Detroit Pan-Orthodox efforts raises $5,000 for IOCC
A fall benefit concert sponsored by the Council of Orthodox Christian Churches of Metropolitan Detroit [COCC] raised more than $5,000.00 for International Orthodox Christian Charities [IOCC].
The concert of “Music from the Twelve Great Feasts” was presented by the Orthodox Choir of Metropolitan Detroit on Sunday, October 17, 2010 at Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Church, Troy, MI.
The choir was conducted by Artistic Director Vickie Kopistiansky, who also conducts the choir at Holy Trinity Church [OCA], Detroit. Archpriest Paul Jannakos of Saint Mary Magdalene Church [OCA], Fenton, MI, provided commentary.
Donations to IOCC, raised through sponsorships and free-will donations collected during the concert, exceeded the COCC’s goal, according to the COCC’s president, Subdeacon Robert A. Mitchell of Detroit’s Saint Raphael of Brooklyn Church [OCA].
The concert was so successful in terms of fundraising and audience appreciation that the COCC plans to make it an annual event, he added.
Development Officer Nicholas Chakos represented IOCC at the concert and gave a presentation on organization’s charitable works during the intermission.
“IOCC is grateful to the COCC for sponsoring this wonderful event which brought together the pan-Orthodox community in Detroit to support IOCC’s worldwide efforts,” Mr. Chakos said. “The music was excellent and the funds raised will bring help and hope to people whose lives have been torn apart by man-made and natural disasters.”
The Baltimore-based IOCC [www.iocc.org] was founded in 1992 as the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas. It has implemented more than $330 million in relief and development programs in 35 countries around the world.
The COCC [www.coccdetroit.com] represents various canonical Orthodox churches in metropolitan Detroit and sponsors a variety of worship, fellowship, and charitable, educational and outreach programs.
The Orthodox Choir of Metropolitan Detroit is composed of volunteer singers from parishes
throughout the region.