The Saint Barbara Charitable Foundation was created by Zan Diakos and is currently funded entirely by the Diakos family. Zan’s wife, Effie, his sister, Maria, and his brother in law Dimitrios Papagiannakis (aka Dimitris Pappas) are the inspiration behind the Foundation. They grew up in a suburb of Athens, New Psychico,  during extreme hardship.  All were born in the 30s.  In 1940, they faced and experienced the Nazi occupation of Athens.  They experienced extreme poverty and starvation firsthand.  In the 1950’s, civil war ensued with further destruction, death and hunger.  Yet during that time, they maintained an amazing Greek spirit of hope, faith and culture and continued to do so after they moved to the US.  They maintained their faith and strength from afar, worked hard, and in the process, never forgot the capacity to love and empathize with the sufferings of others.  They embodied the Greek spirit of filotimo. 

The Foundation hails it’s name from Saint Barbara church in Neo Psychico where Zan’s and Maria’s grandfather, Father Antonios, was the head priest at the church for several years, through very difficult times and beloved by all. The Foundation is determined to carry on the legacy of Father Antonios, who kept the Orthodox faith intact, despite war, poverty and hunger. 

The church and its grounds became a safe haven for the Diakos family, and for the others in the local community. Zan and his siblings spent their childhood on the church grounds. By coincidence, Dimitris, in his youth, his sister, Maria and his mother, Anastasia, would often visit Father Antonios for his blessing and to receive communion.   

When Dimitris and Maria came to the twilight years of their life, they both faced difficult and debilitating diseases:  Dimitrios with ALF (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), and Maria with Alzheimers.  The course of their lives shaped their legacy.  Their hardships, joys, successes, challenges, all influenced the choices they made for their legacy.  Once again, during their most difficult times, they thought of others and through charitable contributions they assisted in alleviating suffering and hunger of those in need and preserving the profound Orthodox Faith and Hellenic Cultural heritage.