Who we are

The founders of the BENJAMIN Association in the 50s

The BENJAMIN Child Support Society is an independent, non-profit, philanthropic organization based in Katerini, Northern Greece and established in 1994 with the decision by the Court of First Instance of Katerini. The founders of BENJAMIN who grew up in an Evangelical orphanage, during the 1950’s., declared unanimously on the day of its foundation:

We are grateful to God and to the orphanage that hosted us in the 1950s. We feel that we also have to do the same for the children of today who need our sympathy. ” We are the children of 1950 who support children of the 21stcentury”

BENIAMIN’s endeavor was the vision of Harry Anastasiou,whoabandoned a successful career in Canada and returned to Greece with his wife, Joanna, in order to unselfishly dedicate themselves to the support of fatherless, underprivileged and children in need.

Indeed, the birth of this effort on Easter 1984 in Toronto, in a meeting of 6 “children” of the orphanage with Spyros Zodiatis, its then founder of the Orphanage Mr Zodiatis expressed the desire to see the children of the Katerini Orphanage

Re-union of the founders 30 years later,

So Harry Anastasiou took the initiative and invited the children of the orphanage to the end of July next year in Greece. Mr Zodiatis was present in the meeting. There were also other meetings of the “children”, always with the presence of Mr Zodiatis At the third meeting in 1994 it was decided to establish BENJAMIN, BENJAMIN Child Support Society which was formalized by the decision No. 148/1994 of the Monopoly Court of First Instance of Katerini.
Important milestones in BENJAMIN’s action
  • BENJAMIN’sassistance and protection to Serbia’s orphansin NATO bombings in 1999. Until 2013, a large number of orphaned children were supported until they reached adulthood.
  • BENJAMIN’sassistance and protection to orphans and children in need after the fires in Zacharo Ilia in 2008-2010
  • The pilot program of HAVEN For Child -Family Home for children in need or in danger that operated for 4 children from 2010 to 2015.
  • Hosting a family of Syrian refugees with 6 children during the refugee stream to Eu
  • 3 of the BENJAMIN’s members, who had been supported when they were children by BENJAMIN years ago, were also members of the Board and now offer voluntarily to BENJAMIN’s children.