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6 THE SHEPHERD • JANUARY 2020 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO Hello St. Spyridon Families! I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas sea- son and I wish you a blessed New Year full of good health, peace and joy. Our December started with a festive Christmas luncheon at Del Frisco’s downtown and I thank Christine Tradas, Maria Stokes, Marilyn Yeatts, Gina Balourdas and Stella Pappas for coordinat- ing such a beautiful celebration. While min- gling with our Philoptochos friends, we were entertained by our own John Vassos with his musical talents. ank you John! On December 11, our Philoptochos ladies prepared a Lenten meal for our St. Spyridon Vespers celebration. ank you to Niki Dou- genis and Christina Marantos for chairing this meal and thank you to all who partici- pated. Our annual tradition of baking Greek sweets for our homebound parishioners took place during the week of December 9th. On De- cember 15th over 40 gi bags were distribut- ed. ank you to our chair Stella Pappas and her amazing husband Demetri and all those who participated in baking, assembling, and volunteering to deliver a gi bag. e bag was lled with Greek desserts, a Christmas fern, and a handmade scarf made by Mrs. Antiopi Trompas . ank you to all for bringing joy to our homebound. On December 16, we held our annual Angels Christmas party at our church hall for our Camp Agape families. We hosted over 150 people, including our own cancer survivors George Terris, George Saridakis and Geor- gia Nicolaou. Our St. Spyridon communi- ty, once again, gave so generously from gi cards, monetary donations, arts and cra s and food and drink. Our jolly Santa (Paul Kaitson) and our amazing choir led by Kathy Meck, truly added to the magic of Christ- mas. Each Camp Agape child and sibling received a stocking lled with treats (gener- ously donated and assembled by our amaz- ing Goyans) a $25 gi Target gi card, and a stu ed animal donated by Barnes and Noble. We were surrounded by the Christmas spirit and I thank our chairs Irene Veca & Christi- na Vassos and their committee who devoted so much of their time to make the evening so special. is outpour of love and generosity le us with $500, and since this money was intended for Kids ‘n’ Cancer, we presented Jeannie Ranglas with a check to San Fran- cisco Metropolis Kids ‘n’ Cancer Ministry. ank you St. Spyridon!! Listed below are our programs so please reach out if you are interested in helping in any way. Agape Meals led by Stella Weil. If you know of any parishioner going through a di€cult time and would enjoy a delivered home cooked meal, please see Stella. College Connection led by Gina Balourdas and Michelle Defelippi. We want to make sure our college students, whether here or away, stay connected with St. Spyridon. We will reach out to the students and let them know we are cheering them on with care packages, inspiring notes, and by keeping in touch throughout the year. Operation Classroom led by Gina Balour- das. Please see Gina if you are interested in volunteering at local schools in need of white boards, school supplies and evenwarmsocks. We thank our community for donating over 300 pairs of undergarments and socks to Monarch School, an accredited K-12 school for homeless children in San Diego. We thank all the families and ministries that have been so generous with o ering fellow- ship and co ee hour. If you have not o ered fellowship in the past year, please use the sign up genius in your email from Father Andrew. If everyone participates, your turn will come up once a year. ank you for your generosi- ty and as a reminder, the donations collected help us continue to serve the needy, and if you are a ministry o ering, you keep the do- nations. Please save the date for our upcoming Mem- bership Brunch on January 25, 2020 . is will give you an opportunity to renew your membership or join our vibrant group of women and men. Please see Kelly Samouris or Melanie Anastopulos with any questions. ey are planning a wonderful a ernoon. As always, we welcome new faces to join us on our quest to take care of the needy. If you are interested in helping in any way, there’s a spot for you! Please reach out to me anytime. 619-520-3660. In Christ, Marian Dougenis Anthousa Chapter President ΝΕΑ ΤΗΣ ΦΙΛΟΠΤΩΧΟΥ PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS AGAPE MEALS AGAPE MEALS NEEDS YOU! We currently have had several families in our parish who are in need of a meal or two - Are you able to help out by cooking and/ or delivering (or perhaps both?) a meal to a fellow parishioner who may be facing a di€cult or stressful time in their life (illness, new baby, etc)? If so, the Philoptochos Agape Meals Program is for you! If you would like more information on how you can participate, or know of someone in our community who could use a meal, please contact Stella Weil at 858.694.0570 or 4weils@sbcglobal.net. Please join us as we come together as a community to help one another. ank you. Commemorate a special Feast Day by of- fering a $75 donation towards the cost of a beautifully decorated icon which will be dis- played in the church Narthex for all to ven- erate. is o ering is a perfect way to honor both your family member(s) and an import- ant day in the life of the Church. To select a decorated icon, please visit our website anthousa.org and contact Stella Weil at 858- 694-0570 or 4weils@sbcglobal.net to reserve. Icon Decorations See our entire Philoptochos Chapter’s Calendar of Events at anthousa.org