CIVIL SOCIETY: 276 PRACTICES
Mission ANTHROPOS is a Greek nonprofit, Non Governmental Organisation, founded in 2010 with the aim to provide free and without discrimination medical support to vulnerable people, who do not have access to the NHS.
Read more: www.missionanthropos.com
The organization Mission ANTHROPOS, in continuation of the programs and initiatives it has carried out in recent years, supporting elderly fellow citizens residing in Non-Profit Elderly Care Units (ECUs) and due to the new needs that have arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, implemented the action: "We Protect our Grandparents". The aim of the action was to protect the elderly as well as the nursing and administrative staff of ECUs from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, by providing consumables (gloves, masks and antiseptic solution) necessary for the protection of their health.
The action was addressed to the elderly residents of six (6) Non-Profit long-term Elderly Care Units in the Prefecture of Attica, as well as their carers and the administrative staff of these units.
The duration of the action was from May to October 2020
What gave the inspiration for the initiative “We Protect our Grandparents” was the action of the organization Mission ANTHROPOS “Keeping Company to our Grandparents”, during which pupils of the 2nd grade of high school kept company to 44 elderly residents in the Ecclesiastical Retirement Home in N. Philadelphia “O Kalos Samareitis”.
The initiative "Keeping Company to our Grandparents" was consecutively implemented for the second time in 2019-2020. Its aim was, in order to combat the loneliness of the elderly, to bring them into contact with children, through activities, songs and games.
Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pupils could no longer meet with the elderly in person. The organization Mission ANTHROPOS, in its continuous effort to help the elderly, designed and implemented the action "We Protect our Grandparents" and stood by their side despite the distance. A crowdfunding campaign was organized with the purpose of offering the necessary consumables (gloves, masks and antiseptic solution) for the hygiene and protection of the elderly residents as well as the nursing and administrative staff of Non-Profit Elderly Care Units. The 9 high school pupils who kept company to the elderly created a video so as to promote the initiative “We Protect Our Grandparents”.
With the contribution of individuals, Nikolopoulos Pharmacy and MYTILINEOS Company, 3,400 masks, 30,000 single-use gloves and 60 liters of antiseptic solution were initially collected, meeting the needs of three ECUs for two months namely the Ecclesiastical Home for the Elderly "Panagia i Eleousa" in Nea Ionia, the Ecclesiastical Retirement Home "O Kalos Samareitis" in New Philadelphia and the Nursing Home "Koinoniki Pronoia Moschatou-Dionysios Theofilatos" in Moschato.
BIOIATRIKI Group embraced the action “We Protect our Grandparents" by donating additionally 30,000 single-use gloves, 60 liters of antiseptic and 3,400 masks, with which the organization supplied three other Non-Profit Elderly Care Units, namely "Oikos Galini -Estia Neas Smyrnis” in N. Smyrni, "Meropeion Filanthropikon Idryma" in Kallithea and “Spiti tis Christianikis Agapis”in Melissia.
On the occasion of the 1st of October, the International Day of Older Persons, IASO Group decided to partake in the action, by offering, in addition to the above, 46,600 single-use gloves for the hygiene and protection of the elderly as well as the nursing and administrative staff of the six (6) aforementioned Non-profit Elderly Care Units which face great difficulty in continuously renewing their consumables’ supply.
The action ensured a safer, more dignified and high-quality way of living for the 228 elderly residents and their 116 carers in the six (6) ECUs. Furthermore, it contributed to the budget of these ECUs, which is indeed limited, a fact further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In particular, through the action they were offered (in total):
106.600 single use gloves
6.800 masks
120 litres of antiseptic solution
The action took place in the six long-term Care Units for the Elderly situated in the Prefecture of Attica (Kallithea, Moschato, Nea Ionia, New Philadelphia, Melissia, Nea Smyrni).
The action was carried out in collaboration with MYTILINEOS Company, BIOIATRIKI Group and IASO Group.
The smooth implementation of the action necessitated that employees of all of the involved parties cooperated, namely aadministrative staff of the three (3) private companies, administrative staff of the six (6) ECUs, as well the coordinator of the project from the organization Mission ANTHROPOS.
The organization was benefited in the following ways:
