The well-known entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has begun a humanitarian campaign with the aim of raising funds for the families who lost loved-ones in the fatal 11th July explosion at Mari.

Expressing his sympathy Stelios, the founder of the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation said:

“Like all of us who have close ties with Cyprus, I feel deeply affected by the tragedy, and I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives.”  

In an effort to support the families of the thirteen individuals who lost their lives in the accident, the entrepreneur, who is of Cypriot origin, will open special accounts at key banks for the deposit of relief funds. Through his philanthropic foundation, he will make an opening deposit of €50,000.  

“I wanted to start a campaign to collect donations to be equally distributed among the families of the thirteen victims. I hope that other donations from the public will follow mine and that the total sum we can offer to the families will grow,” he said. The campaign, which is set to last for one month, will be supervised by Stelios himself.

 “I will personally oversee the campaign to ensure that the relatives of the deceased are identified and that the funds are transferred directly to them one month from today.”

In addition, Stelios did not hesitate to give his thoughts on the fact that the tragic events of the 11th July had become political:

“Living far from Cyprus, I was surprised to find that the tragedy had become a political issue and that few had acted to help those who had lost loved ones. It seems that those who live on the island are focused on the political aspect of this event, rather than the human one.”

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Notice from the Stelios Philanthropic foundation

The Stelios Philanthropic foundation has been active in Cyprus for several years. 
One of its many initiatives is an award for bi-communal cooperation, in its third consecutive year, in which five winning teams each have the chance to be awarded €50,000. The competition is open to businesses where at least one Greek-Cypriot works with at least one Turkish-Cypriot. The aim of the award is to encourage mutual trust across the dividing line. 

“The severing of the Turkish-Cypriot community’s electricity supply following the accident at Mari has brought the two sides closer together; an encouraging development,” Stelios noted.

The foundation also made a donation of €200,000 to build an environmental research centre in the Pedoulas municipality, work on which was completed last year.

Stelios is also Honorary Consul-General of the Republic of Cyprus in Monaco.

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Media Coverage

Sir Stelios launches donation campaign for families of Mari tragedy

Source: Cyprus Mail (2 August 2011)

Cypriot tycoon Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou yesterday said he was launching a campaign to collect donations for the families of the 13 men who died in the July 11 naval base blast.

Haji-Ioannou, founder of the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, said he was deeply shocked by the incident “and my thoughts go to the families of the deceased.”

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