Greece’s President Katerina Sakelaropoulou honored on Wednesday an 84-year-old philanthropist who sold her only land to buy an ambulance for her town.
Athena Papachristou a retiree farmer, donated the new ambulance to the local branch of the Greek National Centre for Emergency Response in Missolonghi, western Greece, under the condition that it will be used to serve the needs of the town’s hospital only.
On a humoristic note, the elderly benefactress has also asked that the ambulance gives a little toot in greeting each time that it happens to pass from in front of her house.
Greek woman deposited a lifetime’s savings
The Greek woman’s generosity was prompted after having been disappointed by delayed responses over the years whenever her late husband or herself had needed to be admitted to hospital.
In a ceremony at the Presidential Mansion, a deeply moved Sakellaropoulou, awarded her a prestigious medal for her love and devotion to her fellow citizens and her generosity towards Greece.
“Having experienced the difficulties of transporting patients herself, having realized how important such a vehicle is for saving the lives of her fellow citizens, she deposited a lifetime’s savings for its acquisition and offered it with true greatness of soul.”
Sakellaropoulou also referred to Panagiotis and Sotiria Arabatzis, who were unable to attend the ceremony, recalling that they “donated 100,000 euros to the Didymoteicho Hospital, an amount that was used by the hospital to acquire a vehicle to transport disabled patients and to purchase equipment.”
She added that “such offerings from everyday people, with limited financial means but with profound empathy, kindness and self-transcendence, prove in practice that when we see ourselves in others, our world becomes better.”
Greece honors other philanthropists
Along with Papachristou, the Greek President also honored collector Dimitrios Pyromallis and the president of the Ethnological Museum of Thrace, Angeliki Giannakidou.
Addressing the honored individuals, Sakellaropoulou spoke of her honor and gratitude.
“Honor for your selflessness and dedication to the cause of the common good, and gratitude for your quiet but so important contribution. Your action and initiatives constitute an unsurpassed example of tireless creativity, moral alertness, sense of duty and profound altruism,” she said.
“We honor Dimitrios Pyromallis for his donation to the Greek National Opera of the precious collection he acquired with his own efforts, searching all over the world for documents from the life and work of the legendary Maria Callas. Thousands of vinyl records and CDs, hundreds of books, periodicals, photographs, autographs, private letters, stamps, medals and personal items of Callas make up a priceless cultural treasure.
“This is a donation of the utmost importance since it documents in the most complete way the myth and art of the most sensational opera singer of the 20th century, and through its utilization, it performs an educational work for the younger generations.”
Speaking about Angeliki Giannakidou, she pointed out that “for fifty years, she has been recording, preserving, collecting, documenting and organizing the material remains of Thracian culture.
In 2002, she founded the Ethnological Museum of Thrace, where artifacts dating from the 17th century to the present day are collected, and then created the Network of Craftsmen of Thrace RIZA, to utilize local craftsmen and transform the cultural heritage of the region into a force for the development of Thrace.