More and more community organisations are facing issues with their staffing, and now their very existence is threatened.
Second and third generation Greek Australians, with few exceptions, are not interested in becoming members of our organizations, let alone serving on their administrative boards.
“Unfortunately, our associations are heading towards extinction,” Pavlos Mavroudis, president of the Thessalonians’ Association White Tower told Neos Kosmos.
The catalyst for his statement was the Association’s recent GM.
“We sent 300 letters, made announcements in the press, and only 40 members attended,” he told us.
He added that he remains the president of the Association, mainly because there is no interest from others to take on the role.
“Of course,” he added, “the new board, due to the lack of a quorum, will be formed after the holidays, but most likely, I will be the president.
“We need to find ways to bring young people closer to our organisations. All associations are facing the same problem. I want to warmly thank the members of the Thessalonians’ Association ‘White Tower’ who attended the annual general assembly.”
The elections for the Thessalonians’ new board were also held, and the names will be announced after the first session and the formation of the executive committee.
Meanwhile, the main topics discussed were the invitation sent, in collaboration with the Greek Community of Melbourne and President Bill Papastergiadis, to the Regional Governor of Central Macedonia, Mr Apostolos Tzitzikostas, to come to Melbourne in February for the ‘Antipodes Festival’ (February 24/25) and the 40th anniversary of the twinning of Melbourne-Thessaloniki.
The other important issue discussed was the lack of young people in the administrative boards for the continuity of the organisations.
