CRETE Magazines September 2013 | Page 20

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? fr o m t h e b o Message from the Former Scholarship Chair G ard reetings fellow Cretans, I am honored to have had the opportunity to serve as your scholarship chairman for the past two years. Scholarships are one of the cornerstones of Dr. Eleftherios (Terry) the Pancretan Association of Zervos, D.D.S. America. We have strived to Former Venizelion help our students in their indiScholarship Chairman vidual pursuits of higher [email protected] tion and, in turn, we are making an investment in the PAA’s future. Our students today are the leaders of the future PAA; they will continue our love for our culture, heritage and fellowship. The PAA has a national and international connection that dates back to its inception. I am in awe of this pride and all the accomplishments of our members—being a Cretan comes with responsibility. Where our forefathers and fathers fought for freedom and country, we are fighting to maintain the Cretan patriotic spirit, philotimo, philanthropy and excellence. It’s the proud leaders, dedicated board members, but most important, the down home efforts of our individual chapters that perpetuate the expatriate Cretan effort. How does this continue generation after generation? We have reached out and touched our youth, and they in turn carry the torch. Scholarships help in many ways but most importantly it shows we care for our students and we want them to succeed. It’s not just the monetary support but the moral support, the sense of community and membership to the club. On behalf of the Venizelion scholarship committee, I thank you, the proud members of the PAA, for your monetary support to fund the scholarship program and in turn your support to our youth and our future. I congratulate the students for their individual accomplishments. This year we awarded 27 scholarships to qualified proud Cretan students. All needed to fulfill academic and membership criteria as laid out in our constitution. Over the years, hundreds of scholarships have been given out. If you were a recipient of the scholarship program I encourage you to “donate back” to the scholarship fund to help the PAA provide greater assistance to our youth. A small donation goes a long way, and we have several programs available: for as little as a $10,000 tax deductible donation, a named scholarship can be established and a scholarship can be annually distributed in memory of a deceased loved one. We have several chapters that have also established a named scholarship for their chapters. I encourage all chapters to consider this as a fundraising effort so we in turn can help more students. Lastly, it is my extreme pleasure to introduce the new Scholarship Chair, Mia Boutzoukas. She is a college graduate and has experienced first hand the challenges of higher education. She also has three involved Pancretan youth of college age and is personally familiar with our youth’s contests. I am certain she will do a great job administering and directing the scholarship committee in their efforts to fulfill the constitutional obligations of the Venizelion Scholarship Program. I wish them good luck and I look forward to another great year for the Venizelion scholarship program. Information and applications for the Scholarship program can be found at http://www.pancretan.org/ scholarships.aspx K PAA Commemorative Stamps I 20 n celebration of the 100th anniversary of the union of Crete with Greece, the PAA has undertaken the initiative of designing and issuing an official commemorative 46-cent U.S. postage stamp under the direction of former President John G. Manos. The stamps were unveiled and sold at the Akron Convention at $20 per sheet for 20 stamps per sheet, which is the cost of producing them. Quantities are currently limited, but additional stamps may be ordered in time for Christmas. To place your order, please send an email indicating the number of sheets desired to [email protected] by Oct. 15, for an early December delivery. Many thanks to Taki Nikolopoulos for his help in bringing this project to fruition. KPHTH | SEPTEMBER 2013