Community Outreach

The Outreach committee continues to explore ways in which it can help those in need during these times. If you have suggestions for ways the committee can help in our community or if you would like to participate in its meetings, please contact the cathedral office.

Oct. 13-15 Tennis Tournament benefits IOCC

Get out your tennis rackets and sign up to play at the Cathedral’s annual Serving for Charity tennis tournament. This tournament, our biggest fundraiser for the International Orthodox Christian Charities, is slated to be held on October 13-15 at the Midlothian Athletic Club, 10800 Center View Drive in Chesterfield County.

The games will follow the same format as last year. There will be an exhibition match with highly rated junior players on Friday evening, followed by Intermediate level (6.0 rating) players on Saturday and a more advanced level competition (7.0 level) on Sunday.

Last year, Serving for Charity raised $3,200 for the IOCC. And this year, our coordinator, Mark Chronis, said he hopes to top that amount. If you are interested in fielding a team for the tournament, want to volunteer or just attend the games, please call Mark at 804-337-7422.

Mark also is coordinating the October 22 emergency bucket drive to benefit the IOCC’s efforts to help those impacted by natural disasters, such as floods and hurricanes. Community Outreach works with the Cathedral’s youth to assemble the buckets. This year, the GOYA girls’ basketball team will assist.

Habitat for Humanity

On October 3, the Cathedral will host Habitat for Humanity’s Fall Faith Breakfast. Some 90 guests from various faith organizations that support Habitat’s Richmond affiliate are expected to attend the event. In further support of Habitat, Community Outreach coordinator Katherine Boege has organized a Unity Build for Saturday, November 18, staffed by volunteers from our Young Adult League. Going forward, the Cathedral will continue to be a Unity Build sponsor and will be looking to organize volunteer teams to participate in 2024. To get involved, please call Katherine at 919-314-8665.

Red Cross Blood Drive

Mark your calendars to participate in a Red Cross blood drive to be held in the Andre Room after church services on October 29. The drive begins at 11:30 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. To sign up, visit the Red Cross website and put in the Cathedral ZIP code (23221) and scroll down to the date to locate the drive. The blood drive is open to all, not just Cathedral members, so encourage your friends and neighbors to contribute. For information, please contact our coordinator, Dr. Martha Sotos at 804-559-0068.

College students

Volunteer drivers are needed to help shuttle Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Richmond students to and from church on various Sundays from now until next spring. Many of the Orthodox students are from Greece and are studying in the United States. Students also may need transportation to the Cathedral picnic on Oct. 1. To help out, please call Calypso Bletsos at 804-307-8146.

Krista Loucas and Gina Pappas are providing lunch for the students on October 8.

In mid-October, Calypso once again intends to send “care packages” to freshmen college students from our Cathedral.

Reinhart House

September was the 67^th month that our ministry provided a monthly meal to the Evelyn D. Reinhart Guest House on Libby Ave. Greg Silvestri, our coordinator, has lined up Cathedral-sponsored monthly meals for the first six months of 2024. Reinhart provides housing and meals to out-of-town guests visiting loved ones at St. Mary’s Hospital. If you or your organization would like to get on the calendar to provide a meal to Reinhart, please call Greg at 804-787-0955.

Louis Harrison Jones Elementary school

Krista Loucas is working with Philoptochos and AHEPA to bring in snacks for the students of Lois Harrison Jones on a monthly basis. She has placed a bin in the Cathedral workroom where healthy snacks, such as granola bars, goldfish, fruities and peanut butter crackers can be placed. Kudos to GOYA and YAL for weeding the beds at the school’s community garden in September. Food from the garden was donated to the 6^th Baptist Mission.

Next Outreach meeting

Tuesday, November 14 over Zoom. Please contact Jim Katsaros (804-241-1632) if you are interested in becoming involved. All are welcome to attend.

Community Outreach Ministry Vision

To grow closer to the broader Richmond community through acts of service as a Cathedral family and, by this, unite us to Christ.

To achieve this Vision, we will:

Help build awareness of existing outreach activities at the Cathedral
Be a resource to facilitate involvement and participation of Cathedral parishioners in outreach activities
Serve as a sounding board for expanding the scope of volunteer outreach
Sponsor community-wide activities (outside existing organizations) targeted for the local community
Coordinate Cathedral response to national & international crisis/emergencies

Community Outreach Ministry Members:

Jim Katsaros, Chair / Parish Council Liaison

Tom Kazas, Co-Chair / Communications Director

Father Nicholas Bacalis, Sponsor / Inspiration

Key Ministry Champions:

Calypso Bletsos, College Student Ministry

John Bletsos, Companionship Ministry

Ruth Catherines, Philoptochos Liaison

Mark Chronis, IOCC Liaison: Emergency Supply Drives & Tennis Tournament / Fisher Guest House Meals

Gina Guinn, FeedMore / Food Drives

Elaine Hall, Clothing Supply Drives

Nikki Katsaros, ICU Comfort Kits