The New York City-based Greek America Foundation is seeking approximately a dozen volunteers to serve vulnerable populations alongside established non-profit organizations in Athens from August 17-31.
Volunteers will serve through the foundation’s Greek America Corps program which since 2017 has sent dozens of students and young professionals to offer their time and talents to humanitarian causes in Greece.
This program includes partnerships with METAdrasi, Kivotos Tou Kosmou and Emfasis, three organizations which have helped tens of thousands of individuals including homeless people, unaccompanied refugee children and abandoned and at-risk children.
The two-week volunteer program includes daily field work in Athens, as well as a weekend excursion to the island of Chios where Greek America Foundation volunteers will visit a center with hundreds of abandoned and at-risk children.
For U.S./Canadian college students, an option to receive three college credits is available for an additional fee via the Hellenic American University in Athens, a U.S.-accredited institution of higher learning. The university allows credits to be transferred back to the student’s home institution.
Full scholarships (not including airfare) are available for individuals with financial need and the program is open to anyone 18-30 years old.
The Greek America Foundation staff has regularly monitored the COVID-19 pandemic and this program will adhere to all guidelines as specified by US, Canadian and Greek health officials.
Click here for more details and to apply
DEADLINE TO APPLY IS FRIDAY, JULY 3 AT 11:59pm EST
About Greek America Corps
Summer 2020 will mark the Greek America Foundation’s third edition of the Greek America Corps volunteer program, which began in 2017 in Athens with The Home Project, a network of shelters for unaccompanied refugee minors.
In 2019 the foundation partnered with METAdrasi, a Greek charity which provides various services and support for unaccompanied refugee minors — children who have ended up in Greece by themselves after fleeing their countries of origin.
Volunteers from the trip referred to it as a “life-changing experience” and said they would remember it for a lifetime.
“I know that what I’m doing here now is going to not only stick with me for the rest of my life, but also with the people that I’ve been working with — both volunteers and the children,” said Harrison Ungert, a student from the University of North Carolina (Asheville). “I know my heart’s been touched and I strongly believed that theirs have been as well.”
“I think that our impact on [the children] has been huge and I hope that it’ll carry on past the program.” said Nicholas Ambus, a recent graduate from Arizona State University. “I think just the satisfaction of knowing that we made a difference in some lives has made me feel really good about doing this program.”
Watch more volunteer testimonies
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