Panathinaikos B.C. OPAP stood beside the children of the “Marianna V. Vardinoyannis-ELPIDA” Children’s Oncology Unit yet again,on the initiative of Mr. Dimitris Giannakopoulos, on Wednesday, 16 January 2019.
Mr. Giannakopoulos and the Panathinaikos OPAP team were greeted by the President of the “ELPIDA-Association of Friends of Children with cancer,” Mrs. Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, and the Director of “Agia Sofia” and “P&A KYRIAKOU” Children’s Hospitals, Mr. Manolis Papasavvas.
“It is a great pleasure for us to have you here today. Mr. Giannakopoulos, dear Dimitris, who has silently supported us in every way all these years. He always stands beside our children, and this is evidenced by his ethos, his love, and his principles, which are comparable to the principles and values that our late and beloved friend, his father, Pavlos Giannakopoulos, also possessed. I sincerely thank my dear Dimitris as well as all the athletes of Panathinaikos who are here today, offering joy and a smile to our children. From the bottom of my heart, I hope they have a wonderful year, full of health and much success,” Mrs. Vardinoyannis stated, welcoming Mr. Giannakopoulos and the Panathinaikos team.
“It is a pleasure and an honour for us to have the opportunity to come every year and contribute to this great work. This work is immense, and to be able to help children, to help society, to help the country is very important,” Mr. Giannakopoulos said.
The Panathinaikos OPAP basketball team has historically supported “ELPIDA” and last year was named “Champion for Hope,” while at the same time, Mr. Giannakopoulos personally supports the work of “ELPIDA,” donating medication produced by the company VIANEX to the Children’s Oncology Unit.
In recognition of the great contribution of Panathinaikos B.C. OPAP and Dimitris Giannakopoulos to the work of the “ELPIDA” Association, Mrs. Vardinoyannis awarded Mr. Giannakopoulos with the Association’s honorary distinction.
In a symbolic gesture, Mr. Giannakopoulos gave Mrs. Vardinoyannis an official team jersey signed by all the players of the team.
Immediately afterwards, the athletes of the basketball team visited the young patients of the Unit, were photographed with them, and gave them beautiful gifts!
The following players visited the Children’s Oncology Unit: Deshaun Thomas, Vangelis Sakellariou, Georgios Kalaitzakis, Georgios Papagiannis, Nikos Pappas, Lukas Lekavičius, James Gist, Keith Langford, Kostas Mitoglou, Nick Calathes, Matt Lojeski,Stéphane Lasme, Ioannis Papapetrou, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Ian Vougioukas.
The players were accompanied by the team’s President, Mr. Manos Papadopoulos, the General Manager, Mr. Themis Karvountzis, coach Rick Pitino and the assistant coach Nikos Pappas.
