The Greek Orthodox Community of Mentone held a dinner dance last Saturday night, raising $10,300 for Crime Stoppers.

The money was donated to the not-for-profit organisation in the name of Mersina Halvagis, to honour George Halvagis’ contribution to the local community.

Mersina Halvagis was stabbed to death in 1997, while visiting her grandmother’s grave at Fawkner cemetery.

Her father George is now an active member of the Mentone Greek Orthodox Community and a Crime Stoppers ambassador.

Peter Sprott, Executive Director of Crime Stoppers attended the event to accept the cheque, along with Director Geoff Wilkinson and Detective Senior Sergeant Val Smith from Victoria Police.

“It was absolutely fantastic what the Mentone Greek Orthodox Community did. They did it all themselves, they had young people in there doing waitering for the night, it was totally voluntary and very heart-warming,” Mr Sprott told Neos Kosmos.

“It was also a great acknowledgment of George Halvagis and his family because they’ve been through an enormous amount and continue to go through it all these years later. It was really great to see a community get behind them, but also us.”

The money raised will go towards funding a new Crime Stoppers campaign called ‘Violent crime: We’re over it’.

Mr Sprott said it would be a long-term campaign including television commercials, cinema advertisements and other forms of educational material.

“The whole objective of that is to reach young people who are on the fringes of the current spate of violent activity and alert them to the fact that there are things they can do to be safe and secure,” he said.

He also emphasised the growing importance of donations to Crime Stoppers by community organizations.

“We’ve had precious little community support over the years in terms of financial donations. We’ve been very reliant on corporate sponsors and occasional government funding but we have to get more support from the community,” he said.

The Greek Orthodox Community of Mentone is leading the way in this respect. Crime Stoppers operates all over the world, working to help prevent and solve crime.

The organization guarantees the anonymity of anyone who calls in with information.

To make a donation, or provide information about a crime, call 1800 333 000.