Flood Victims of Thessaly, Greece: Milina

Update October 26, 2024:

Pictured: Town President Kostas Gkoutzinis with some of the appliances.

To everyone that has donated, THANK YOU! We closed the GoFundMe page reaching a total of $15,820 USD. Over the past few weeks we transferred all of the funds to a store in the city of Volos (SAMARAS). The money was used to purchase 45 appliances that are being distributed across about 25 different families. These appliances included 15 ovens, 15 refrigerators, 15 washing machines. You have all received tremendous thanks from the people in Milina. We worked with the town’s president and the town’s priest to coordinate where the money could be best utilized at the time of closing the fundraiser, and to which families the appliances would go to.

THANK YOU! In addition to many thanks sent on the behalf of those who received appliances, I wanted to share this email I received with all of you.

Please see below. (Translated for your convenience from original language in Greek)

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Good Evening,

My name is Maria Gkoutzini, I am writing to you on behalf of my father, Stavros and our family. We would like to thank you for the help you offered us at such a difficult time when we were in great need. You helped us rebuild our home after almost everything was destroyed by the flood. We are very moved by the fact that people who live so far away from us and who probably do not know us stepped in and donated money. Again, thank you very much, we are very grateful. We wish you all the best!

———

We wanted to thank each and every one of you for your incredible generosity and for helping make this fundraiser such a success. The town is still in rough shape, but together we were able to help a multitude of families get back on their feet after losing everything.

Sincerely,

The Anagnostou Family

ORIGINAL POST:

My name is Alexandra and I am raising funds for the flood victims of the town of Milina in the region of Thessaly, Greece.

My hope for this fundraiser is to raise money to provide for the community of Milina who’s people have lost everything in the floods of Storm Daniel. Within 12 hours, this area witnessed double the amount of rainfall than typically falls in one year. People watched as flood waters rose and gushed through the streets, ripping through the town and with it everything in its path. What's remained of peoples' homes are mud filled rooms. All furniture and all personal belongings were either washed away or completely destroyed. Others lost their homes entirely. There is no doctor in the town. The pharmacy destroyed. There is no clean running water. Roads are collapsed.

We understand many of you have no roots, attachment, and might even be unfamiliar with our region of Thessaly in Greece. This area is most commonly known for having been filmed in Mamma Mia.

What's our reason? Tucked away about 5 hours north of Athens, sits our small waterfront village of Milina where our father was born. Like many other Greek immigrants, our father left at the young age of 16 on merchant marine ships, eventually docking in the United States and finding home in New York. He built a successful business, met our mother, and grew our family. We spent our summers in his hometown of Milina, staying weeks and months at a time; connecting with our family, our roots, meeting new friends. We grew up in NY, but Greece - Milina especially, was always home.

The people of this town have a tremendous amount of work ahead of them, and so we are asking for your help. In the time since the flooding, the people of Milina have come together to help each other as a true community going from home to home, business to business, ensuring the elderly are fed and checked in on. A huge piece of who we are has been destroyed and with it our neighbors, friends, family, have lost everything.

Whatever we are able to raise, no matter how small the amount, will be used towards purchasing essentials for those in need.

**Update** October 3, 2023

After discussing with the town President, the immediate need is to supply to approximately 26 families that are in dire need. The money will be used to purchase household items.

Items needed that funding will be applied for:

GoFundMe requires the funds be deposited into a US Bank Account since Greece is not on the list of countries where GoFundMe is able to send money directly to. From here, all funds raised will be wired to the Municipality of South Pelion.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

THANK YOU -

The Anagnostou Family

John, Christine, Tasos, Dionysios, & Alexandra