The SNF Launches a New Initiative to Combat the Crisis in Greece, with Grants to the Country’s Two Largest Municipalities, as well as to Welfare & Health Care Organizations

Following an announcement by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s Board of Directors on June 25, 2015, according to which the Foundation launches a second Initiative, totaling €100 million, within the next year, the selection of the first grantees has been approved. This Initiative is aimed towards those members of society that have been affected the most by the crisis in Greece, and is effective immediately and complementary to the Foundation’s regular grantmaking activities. With this new grant Initiative, the Foundation reaffirms its commitment to the country and to the Greek people, as it will now have allocated more than €1 billion for actions in Greece in the past years.

Specifically, the Foundation proceeds with a grant, totaling €20 million, towards the Municipalities of Athens and Thessaloniki, each of which will receive a grant of €10 million, in order to cover the immediate needs of citizens in the large urban centers, who are experiencing the consequences of the deepening crisis more severely. At the same time, as part of the grant, these two municipalities will have the opportunity to serve as collaborative hubs, assuming the responsibility of coordinating and cooperating with the neighboring municipalities, for the implementation of the synergetic actions, according to the respective needs of the various municipalities. 

Furthermore, as part of this new €100 million Initiative, and as a first step, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation has approved grants totaling €3.7 million to the nonprofit organizations Faros, PRAKSIS, Foundation for the Care of People With Mental Retardation or Down Syndrome "M. Kokkori", as well as to the ATTIKO General University Hospital, the Metaxa Cancer Hospital of Piraeus, the General Hospital of Nikaia-Piraeus “St Panteleimon”, the General Hospital of Athens “Elpis” and the Athens General Hospital of Thoracic Diseases “Sotiria”, in order to support their work. Similar to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s first “Initiative Against the Greek Crisis” (2012-2015), this second emergency grant program in Greece seeks to strengthen the Social Welfare and Health Care sectors, which are faced with unprecedented challenges.  

Andreas Dracopoulos, Co-President of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, commented: “Each one of us, to the extent of our own abilities, today more than ever before, we have the moral obligation to help the country and our fellow citizens, during this most critical juncture. There should be no delay, or excuse, as   now is the time to support each other, so that tomorrow may find us stronger and united.”

It is noted that this new Initiative Against the Crisis complements the first respective program of grants, through which the Stavros Niarchos Foundation—between 2012 and 2015—allocated another €100 million, implementing more than 220 grants, which primarily supported the areas of Social Welfare and Health, but also Education and Culture. At the same time, the Foundation continues its “Recharging the Youth” Initiative, also totaling €100 million, which began in October 2013, with the purpose of creating better employment prospects and new opportunities for the younger generation in Greece. All these extra initiatives are implemented above and beyond the Foundation’s usual activities, which continue as usual.