MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH LOUKOUMI
The highlight of the Loukoumi Make a Difference Foundation’s year is Make A Difference Month, and now through our many partners nationwide including over 100,000 kids are now making a difference with Loukoumi on Make A Difference Month. In addition to the hundreds of Loukoumi events going on across the country, each year we sponsor Loukoumi Good Deed Bus Tours where school buses filled with kids visit good deed stops on Make A Difference Month doing good deeds at each. The day culminates with a Good Deed Celebration in the evening where youth groups, schools and individual kids showcase their good deed projects that made a difference for charities of importance to them.
2019 LOUKOUMI GOOD DEED BUSES IN
BOSTON, GANDER, CHICAGO & NEW YORK
OCTOBER 12, 19, 22 & 26, 2019
BOSTON
Children on the Boston Loukoumi Good Deed Bus visited the MSPCA (pictured above) bringing supplies for the animal shelter. They also visited Hellenic College/Holy Cross in Brookline and made cards for patients at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and at Philoxenia House, which they visited on stop #3. Thank you to Despina Stavros, Constance and Georgeann Mavrovitis.
GANDER, NEWFOUNDLAND
Students at Gander Elementary School, who weren't born when 9-11 occurred, embarked on a very special Loukoumi Good Deed Bus visiting 9 stops. 22 of the students are among the authors in our Inspiring Stories book (see below) with the award winning musical Come From Away , which tells the story about how over 7,000 airline passengers were stranded in this Canadian town of Gander on 9-11 when their planes were diverted there due to the shutdown of the U.S. airspace. On October 19, students boarded the Loukoumi Good Deed Bus, visiting the stops featured in Come From Away . These kids followed in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents, sharing the same message of kindness as their relatives did 18 years ago. They brought supplies to the animal shelter, donated hockey equipment to the Arena for kids in need, canned goods to the Salvation Army, raked leaves at Town Hall, met with the present and former Mayors and cleaned furniture at the Pentecostal Church. The bus also made a very emotional stop at the Appleton Peace Park just outside town where they planted a tree in memory of those who lost their lives on 9-11 (Pictured above). They then placed rocks around the tree embossed with words of kindness and what made this act even more emotional is that adjacent to the tree was displayed an original piece of steel from the North Tower of the World Trade Center donated to the town by the U.S. government for all they did on 9-11 to assist the stranded passengers. It was indeed a very special day. Thank you to Assistant Principal Hillyard, Ms. Canning, Eileen and Gary Franklin and everyone in the wonderful Town of Gander for this very special day.
CHICAGO
Our Chicago Loukoumi Good Deed Bus started at the Hellenic American Academy where students made cards and collected donations for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital . The tour continued to Bernie's Book Bank where students sorted and packaged over 7,500 books! Students also presented a check of $5,000 thanks to a generous donation made by The Demetra and Eric Vassilatos Foundation in honor of the students’ efforts to make a positive difference in their community (pictured above). On the final stop students visited residents at the Greek American Rehabilitation & Care Centre where they shared donations, stories and performances to brighten the residents’ day. Thank you to everyone at the Hellenic American Academy for continuing the tradition on this second annual Loukoumi Good Deed Bus in Chicago. Looking forward to next year!
NEW YORK
Our New York Loukoumi Good Deed Bus started at Holy Trinity in New Rochelle where Executive Celebrity Chef Maria Loi cooked with over 50 kids. Together with the organization Philoxenia and the Soup Run they created and packaged over 81 meals which they then served to the homeless near Madison Square Garden in New York City (pictured above - photo by Jillian Nelson). The final stop of the day brought the children to the 9-11 Tribute Museum where following an emotional tour, children wrote "Never Forget" cards and letters for families who lost loved ones on 9-11. Special thanks to Maria Loi, Fr. Nick Anctil, Kwaku Farrar and everyone at the 9-11 Tribute Museum
Maria Loi cooks with the kids above followed by a visit to the 9-11 Tribute Museum (right).