Ενημερωτικό Δελτίο του Παλλακωνικού Συλλόγου Νότιας Αυστραλίας «Ο Λεωνίδας» [Πολιτιστικός - Προοδευ

Thursday 1 June 2006

Greek community rally for cancer


Aristotle once wrote “In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. The young they keep out of mischief; to the old they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life they incite to noble deeds.”

The noble deeds Aristotle spoke of were clearly evident at a recent Pan-Laconian Society function, where nearly 300 family and friends of the society gathered together to raise an extraordinary $16,899 to support cancer research at Flinders Medical Centre.

The function was held in honour of Paul Kalogerinis who tragically died in 2002, aged only 38, of adenocarcinoma of the lung (a non-smoking lung cancer). Leaving behind his loving wife Metta and two children Nicholas and Christie, Paul was much loved by his family and members of the Greek community.

Paul’s sister-in-law Mary Vlahos-Littler, who lives in England with her husband, decided to use her trip home to organise a fundraiser and approached the President of the Pan-Laconian Society to call upon their help to raise money for Flinders. “I thought we would raise some money, maybe a few hundred dollars or even a thousand dollars towards research. Never in my wildest dreams did we expect to raise this much money,” says Mary.

The Pan-Laconian Society was established in 1966, originally to provide a support network for the people of Laconia, a region of Southern Greece near Sparta. The Society recently bought an ambulance for a regional hospital in Greece and was equally thrilled to be able to support vital cancer research at their local Adelaide hospital, the Flinders Medical Centre.

To honour the generosity of the members of the Pan-Laconian Society the Foundation will establish a Paul Kalogerinis & Pan-Laconian Society Award for Lung Cancer Research to fund research into lung cancer and adenocarcinoma.
Winter 2006