LEADERSHIP 100 GIVES $100,000 EMERGENCY GRANT FOR HURRICANE KATRINA DISASTER

New York - John A. Payiavlas, Chairman of Leadership 100, announced that the Executive Committee of Leadership 100, at an extraordinary teleconference September 6, decided to grant $100,000 immediately to the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) to provide assistance to people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Working with local Orthodox Christian churches and with national partners like the Red Cross and others, IOCC has been assisting in efforts to house, feed and otherwise assist the more than one million people temporarily displaced by this storm.

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, as Chairman of the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), under which the IOCC operates, will leave today for Baton Rouge to see first-hand the humanitarian efforts and present the Leadership 100 check, according to Fr. Dimitrios Antokas, Leadership 100 Executive Director.

Mr. Payiavlas said: “We have been witnesses to another great national tragedy, but we are comforted that our spiritual leaders, Archbishop Demetrios, the Eparchial Synod, and Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta, who has jurisdiction over the affected areas, as well as the Orthodox Bishops of SCOBA and the IOCC have immediately responded.”

“Just as with the September 11 Relief Fund, for which we raised more than $500,000, Leadership 100 is ready to support this effort. We will ask our members to add to this initial grant in the coming weeks by supporting the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Fund of the Archdiocese, established for that purpose,” said Mr. Payiavlas.