Philoptochos


PHILOPTOCHOS SCHOLARSHIP 2024

ATTENTION ALL FAMILIES OF GRADUATING SENIORS! THE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS NEXT WEEK – MARCH 31!

Our annual scholarship of $1500 is exclusively available to you!
If you want to apply for this, the forms are available in the church hall OR you can get it here: Philoptochos 2024 Scholarship

The deadline for applying is March 31, 2024.

Please send the completed application and all other documents required to our church’s office:
St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church
ATTN: St. Irene Philoptochos – Scholarship;  303 Cullum Dr, Euless TX 76040

 

2024 Membership Drive

Our annual Membership Drive was on Sunday, March 17.  It was a very successful day! 


FESTIVAL OF TABLES!

Our beautiful festival was held on Saturday, March 2. 
It was a wonderful event of fellowship, good food, and a fabulous fashion show with our own members as models!

Our Theresa Alexander, of blessed memory, was honored by her friends with this table, Amethyst Memories!  Amethyst was her favorite color.

Here is a sampling of a few of our magnificent tables:

 

SAVE THE DATE FOR OUR ANNUAL (and DELICIOUS!) VASILOPITA AUCTION on SUNDAY, JANUARY 28!  
The entire proceeds will be sent to Saint Basil’s School/Orphanage.  Please support our project!

 

 

Our Annual Christmas Dinner, combined with Ageless Wonders was a beautiful success!
Thank you to Margaret Chokas for faithfully organizing this for us every year, and thank you to everyone who attended!  The GOYA group came to sing beautiful Christmas carols for us.

 

2023-24 Membership Drive!

Calling all women! Please consider joining our amazing group of ladies!  The Philoptochos’ mission has always been to help people in need.  We work on 3 levels: National, Metropolis, and Local.  We work tirelessly to be a light for someone needing help.

Here is the link to our Membership Form for this year:  https://stjohndfw.info/new/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2023-PhiloptochosPledgeForm.pdf

Get Ready for Our Annual Scholarship!

Attention all family members of graduating Seniors!

Philoptochos Scholarship applications are now available! If you are a graduating senior and would like to apply for this $1,500 scholarship, the applications can be found right here.

The deadline is March 31st. 

Please send all completed application forms and other documents that are required to our church’s physical address:

St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church
ATTN: St. Irene Philoptochos – Scholarship;  303 Cullum Dr, Euless TX 76040

 

Valentine Pastries Raffle

We are set up and ready to go!

Our Valentine Raffle turned out beautifully!

Thank you to all of our ladies who donated the delicious pastries and treats; and to all who helped us prepare and execute our raffle!

It was a very successful event!

 

 

 

 


 

Save the date for the National Philoptochos Children’s Medical Fund Luncheon
November 11, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

Philoptochos & Ageless Wonders Celebrate the Nativity Season together!   

 We had a lovely dinner together with great fellowship and entertainment at the Texas Star!             

Our youth entertains us with beautiful Christmas music

 

                  

Rena and Mary visiting Kasandra

 

 

                                                            Our Outreach Ministry 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JOIN US FOR OUR 2022 TAVERNA NIGHT

on October 13!!

Our 30th food festival at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church will be on October 14 – 16.  Please join us on the evening before those festivities begin for a beautiful evening of food, music, and fun!

There is still time to make your reservation for yourself or a group of friends by October 2nd.

Partial proceeds from this evening will be given to the Texas Health Harris Foundation – specifically the NICU at our own HEB Hospital.

Contact Lynn Peters to make your reservations.
817-721-4190  or  mrsgaseller@aol.com

2022 Scholarship Winner!!

Each year, St. Irene Philoptochos awards a scholarship to one of our outstanding graduating seniors who has applied and shown us what work they have done throughout their school years.

This year, we awarded this scholarship to an amazing young woman…Josie Ivanov!!

Congratulations, Josie, on a job well done! 
May you have a blessed college career!

Many thanks to Gail Poriotis and Harriet Blake for gathering the applications and working with an anonymous committee (not affiliated with St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church or with St. Irene Philoptochos) to decide who should receive this award.

FEEDING THE HUNGRY

In June of 2015, the St. Irene chapter began making sack lunches as part of the National Philoptochos “Feed the Hungry” initiative. Each week we prepared 120 sack lunches and delivered them to the Union Gospel Mission in Ft. Worth.

Even though this initiative is no longer asked of us, we continue to prepare the same amount on the first Wednesday of each month.

On June 1, 2022, we reached the milestone of 10,040 sack lunches made and delivered! Woo-Hoo!!

It is a privilege to be able to feed our brethren who are in need.

Thank you to everyone who contributes in ANY way toward this effort!

Philoptochos 2022 Membership Drive!!

The ladies of St. Irene Philoptochos Society philanthropic organization of St. John held our Membership Drive in May, and it was a success!  We have 55 members for this coming year!

The Philoptochos’ mission has always been a light in the dark that people look to when in need.  The organization works on a tri-level system:  a National organization, a Metropolis organization, and a Parish organization. 

Here are just a few of the things we do:

  • make sack lunches for the Union Gospel Mission
  • contribute to local schools and shelters
  • beautify our church with poinsettias
  • conduct bake sales
  • hold our annual Vasilopita sale
  • support the HEB Texas Health Methodist Hospital NICU
  • annually award a scholarship to one of our St. John graduating Seniors
  • any many more!

If you want to learn more about our organization, please visit philoptochos.org to read about the good works that continue today.

 

 

Our 2022 Festival of Tables is approaching!   

Please join us on Saturday, April 30 from 11am to 2pm at our beautiful parish hall for a fabulous time of fellowship and a delicious lunch while touring the beautiful tables!  We will have a marvelous fashion show by Cabi and a wonderful silent auction. 

This will be a fun afternoon together, so bring some friends! 

Tickets are $45 per person

If you wish to make reservations or to host a table, contact Lynn Peters at mrsgaseller@aol.com or 817-721-4190
Reservation deadline is April 23, 2022

 

Our 2022 Scholarship 

Attention all graduating Seniors!

Philoptochos Scholarship applications are now available! If you are a graduating senior and would like to apply for this $1,500 scholarship, the applications can be found right here. The deadline is March 31st. 

Please send all completed application forms and other documents that are required to our church’s physical address: St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church
ATTN: St. Irene Philoptochos – Scholarship;  303 Cullum Dr, Euless TX 76040

 

 

Our New Year – 2022 VASILOPITA!

Such a beautiful beginning to 2022!

Again, many of our hard-working women showed up to bake Vasilopita… and did a beautiful job!
We had our Vasilopita Auction on Sunday, January 16 and it was a huge success!  There were many new members who attended and bid on our delicious loaves.  Thank you!

Many thanks to Fr. Vasile for offering the Blessing of Loaves service and for cutting & distributing the slices to our many wonderful ministry leaders.  Great appreciation goes to Chris Blake for being our auctioneer, who did a fabulous job!  Also, thank you to Tina Bond for assisting in keeping track of bids for us!

 

 

2021 Christmas Bake Sale

We had so much fun baking for our annual Christmas bake sale!  Several of our beautiful members came out to participate in baking the delicious baklava and koulourakia.
Our baked goods were a hit and we sold everything!

Many thanks to all who participated!

 

 

 

8,240!!!  

What does this number signify? 
The number of sack lunches that our Philoptochos members have made and delivered to Union Gospel Mission in Ft. Worth since we began this service in June 2015!!  
Please consider being a part of this remarkable group of women! 

Philoptochos 2021 Membership Drive!!

We are conducting our annual membership drive for the St. Irene Philoptochos Society, the ladies’ philanthropic organization of the Greek Orthodox Church.
If you want to learn more about our organization, please visit philoptochos.org to read for yourself, the good works that continue today.
The Philoptochos mission has always been a light in the dark that people look to when in need.  The organization works on a tri-level system:  a National organization, a Metropolis organization, and a Parish organization. 
A wonderful way to see this in action was the most recent dispersing of funds from National and the Denver Metropolis to our very own state and county, Tarrant County, going to two area food banks for support from the winter storm.  It is gratifying to know when we are in need, Philoptochos is there to help.
This past year most of our activities came to a screeching halt because of the pandemic; but, we have been able to continue our donations through our healthy treasury by:

  • continuing the making sack lunches for the UGM
  • contributing to local schools and shelters
  • beautifying our church with poinsettias
  • conducting bake sales
  • holding our annual Vasilopita sale

All of these reinforce the core meaning of Philoptochos, doing what we can to support those in need.  With this service in mind, we ask you to please consider becoming a member of Philoptochos, with an annual contribution to your local chapter, St. Irene Philoptochos Society.
Please download this membership form, complete it and send it along with a check for your membership to Joanie Ruppel (see form).  Thank you!!

2021 Philoptochos Scholarship

It is time to apply for the annual scholarship offered by Philoptochos. Graduating Seniors are encouraged to apply.  Find the information and application here:

Instructions and Application Form

PENELOPI YIANTSOU, was 2020’s recipient of the St. Irene Philoptochos Scholarship!  Who will it be in 2021?

Philoptochos School Supply Drive

Ladies of the St. Irene Philoptochos and the parishioners of St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Euless, Texas collected school supplies as part of the Operation Classroom Initiative. The school supplies were donated to South Euless Elementary.
Veronica Fisher presented the supplies to Maureen Sterling and Dr. Candice Cooper the week students returned to school for face to face learning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OUR BIENNIAL FESTIVAL OF TABLES! 

Please join us for a beautiful and fun luncheon on Saturday, February 15th from 10:30 am to 2 pm at the Texas Star in Euless!

We will have as our guest speaker the fabulous celebrity chef, Diane Kochilas!  
RSVP to Lynn Peters at  817-721-4190;

or by email at:  sjdfwphiloptochos@gmail.com
You will sip on mimosas while taking a tour of all the beautiful tables.  Then our delicious lunch will be served.  There will also be door prizes and a wonderful silent auction to participate in!  Tickets are $50/person.

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Esther Petercsak

Farewell to our Dear Sister, Esther Petercsak.

Our dear fellow Philoptochos sister fell asleep in the Lord on November 6th in New Jersey.  A Trisagion service was held at St. John’s for her on Sunday, November 17.  The members of our Chapter offered a beautiful coffee hour in her honor.  Esther will be missed!  May her memory be eternal!

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

We had a very successful school supply drive!
Thank you, Chrysanthi, for delivering all of the donated supplies to our neighborhood school!

Honoring our Outgoing President

Barbara Vittas presented a beautiful silver cross with the icon of Sts. Cosmas and Damianos to Veronica Fisher for her faithful service as President for the past 4 years.  Axios!

2019-2021 Board

Our new Board Members for the next 2 years are:

President – Theresa Alexander
Vice President – Margaret Chokas
2nd Vice President – Liz Strong
Secretary – Chrysanthi  Andromalos
Treasurer – Angela Cline
Adviser -Veronica Fisher
Kathy Fox
Maria Kerbow
Nancy Medvic
Georgia Papaliodis
Lynn Peters
Gail Poriotis
Joanie Ruppel
Barbara Vittas
Margo Yiantsou

May God guide us and help us to be successful in caring for the poor these next two years!  

2019 – 2020 Philoptochos Stewardship

It is not too late to sign up to become a member of our beautiful St. Irene’s Philoptochos!  You can sign up for the 2019-2020 year at anytime.  Please download and print the form located here.

Complete this stewardship form and return to the office at St. John, or to any of the current Philoptochos members.  Thank you so much and we look forward to having you be a part of our amazing group of women!

Our Dessert Auction

We had an extremely successful February 2020 Dessert Auction… bringing in over $1,055.00!

Many thanks to our very talented auctioneer, Clyde Sebastian!

Several of our lovely women working hard at adorning the Kouvouklion

 

St. Irene Philoptochos sponsored a very successful Pop-Up Cafe on February 25, 2018 for aid to Greece.

Veronica is making sure that everything is on the table!
Theresa, Liz and Veronica posing with the Greek flag before the crowd arrives!

Our members sponsored a sock and blanket drive for the homeless in January.  We had an amazing result!

3 of our beautiful ladies who helped with the collection!  From left to right: Esther Petercsak, Margo Yiantsou and Chrysanthi Andromalos.
The collected items were delivered to Union Gospel Mission for distribution.

 

 

2017-2018 St. Irene Philoptochos!

First meeting of our new year!
Philoptochos President, Veronica Fisher with staff members of South Euless Elementary School

St. Irene Philoptochos School Supply Drive

We had a fabulous week!  Our school supply drive was a big success!  Thank you to all of the parishioners who donated!St. Irene Philoptochos and the members of St. John the Baptist collected school supplies for their neighborhood school.  Veronica Fisher presented the collected supplies to the Principal and staff members of South Euless Elementary School.

Forms available on this website: 

About The National Philoptochos Society

The Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, the official philanthropic organization of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, was established in November 1931, by the late Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I, who was then serving as Archbishop of North and South America.

The members of the National Board of Philoptochos are dedicated church women who offer countless hours to the philanthropic, humanitarian, and Christian mission of the Church. There are 485 Philoptochos chapters in the United States filled with 27,500 members. 

The structure of the Philoptochos includes the National Board, Metropolitan Boards, and Chapters in every parish of the Archdiocese.

St. John’s Philoptochos was instituted in 1981 and is active with charity work, bake sales, a Festival of Tables every other year, and various projects within the community.   It is with elation we have celebrated the 80th anniversary of the beginning of National Philoptochos in 2011.

OUR MISSION:  To aid the poor, the destitute, the hungry, the aged, the sick, the unemployed, the orphaned, the imprisoned, the widowed, the disabled, the victim’s of disasters, to undertake the burial of impoverished persons and to offer assistance to anyone who may need the help of the church through fundraising efforts.