspirational and cool to watch. I met so many new and remarkable people who did amazing things for the world that night. It truly was a night to remember!
Why I Love this Program
Why do I love this program? Why do I keep going on and on about what this foundation did for me? Well, there are a lot of reasons why. First off, I have made lots of new friends and gotten closer to people I didn't know very well. They gave me ideas and got me thinking outside the box which has helped me to write this article. This Foundation has given us such great opportunities and we did some incredible things to help others. Last but not least, The Loukoumi Foundation made me who I truly am and burst my bubble of doubting myself and thinking I could not make a difference. Again I would like to give a big thank you to Nick Katsoris for everything he has done to help others and the world.
Thank you!
“UNLESS somebody like you cares a whole awful lot nothing is going to get better, It's not” - Dr. Suess