Greeks and philhellenes around the world have been left in shock over the scenes in Attica, Greece the past few days as wildfires ravaged villages and suburbs east of Athens.

People have lost their lives, loved ones; homes have burnt down, while others are fighting for life, and many are still missing.

There has been an outpouring of empathy and assistance in Greece, with emergency services personnel and volunteers coming to people’s aid.

For those abroad wishing to contribute in some way, the Greek government has set up a reconstruction and support fund for the areas and people affected by the disaster.

Advisor to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of the Hellenic Republic, Penny Douti has been appointed coordinator for the fund.

The details are as follows:

Eidikos Logariasmos Pyroplikton ths 23hs kai 24hs Iouliou 2018
Bank of Greece
BIC/SWIFT: BNGRGRAA
IBAN: GR 4601000230000002341195169

Meanwhile a number of other official bank accounts have been set up, and are accepting donations for the victims.

Municipality of Rafina-Pikermi:
Piraeus Bank
IBAN: GR20 0172 1860 0051 8609 2291 418

Hellenic Red Cross:
Eurobank
IBAN: GR64 0260 2400 0003 1020 1181 388

Doctors of the World (Greece): 
National Bank of Greece
IBAN: GR27 0110 1410 0000 1412 9611 217

Alpha Bank
IBAN: GR06 0140 1990 1990 0200 2002 401

Piraeus Bank
IBAN: GR03 0172 0180 0050 1800 5706 640

The Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) has been in contact with Greece’s Alternate Foreign Minister Terence Quick and the Greek Ambassador to Australia amongst other officials. In a press release they revealed that they have been advised to wait for direction from Greece to best target any assistance that the diaspora would seek to offer.

In the meantime, the GCM has written to other Victorian Greek community organisations seeking a collaborative approach for the relief program that is expected to follow.

“We have spoken with both the Delphi Bank and the Bank of Sydney and asked them to open the relevant accounts to allow for donations to start to be collected. I have also spoken with a number of Greek community leaders encouraging them to coordinate altogether and provide a targeted response as requested by the Greek authorities” said GCM president Bill Papastergiadis.

“I am sure that there will be a number of ways in which we can assist and have already started to collate the possible relief beneficiaries. To that extent, I have only just spoken with Giorgios Patoulis, the President of the Federal Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE), who informed me that his organisation with the support of the Mayor of Rafina, will set up a fund for first home owners who lost a home and were uninsured,” he added.

A meeting is due to be announced shortly to detail the relief program for all community leaders, with all organisations encouraged to attend.

Neos Kosmos will endeavour to keep you updated on all other official efforts to assist.

For further information on the fund set up by the Greek government, email pendouti@mfa.gr
For more on the work being done by Doctors of the World, visit https://mdmgreece.gr/