San Francisco, CA – Global pop icon Nana Mouskouri, National Roller Derby legend Nick Scopas, multi-award-winning songwriter Emanuel Kiriakou and acclaimed film director Christopher André Marks will be this year’s honorees at the Elios Charitable Foundation’s Hellenic Charity Ball (HCB) on Saturday November 5.
The return of the biennial Hellenic Charity Ball, after an absence in 2021 due to COVID-19, will once again serve as a benefit event honoring highly renowned Greek and Greek-Americans from the arts and entertainment and sporting industries. Presented by Blue Diamond Sponsor, Theadora Vriheas/AT&T, the Hellenic Charity Ball will be held at San Francisco’s iconic Palace Hotel. Frosene Phillips and Elizabeth Grillos are the Ball Co-Directors.
Anticipated to be a sold-out event, this year’s Hellenic Charity Ball, the 13th since its inception in 1997, will be co-hosted by Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family” television celebrity, journalist and author Debbie Matenopoulos, and prolific author, television (“Taxi”) and Broadway star, Marilu Henner, both past HCB Honorees.
This year’s entertainment will feature Mediterranean Soul with Christos Sarantakis on bouzouki, and later “America’s Best Dance Band,” HIP SERVICE.
Special to the evening, celebrity auctioneer Liam Mayclem will take to the stage to tempt guests to express their financial support for the Elios Charitable Foundation’s notable grant recipients.
“The Hellenic Charity Ball is an evening that rallies and unifies Greek-Americans while reaffirming the essence of our being Greek, our philotimo“, commented Elios Charitable Foundation President and Chair John Gumas, adding that “I’m proud we can celebrate our distinguished honorees and welcome back some of our many past honorees and very special guests from across the country. But of course, the evening is ultimately about raising financial support and awareness of our Hellenic beneficiaries. It is the support of these programs that truly informs our path forward as proud Greek-Americans and Philhellenes”.
About Elios Charitable Foundation
At the heart of the not-for-profit Elios Charitable Foundation, the group’s mission is to preserve and foster the values of Hellenic culture. Through its grants and sponsored projects and programs, the Foundation strives to position Elios as a leader in the community and to make a positive impact in the lives of Greek Americans and Philhellenes.
Past and current Elios Charitable Foundation beneficiaries and partnerships include: the Center for Tebtunis Papyri (CTB) at the University of California, Berkeley; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Ancient Art Council and Get Smart with Art program; the Hellenic Heritage Institute; the Hellenic Journal; Hellenic Research Fellowship Program at California State University, Sacramento; partnership with The Heritage Greece/National Hellenic Society; Cappella Romana San Francisco Concert Series; Berkeley/Oakland’s Kairos Music Academy; Los Angeles Greek Film Festival; Loyola Marymount University’s Basil P. Caloyeras Center for Modern Greek Studies; the Metropolis of San Francisco Folk Dance Programs; San Francisco Greek Film Festival sponsored by the Modern Greek Studies Foundation; and Nemea Center at the University of California, Berkeley.
Leadership for the Elios Charitable Foundation includes: John Gumas, president and chair; Patrick Mockler, vice president; Philip Economopoulos, secretary; and Michael Kasolas, treasurer. Frosene Phillips, executive director.
Tickets for this year’s Hellenic Charity Ball on Saturday, November 5, begin at $750 pp and are available online at www.elios.org/hellenic-charity-ball/sponsorships-tickets/
