“I couldn’t believe I had a queue consistently of around 20 people long all wanting to donate money to the Foundation” said Peter Cursley, Chairman of the Newborn Intensive Care Foundation.
Over $25,000 was donated by those attending the book launch of “A Trilogy of Greek Voices in Australia” authored by Prof. A. M. Tamis, a bookon the life of and contribution to the Queanbeyan and Canberra community by Constantinos Tsoulias and his family.
“It really demonstrated the generosity and community spirit of our local Greek community” Mr Cursley went on to say.
In launching the book, former Chief Minister, Kate Carnell acknowledged the enormous contribution made by Con Tsoulias and his father spanning many years. Ms Carnell emphasised the close working relationship that she had as Chief Minister with the Greek community as a direct result of Con Tsoulias.
Mr Tsoulias spoke with both grace and emotion as he reflected on his early years as a young Greek immigrant growing up in Queanbeyan. He thanked each of the 150 people at the launch for their impact on his life with special attention to one of his first school teachers who travelled up from the South Coast to help celebrate the launch.
At the end of his speech, Mr Tsoulias urged the audience to donate to the Newborn Intensive Care Foundation. The Tsoulias and Karellas families each made a substantial donation boosting donations on the night to well over $25,000.
Photos of the launch. Con Tsoulias & John Efkarpidis with a copy of “A Trilogy of Greek Voices in Australia”