Kon Karapanagiotidis OAM, the CEO and founder of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), is a fierce advocate for refugees, raising just under one and a half million dollars for World Refugee Day in 17 hours.
“We raised the $1,418,000 for our telethon in 17 hours,” he told Neos Kosmos.
On June 20 Karapanagiotidis posted on X:
$1,384,790 our World Refugee Day total as of 11 pm 🥳❤️
While we just missed our target of $1.4M, we reached a more important one today.
A day where the stories & contributions of refugees were celebrated & you stood up for a more compassionate & fairer Australia. Thank you ❤️
By June 24, the $1.4 million target was reached.
“It feels humbling to know so many Australians care about refugees and stand for compassion and welcome.
“I am so moved and grateful on behalf of everyone at the ASRC,” he told Neos Kosmos.
Karapanagiotidis has has built a virtuous fiefdom of volunteers – many of whom are refugees and migrants themselves. As the son of migrants who left war ravaged Greece in the 1950s, he wants all Greeks in the second and third generation born here not to forget their roots.
“These refugee fathers and mothers echo what our own Greek, or Italian, parents said to us: ‘We came here for you; we sacrificed for you.'”My parents never wanted to leave their home; no migrant or refugee wants to leave home, and we all need to remember that” he told Neos Kosmos in a past interview.
The human rights lawyer, philanthropist author and lay chef has published two books, ‘The Power of Hope‘ and ‘A Seat at My Table: Philoxenia’, a Greek vegetarian and vegan cookbook which features over 100 recipes passed down by his mother, Sia.
Karapanagiotidis was named the Melburnian of the Year for 2023 for his relentless effort to help refugees and asylum seekers.
