Effy Alexakis’ latest book “The Heart of Giving – Father Nektarios’ Soup Kitchen”, a photographic book covering the charity work of Fr. Nektarios Zorbalas, was successfully launched on Sunday afternoon.
The event was held at the Parish of Saint Nicholas in Marrickville, honouring the legacy of the recently retired clergyman who served for more than three decades as Parish Priest at the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen in Sydney’s Inner-western suburb of Newtown.
In her foreword for the book, Ms Alexakis described it as her “personal insight and a homage to the unselfish kindness expressed by a Greek Orthodox priest and his volunteers in Sydney’s inner-western suburb of Newtown”.
She mentioned that the idea of covering Fr. Nektarios and the Soup Kitchen was suggested to her by Dimitra Micos, a well-respected philanthropist within the Greek community, whom she is now eternally grateful for .
“It is indeed a project that has allowed me to meet and photograph many humble, kind and generous people. It is every documentary photographer’s dream to achieve a project such as this one.”
Archbishop Makarios of Australia also wrote a foreword for the book in which he noted that the Soup Kitchen in Newtown was an initiative started by Father Nektarios 33 years ago when he was serving at the Parish of St Nicholas in Marrickville, and it was transferred to Newtown when he was appointed to the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen.
He expressed sincere joy for this book in documenting “the selfless and decades-long sacrifice” of Father Nektarios’ as well as the “countless benefactors, donators and volunteers who generously and silently give whatever they have…to feeding and helping their fellow brethren who are in need”.
The event featured speeches from Ms Alexakis and Fr. Nektarios as well as Bishop of Magnesia Mr. Christodoulos Economou, who remarked that he was baptized by the “honourable” hands of the Archmandrite in the same church 44 years ago.
The program was emceed by Ms Panagiota Zouriaka.
Among the attendees present were the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Mr Ioannis Mallikourtis, the chair of the Greek Festival of Sydney, Ms Nia Karteris, the president of the Hellenic Lyceum, Ms Liana Vertzayias, the honorary president of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of NSW, Mr Jack Passaris, other priests, representatives of Greek-Australian organisations and many others.
