Providing Clean Water and Hot Meals in Volos, Greece

When Storm Daniel struck Volos, Greece, in September 2023, IOCC and partner Apostoli, the humanitarian arm of the Church of Greece, responded immediately.

The most pressing need was clean water. IOCC and Apostoli, coordinating with local municipalities and the Orthodox Church in Magnesia and Karditsa, found that water and sewage systems had been damaged or completely destroyed, leaving hundreds of thousands without potable water. Worse, many residents were surrounded by water polluted with sewage and the bodies of dead animals.

The emergency response began immediately, concentrating on the hardest-hit areas. Before long, enough water was coming in to meet the daily needs of about 1,000 people for a week.

The other critical need was food. IOCC and Apostoli provided hot meals and other food items for about four weeks to some 250 flood-affected villages, focusing on areas that had not received government assistance. Over 35 days, the project supplied 8,120 lunches.

Hot food was a welcome sight for residents laboring to salvage their belongings, drag damaged furniture and heavy appliances out of their homes, and scrape away thick layers of mud left by the storm.

With the immediate crisis now over, relief efforts have turned to rebuilding and repairing local schools, helping life in Volos gradually to return to normal.