Philoptochos

The Philoptochos Society of Holy Cross provides the women of our parish with opportunities to use their God-given gifts in the service of their Church and Community.

Our mission to “help the poor, the destitute, the hungry, the aged, the sick, the unemployed, the orphaned, the imprisoned, the widowed, the handicapped, the victims of disasters, to undertake the burial of improvised persons and to offer assistance to anyone who may need help of the Church”.

The Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, Inc. is the philanthropic arm of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America that has offered 90 years of philanthropy, Fellowship and Faith in action, through a multitude of programs that make a difference in the lives of people in the United States and throughout the world.

Should you like to join us, please click on "join our group" online link above or to receive more information email Cathyzamenes@sbcglobal.net.

In addition to our commitments on both the Metropolis and National level, our Holy Cross Philoptochos Board has established 13 Standing Committees enabling us to regularly and thoroughly track the many facets of the work of our Philoptochos Board that help make us such a caring dynamic group of Orthodox philanthropic women:

Adopt-a-Student
Baking
Coffee and Memorials
Church and Community Service Awards
Feed the Hungry
Gifting
Listserve and Database Communications
Membership Administration
Membership Outreach/Events
Metropolis Liaison
School Care Closet/ Shoe Drive
Historian
Social Media
Sunshine

Adopt -A-Student is a Metropolis ministry that allows chapters to ‘adopt’ students who are students of Divinity at Holy Cross Seminary or undergraduate students of Religious Studies at Hellenic College. We have adopted 3 students Joshua Rognstad and Alex Karcher who are attending Holy Cross and Matthew Mourad who is attending Hellenic College. We are asked to take good care of our adoptees by sending them cards for birthday, name day and holidays, notes, gift cards and goodie care packages etc.
Diane Harris, Chair

Baking Organization is vital to our efforts to provide sweets for holidays and events and bake sales which help us support our commitments. This committee will help to secure volunteers, timely to each event, to that purpose.
Othonia Makris and Tula Kourtoglou, Co-Chairs

Coffee Hour/Memorials are organized and often sponsored by our Philoptochos, parish groups and individual families. This committee is charged with setting up the guidelines and scheduling for both coffee hour and memorials with respect to the responsibilities of the sponsors and/or organizers.
Barbara Karvalis, Chair

Community Service Awards are based on many criteria, especially participation in the faith and parish life. The award is monetary and given once the worthy high school senior provides proof of college acceptance. The application process opens in March and awards are announced each year in June.
Laura Jadelrab, Chair

Feed the Hungry is a National and Metropolis ministry. Volunteers gather most Saturday mornings to make sandwiches for a variety of shelters in our area, like Maple Street.
Emmy Denton, Chair

Gifting is very special to our Philoptochos. We enjoy providing gift bags to new mothers upon churching their babies. We also love to show our appreciation to our Holy Cross Maintenance staff during the holidays etc.
Stella Chronis, Chair

Listserv/Database was created to keep Holy Cross Philoptochos members informed with National/Metropolis news, membership information and upcoming Holy Cross Board events.
Nina Azar, Chair

Membership Admin is essential to tracking dues, filing forms, ensuring timely membership commitment payments to both National and Metropolis.
Cathy Zamenes, Chair

Membership Outreach will help us grow our Holy Cross Philoptochos membership and ensure its vitality for many years to come by scouting the young adults, Mom’s club, Dance Groups, AORA etc for new members. A membership directory is maintained and distributed to Board members.
Angela Koros, Chair

Metropolis Liaison creates a link to the Metropolis Board’s news. Mary Peros is elected to that Board.
Mary Peros, Metropolis Recording Secretary

School CARE Closet /Shoe Drive supports the personal needs of grade school children in San Mateo County. The Shoe Drive also provides students new sneakers. We coordinate with School Administration. 
Christine Hopkins, Care Closet Chair /  Nina Azar, Kicks4Kids Chair 

Historian is primary source for archives, keeping records of the organization accomplishments and activities trhoughout the year, collecting photographs, news articles and other memorabilia important to the organization.
Cathy Pereira, Chair

Membership Social Media will give our Holy Cross Philoptochos a technological presence that will not only keep our members informed but share and celebrate our important philanthropic work with a huge audience, It has the potential to help us to bring on new members as well. This committee will create and maintain a dedicated Holy Cross Philoptochos website. It can be accessed on the Holy Cross Church main webpage and links to our Philoptochos Facebook page. Other exciting innovations are in the making!
Helene Nemchik, Chair

Sunshine helps us to offer our parishioners a card or flowers in times of both happiness and sadness…..celebrations, sickness and death.
Mary Bazigos, Chair

Philoptochos Event Calendar 2024-2025