Dear Parishioners,

March, 25, 2022

In preparation of its annual festival, the Greek Orthodox Shrine Church of St. Nicholas has prepared a raffle with 175 exciting prizes! Enclosed, you will find a sample of the raffle ticket with the prizes. We ask that you kindly support our church by purchasing three tickets. With the funds generated from our annual raffle, and with the generous contributions of its members, St Nicholas Church provides many ministry and social programs for its members, as well as for the community.
Examples of such programs include those for youth/teenagers' sports (travel league basketball, special- needs basketball, travel league soccer, "Olympics"); Social Programs for the youth (JOY), and teenagers (Jr. GOYA & GOYA); Choir; Altar Boy program; the Women's Philoptochos Society (works on meeting the needs of our church, its members and the local needy); the Men's League (aid the church and help feed the hungry by donating meals to families in need); informational & emotional support program for families of Children     with Special Needs; Little Angel's Mommy & Me Program (for  infants  and  toddlers);  a  Senior  Citizen's  Group that meets 3x a week; Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America.
In addition, St. Nicholas Church reaches out to the community by visiting the sick in the hospital, visiting nursing homes, holiday caroling at nursing homes, hosting an annual Thanksgiving Food Drive & Delivery to needy families in our community and surrounding communities, as well as an annual Christmas Drive serving these same communities. St. Nicholas Church participates in Coat Drives, Blood Drives, Book Drives, the Ronald-McDonald-Walk- A-Thon, Community Clean-Ups, Community Projects, Educational Scholarships, etc. Support is given to local and national charities and institutions such as the American Cancer Society, Memorial Sloan Kettering Children's Cancer Fund, Ronald McDonald, Guide Dog Foundation, American Red Cross, Local Welfare Emergencies, St. Michaels Home for the Aged, National Children's Cardiac Fund, St. Basil's Academy, Foreign Missions Projects, and many more. St. Nicholas Church supports 4 schools, 60 ministries, over 30 organizations, and over 1,800 families.
Our annual festival dates are May 19th - May 22th, 2022.  This year we are celebrating the Golden Fiftieth Festival Year.  We would all want our beloved Parish to reap the best success on such a milestone year. 
Raffle tickets can be purchased on our website, www.stnicholasflushing.org, through PayPal, at the church office, by scanning the QR code located on the raffle or by contacting one of our Raffle Chairpersons (see below).  Please see the information on the opposite side of this letter regarding the prizes that will be given to the top five raffle ticket sellers. Thank you, in advance, for your generosity and please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Father Paul C. Palesty, Pastor                           Peter J. Valasiadis, Parish President

Thalia Misthos,  Raffle –Chair
917.751.2888
tmisthos915@aol.com

Dimitrios Athanasopoulos, Raffle-Chair
516.320.0447
dgathana@gmail.com