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Florence Inflicts Damage to AHEPA Senior Housing Property AHEPA 408 Apartments in Wilmington, N.C., sustained damage from Hurricane Florence as the storm battered the Carolinas. The intense rain and wind compromised the roof of the 50-unit affordable housing for the elderly property, resulting in significant water damage to several units, primarily on the building's third floor. One apartment had its ceiling cave in and most of the water entered through the apartments' air conditioning units.   Also, the front door of the facility was blown off completely. The Greek American community of Wilmington has rallied to support the apartments' elderly residents. Ed Mayorga, chairman, AHEPA 408 Apartments Board of Directors, and Lim Vallianos, who is the board's immediate past chairman, have been on-site to assess the damage and interface with the residents. Chris and Jeannie Tsingelis, of Chris' Restaurant, provided 40 hot meals to the residents, who have gone without electricity and hot meals for almost five days. "We are indebted to Jeannie and Chris," Mayorga said. AHEPA Happenings | Farewell Dinner for U.S. Ambassador AHEPA District 27, Cyprus, hosted a farewell dinner for U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Cyprus Kathleen A. Doherty. Supreme Governor Region 10 Phanos Pitiris and District 27 Governor Periklis Theodoridis were on-hand to bid farewell to Ambassador Doherty, who has served in Nicosia since 2015.  Supreme President George E. Loucas and Canadian President Christos Argiriou also shared a moment with Ambassador Doherty at the Thessaloniki International Fair, last week. AHEPA Remembrance | September Events of 1922, 1955   During September, AHEPA reflects and remembers the catastrophic events of September 1922 (the burning of Smyrna) and September 1955 (the Istanbul Pogrom) and shares the following articles, journal pieces, and other resources with our audience for a more in-depth historical perspective and additional insight: International Association of Genocide Scholars: The Istanbul Pogrom of 6-7 September 1955 in the Light of International Law  Article: September 6-7, 1955: Krystallnacht in Constantinople (The Pappas Post) Must Read: The Mechanism of Catastrophe: The Turkish Pogrom Of September 6 - 7, 1955, And The Destruction Of The Greek Community Of Istanbul by Speros Vryonis, Jr., Ph.D. Must Read: The Blight of Asia by former U.S. Consul General to Smyrna George Horton Article: September 10, 1922: The Martyrdom of Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Smyrna (The Pappas Post) Article: New York Times Recounts 'Turkish Atrocities' in Smyrna 1922; Testimony Based on American Doctor's Account (The Pappas Post) Must Read: The Great Fire - a Harper Collins book about an American minister who saved 250,000 Greeks from Smyrna Fire in 1922 (on Amazon)  ICYMI | AHEPA Canoutas Lecture Commemorates the Septemvriana of 1955 (The National Herald) Congressional Hellenic Caucus Membership is 126.   Help It Grow.    Although Congress is heading into the homestretch of the 115th Congress, there is still plenty of time to increase the membership of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues. AHEPA asks for your help. The Hellenic Caucus has been an active, bipartisan group in Congress since its founding in 1995.  It is co-chaired by U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and its co-founder, Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).   Membership in the Hellenic Caucus stands at 126.   Is your U.S. representative a member?  Click here to find out. Download & Share: Action Alert to help you outreach to your U.S. representative  Don't forget to follow AHEPA on social media:

Upcoming Events & Deadlines September 21 - 23 | 2018 Governors Conference, Washington, D.C. October - November 26 | Deadline for The Ahepan winter issue 29 - 3 |  2018 AHEPA National Golf Invitational, Frisco, Texas Join AHEPA Today! In Our Own Words. What AHEPA means to us. Join AHEPA Now Greek American News Digest   Editor's Note: Editorials, Commentaries, and Opinion pieces are shared for information purposes only and do not necessarily reflect the views or policy positions of the Order of AHEPA, its affiliated organizations, and members.       Greek Economic Recovery Has Nothing to Do With Odysseus New Republic (Sept. 13)   In 2010, at a picturesque port on the island of Kastelorizo, then Prime Minister George Papandreou announced the start of "a new Odyssey for Greeks:" entry into an austerity-focused International Monetary Fund-European Union bailout agreement to help finance the country's debt. "We know the route to Ithaca," Papandreou said, "and we've got a map." Eight years and $360 billion later, last month Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced the end of the third such bailout program.  read more     Greece to move 2,000 out of overcrowded Lesbos migrant camp Associated Press (Sept. 18)   Some 2,000 asylum-seekers will be moved out of a severely overcrowded migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos this month, a Greek official said Tuesday as charities slammed conditions at the camp, which has raw sewage running out of its main entrance.   read more Greek Orthodox Church Attempting to Reclaim Centuries-Old Manuscripts in U.S. Collections Pappas Post (Sept. 17) More than a century after being removed from a historic monastery in northern Greece, rare ninth-century Christian manuscripts have been located in the United States, where a team representing the Greek Orthodox Church is waging a tiresome legal battle to return them to the library from which they were taken.  read more    Commentary | The fall of a post-junta era symbol  Ekathimerini (Sept. 16) Last week, another symbol of Greece's post-junta era was buried in the cemetery of history.  The symbol is anti-Americanism, which was one of the building blocks of our national mythology after the fall of the military dictatorship and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.  read more    Cyprus and Egypt said to be close to inking gas deal Cyprus Mail (Sept. 17)       Cyprus and Egypt are reportedly poised - perhaps even this week - to conclude an interstate gas export-import agreement.  Energy minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis will be signing the deal with his Egyptian counterpart Tarek El-Molla.  Pen will be put to paper most likely in Nicosia.  read more    Tsitsipas: 'It Won't Get Easier. I'll Only Get Better' ATP World Tour (Sept. 17)      It was as if we were landing in Hell. Everywhere we looked, we saw fire.  About 10 years ago, my family and I were returning from a winter vacation in Paris. We were 30, maybe 40 kilometres away from the airport when everyone on the plane started yelling and staring out the windows.  It was dark, so we couldn't see a lot, but what we did see scared me more than anything ever has: Attica, a region of Athens, was burning.   read more  Greek-American, Pulitzer Prize Winning Author Jeffrey Eugenides Visits Greece The National Herald (Sept. 18) The Pulitzer Prize winning, Greek-American author Jeffrey Eugenides is visiting Athens as part of the celebrations for the "Athens 2018 - World Book Capital" organized by the Municipality of Athens, with the support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Embassy of the United States of America.  read more   Patmos: The Greek island where the end of the world began CNN (Sept. 17)   The island of Patmos, sitting under perfect blue skies in the eastern reaches of the Aegean sea, may look like a typical vacation destination in Greece, but it isn't.  It's where the end of the world began.  read more