Dr. Spyros Mezitis, President of the Federation of Hellenic Medical Societies of North America, and Ioannis Remediakis, President of the Hellenic Cultural Center of the Southwest (HCC-SW)m spoke about ‘’Birthright Hellas’, a summer program aimed at American citizens of Greek descent from 18 to 28 years of age. They pointed out how important it is for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation Greek-Americans to get to know Greek culture, Greece, and other Greeks up close and to get to know each other.
Dr. Mezitis, president of the Birthright Hellas committee of HCC-SW and initiator of the initiative, explained that the idea came from the ‘Birthright Israel’ heritage trip program, which has sent 800,000 young American Jews to Israel since 1998. The latter is supported by a Foundation that has collected donations amounting to 1 billion dollars.
Birthright Hellas will host 40 young Greek Americans in Thessaloniki from July 20 to July 30. The program will cover all expenses except plane tickets from the participants’ place of residence in the USA to Greece.
For more information and applications you can visit the website https://hcc-sw.org/projects/birthright-hellas /thessaloniki-summer-2024
Another summer program has been approved, hosting 25 young Greek-Americans in Mystra, Laconia from July 25 to August 7 in collaboration with the Hellenic Open University and the Secretariat General for Greeks Abroad.