2022 -- S 3024

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

JOYOUSLY CELEBRATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN

HELLENIC EDUCATIONAL PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION

     Introduced By: Senators Raptakis, McCaffrey, Gallo, Algiere, Kallman, Euer, Murray,
Quezada, DiMario, and Zurier

     Date Introduced: June 16, 2022

     Referred To: Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar

     WHEREAS, The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (Order of

AHEPA) was founded on July 26, 1922, in Atlanta, Georgia, by eight visionary Greek

immigrants to help unify, organize, and protect against the bigotry, discrimination, and

defamation faced by people of all ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds perpetrated

predominately by the Ku Klux Klan; and

     WHEREAS, The Mission of AHEPA is to promote the ideals of ancient Greece, which

include philanthropy, education, civic responsibility, and family and individual excellence

through community service and volunteerism; and

     WHEREAS, Since its inception, AHEPA has instilled in its members an understanding of

their Hellenic heritage and an awareness of the contributions made to the development of

democratic principles and governance in the United States and throughout the world; and

     WHEREAS, AHEPA membership, which currently exceeds 25,000, is not limited to only

people of Greek Origin. President Franklin Roosevelt, for example, was a dues paying member of

AHEPA for more than fourteen years, from March of 1931 until his passing, as was Rhode Island

United State Senator Claiborne Pell, who joined in 1963 and received AHEPA’s highest honor,

the Socrates Award, in 1982; and

     WHEREAS, Members of AHEPA served in the Armed Forces of the United States to

protect American freedom and to preserve those democratic ideals that are part of the Hellenic

legacy, and specifically in World War II, were parachuted behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied

Greece to help its liberation; and

     WHEREAS, AHEPA raised more than $253 million dollars to purchase United States

War bonds during World War II, for which AHEPA was named an official issuing Agent for

United States War Bonds by the Department of the Treasury, an honor that no other civic

organization was able to achieve at that time; and

     WHEREAS, The members of AHEPA donated $612,000 dollars towards the restoration

of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, New York, for which AHEPA received special

recognition by the United States Department of the Interior; and

     WHEREAS, The AHEPA National Housing Program has sponsored safe and dignified

affordable housing to vulnerable senior citizens administered by the United States Department of

Housing and Urban Development Section 202, Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program, that

has yielded 4,467 units in 87 communities across 19 States; and

     WHEREAS, AHEPA financially supports scholarships, natural disaster and humanitarian

relief, medical research, and countless other charitable and philanthropic causes by contributing

more than $2,0000,000 annually from its national, district, and local levels collectively; and

     WHEREAS, In 1996, in the spirit of their Hellenic heritage and in commemoration of the

Centennial Olympic Games held in Atlanta, Georgia, members of AHEPA raised $775,000 for

the “Tribute” to Olympism Sculpture, the “fan-like” structure that helped to save lives during the

Olympic Bombing at Centennial Olympic Park; and

     WHEREAS, President George H.W. Bush cited AHEPA as one of America’s “Thousand

Points of Light”; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby joyously

commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the American Hellenic Educational

Progressive Association (AHEPA), applauds its mission, and commends the many charitable

contributions of its members to communities around the world; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby respectfully requests that the Honorable Daniel J.

McKee, Governor of the State of Rhode Island, issue a proclamation acknowledging the 100th

Anniversary of AHEPA and its many accomplishments; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Honorable Daniel J. McKee, Governor of

the State of Rhode Island, and to District 7, Chapter 106, Cranston, Rhode Island, Chapter 121,

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Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and Chapter 245, Newport, Rhode Island.

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