Philanthropic group making a difference

Local chapter of Philoptochos works to help children and adults in need

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Philoptochos, meaning "friends of the poor" in Greek, is the second largest women's philanthropic group in the country.

The local chapter, the Ladies Philoptochos Society, Panagias Chapter, is headquartered at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church, 5300 S. El Camino Road. The charitable group works to help underprivileged children, adults and seniors.

"A lot of what we hear is just heartbreaking," said Angela Hernquist, president of the local chapter. "If we only had more resources, we would do a thousand things more."

Last year the group, which consists of approximately 120 members, was recognized with the Shining Star Award by the Clark County School District Community Partnership Program for its 10-year program of distributing Payless ShoeSource vouchers to children who otherwise may not have shoes, or at best, have shoes that don't fit.

Hernquist gave one child a new pair shoes, but the little girl didn't expect them to become her own.

"She put the shoes on, walked around a little bit, then she took them off and said 'Thanks,' " Hernquist said. "She didn't think they were hers to keep. That's absolutely heartbreaking."

Besides the ongoing shoe voucher program, within the last year the women have put together 300 activity bags and prepared 200 agape -- "love" in Greek -- bears for children being treated at the Pediatric Care Unit at University Medical Center and distributed hundreds of blankets to the Southern Nevada Center for Independent Living.

The activity bags distributed to children at UMC contained simple toys, crayons and coloring books.

"One of the nurses said that the activity bag was more than some kids got for Christmas," said Trish Kourafas, second vice president and head of philanthropy for the group. "There are just so many ways and people to help. So I try to find the needs and projects where we can make a big difference."

Philoptochos hosts fundraisers throughout the year, but the group's largest event is the Greek pastry sale, during which members sell nearly 40,000 pastries. The annual Greek Food Festival is the largest fundraising event for the church on a whole, and some funds from that event go to the women's group as well.

On top of the fundraising efforts, the women receive $10,000 from a benefactor who requests the money be equally divided among the homeless, seniors and children.

"Our benefactor was the genesis of it all," Kourafas said. "That was the starting point."

Hernquist has been involved with Philoptochos for about 15 years and Kourafas has been involved for about 16 years. Both women joined upon moving to Las Vegas.

Over the years the society also has supplied the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth with a washing machine, a full-size refrigerator and 500 sweatshirts.

The list of good deeds the group has done is long, but the work will never be done, Hernquist said.

The Philoptochos Society is more than 100 years old. The first chapter was formed in New York City in 1902. The society applied for a state charter to become a philanthropic agency devoted to charitable activities while aiding the poor, and societies kept growing from that point on.

"We really are looking at some of the basic needs of people," Hernquist said. "It is really rewarding work, yet sometimes it can be so frustrating not being able to do all you want to do."