The Prolepsis Institute

Working with The Prolepsis Institute has been an amazing and absolutely worthy experience, and I feel truly lucky for being part of the team as a volunteer!

I have been doing a Communication internship at Prolepsis Institute over the last three months. From the very first moment, I entered Prolepsis Institute for the Internship Interview, I noticed the happy and welcoming atmosphere created by the beautiful and well-organized building but mostly by the warmth and friendliness of the people who work for Prolepsis who made me feel "like home". It's very fulfilling to work for such a great non-profit which has created a commendable program, the"DIATROFI" program, which is not only aimed to provide healthy breakfast meals to students of low-income schools but is also aimed to teach children and their families to adopt a healthy nutrition life attitude. Also, I am glad that I had the opportunity to visit as a volunteer, some of the schools participating in the Program because I saw the true happiness and enthusiasm of the children when they received the breakfast that we offered them and because I received uncountable hugs and kisses and true love from our little friends.
Prolepsis Institute keep up the great work!

Volunteering at Prolepsis institute for about four years I can say that I have a great experience.
I volunteer at Diatrofi programme whose aim is every student while their staying at school to have a free healthy meal, that institute distributes every day, and promoting healthy life also in their families. But the most important is that this programme satisfies families with serious economic problems. I like beeing part of this, for the pleasure I take from the programme, the very good cooperation with the people of prolepsis which they really love what they do and for the nice place that all volunteers we work as a team.

I had the opportunity to be a volunteer during my summer vacations and I was very much surprised by the excellent work ant contribution to the society. They help the less fortunate pupils by providing healthy meals at their schools and give valuable aid to poor students. I was very glad to be a part of this effort and I hope that they will keep on doing their good job!!

The Prolepsis Institute is a great nonprofit organization that helps promote health among Greek and European Citizens. Providing healthy food for children facing food insecurity, promoting vaccinations and recording the health needs of refugees are a few of the institute's actions. Volunteering for the Prolepsis Institute for almost two years now has been a very fulfilling experience.

I have been working as a volunteer at Prolepsis Institute periodicaly for a year and a half. The atmosphere is as friendly and welcoming as it was the first day I went at this place. Everyone from the cleaning lady to the director is very kind and helpful and they make you feel at home. It runs many interesting projects and I feel that being given the opportunity to work with such unique people is a true gift. Also, as a building it is state of the art and is very well organised. I encourage anyone who is interested in volunteerism, to come and visit this organization. I am sure you will want to stay and contribute somehow.

The Prolersis institute is a very unique organization, which provides both highly valuable Charity work, by developing the unbelievably high quality DIATROFI project, reaching to thousands of children, who suffers from nutritional insecurity, and a highly professional scientific work, which helps promoting scientific knowledge. It is a pleasure to witness and volunteer in such a special place. 

Interning at Prolepsis was an educational experience!
It is an incredible institute that focusses on improving the lives not only of their national citizens but has expanded their aid internationally and reaches out to refugees and cares about their quality of life in the camps and the healthcare they recieve. Prolepsis has inspired me to do more and taught me that there is no such thing as enough there is always room for evolution. There is always a different project or programme in process that will be able to change someone's life and motivate them to pass the message and help the next person.

I am an Undergraduate at Harvard University interning at the Prolepsis Institute for the Summer. I have one month remaining, and I could not be more excited about what the following month will bring. My coworkers at Prolepsis have been warm and welcoming from my first day, and they are all highly qualified and competent experts in their respective fields. I have received indispensable experience in how public health research and advocacy truly works, and I could not imagine a better way to spend my Summer than by helping to further Prolepsis' mission.

Volunteering at the Prolepsis Institute is a great opportunity for anyone who is interested in helping children that are in need, refugees and charity in general. It’s a work place with an amazing environment and very friendly people that are prepared to teach you anything they know about their topic of expertise.

As a school unit (106th Kindergarten in Athens) we had the pleasure and honor to have worked for more than a year with the Prolepsis Foundation in the NUTRITION Program and indeed the whole cooperation was beyond any expectation. With consistency, integrity and enduring interest in both children and the quality of the meals, our partnerships every year have gone on without ever having the slightest problem. However, this did not prevent the Foundation from constantly seeking ways to make its meals more appealing to children, by making them familiar with a healthy diet for children without a financial problem, as well as essential nutritional support for children whose families faced major financial problems. Thus all the students in our school received daily meals made up of vegetables, dairy and fruit, which they enjoyed with pleasure. We are grateful for our cooperation with the Prolepsis Foundation, it helps us a lot in our work and it will be our honor to include us in its future sponsorships.

It has been an amazing experience to be a part of the Prolepsis Institute as a volunteer. The Diatrofi program is bringing much needed relief to vulnerable families in this time of economic crisis in Greece. The children at school can focus on their education instead of their hunger. The principles of solidarity and compassion are very much evident in this organization. It is truly a privilege to have participated in this project.

It is a great honor not only working as a volunteer for the DIATROFI Program but meeting also Prolepsis members. This program provides a healthy meal and educational material to all of the students in primary and secondary public schools in socioeconomically vulnerable areas in many parts of Greece. This means that the support for both students and families is one of the most important impact of the program. Great Job Prolepsis Institute!! Keep going!!

A great non-profit working for providing healthy meals to thousands of children in need, putting the needs of the children and their families first and then everything else.

An institute dedicated to promoting health equality and education through innovative research.

I am working at the Prolepsis Institute as a Statistician Intern but also I was a Research Volunteer two years ago. As I had never had the opportunity of being a volunteer, when I found out the Institute and read about the DIATROFI program I thought that it was in the right place at the right time. It's a unique experience of feeling that you can help through different ways the children and especially those who do not have the possibility of eating well and healthy because of socioeconomical criteria. If a child does not follow a healthy diet, he/she can not think clearly. Therefore he/she becomes frail and doesn't have the will power of learning and studying.
Firstly as a person and secondly as a teacher, I thought that this action will be the only one solution of promoting a healthy eating through educational material and activities at the students and their families. As the economical crisis remains a serious problem in Greece, values such as solidarity, reciprocity and mutual trust tend to disappear.
Volunteerism makes a specific contribution by generating well-being for people and their communities. That's why I will continue to contribute as much as I can to this program and I hope that more and more people will do it in the future for improving ourselves and living in a healthy community.

I have been doing an internship at Prolepsis Institute over the last 10 months.
Prolepsis is a nongovernmental organization committed in health promotion and medical research. It has given me the opportunity to expand my knowledge, do some research in different topics such as food assistance programs, school meals, food safety, mycotoxins and pesticides in baby food, food adulteration, among others.
I have seen from a closer perspective some of the main public health issues the world is facing now days. Being able to be part of the Institute and see all the effort they do, as well as all the people they help (as one of their main projects DIATROFI, a school food aid program that provides a healthy meal to children in low income schools around Greece), just makes me corroborate all the work we still have ahead of us to assist the ones in risk and vulnerable situations; not only in one place but around the world.
From the Prolepsis community, I can tell they are all welcoming and hard working people. They will do anything it is on their hands to make your stay a successful time. They are all passionate about their job and ready to take a new step on research or implementation programs.

Employees and volunteers:
Highly motivated, hardworking, multi-skilled, job-oriented, team work, great communication. Wonderful being part of the team on both sides.

I volunteered as an intern with Prolepsis for two months in the spring of 2017. The amount of projects both domestically and with other organizations throughout the EU that Prolepsis is involved in was amazing to me. What was even more impressive was the level of commitment and hard work that was put into each of these projects. What I enjoyed the most was being able to see the scope of the Diatrofi program that Prolepsis implements, a program which distributes thousands of free and nutritious daily lunches to school children in socioeconomically vulnerable areas throughout Greece. Each Prolepsis member who was involved in the Diatrofi initiative worked tirelessly to make sure the program ran smoothly and that the lunches distributed were of the highest quality and nutrition. In addition to the many public health and preventive health research projects that Prolepsis is simultaneously involved in, Prolepsis also takes the time to engage in smaller scale community outreach initiatives. As a volunteer, I accompanied several Prolepsis members to various public schools in the outskirts of Athens who delivered lectures to grade school students about the dangers of smoking. Prolepsis is a truly amazing organization in that it succeeds in being impactful in both large-scale international programs and research studies, as well as in domestic initiatives that helps Greece on a national and community level.

Much as the principal aim of the DIATROFI Program was to alleviate the food insecurity from which our students suffer through covering their nutritional needs, thanks to the continuous efforts and undiminished interest of the team of Prolepsis Institute, our children were educated regarding the principles of healthy nutrition whilst most importantly, they recognized the value of adequate and healthy food in all life stages. The DIATROFI Program, implemented by Prolepsis Institute, was the tool for cultivating and developing skills and attitudes, producing creativity and culture (theatrical performances, art exhibitions) and promoting human relationships and principles of socialization and equality. The DIATROFI Program filled children of our schools with feelings of hope and optimism and provided them with strength and courage. We greatly thank the team of Prolepsis Institute for their standards of humanity and care, their sense of responsibility and the sensitivity that they have shown all these years.
Primary school of Kouloyra

Since the 2012-13 school year, our school, the Special Education Elementary School of Perama, participates in the DIATROFI Program implemented by the Prolepsis Institute. Through the DIATROFI Program, breakfast, the most important meal of the day, is provided daily to all our students. During this time, we have found that the right daily breakfast enables students to better meet school requirements and have regular attendance, while absences due to illness are significantly reduced. For those parents who are unemployed relieving them of the worry about their children’s daily breakfast is a great relief. Along with the meal, we received educational material on nutrition and used it in the educational process. We believe that this work must be continued, especially now that the crisis has seriously damaged Greek society.
The breakfast offer combined with the Health Education programs which we implement every year at our school, we believe they make the most of shaping citizens with good eating habits.
We thank all members of the Prolepsis Institute for their offer and work and we wish that they continue working on this project.
The teacher-Pavlaki Stamatiki

Getting to know the people at Prolepsis through my childs collaboration with them has been an extremely filfilling experience. As a family we have come together to help the Diatrofi program at Prolepsis and have helped raise funds and awareness through our sons club at school(ACS Greece),my husbands work, personal gatherings with friends and extended family fundraisers who live in the US. The incredably capable and friendly staff at Prolepsis have helped assist us in helping get the word out. Shocking but true ;there are children in Greek schools today, affected by the economic crisis in Greece, who do not have enough to eat. With the help of the Diatrofi program thousands of children everyday have full bellies and are able to attend school, study and build brighter futures for themselves. I am more than grateful for having the honor to help the people at Prolepsis in their efforts. Evanne Sharp

Greece








Rating: 5 stars     
September 9, 2017
Watching the toll of the Greek economic crisis in Greece hit schools was shocking to me. I never imagined that in our day kids could be going hungry! I wanted to create a club that could help raise awareness and funds for an extremely good cause; the Diatrofi program at Prolepsis. As a student at the American Community School of Greece I was able to create a club (the 1.50 Club-the price it costs for each lunch box offered) that has helped raise awareness and funds for Greek children in Greek schools that are from food insecure families. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life to know that the money we have raised as a club has given these children in need healthy balanced meals;helping them become productive students and bringing happiness to their schools and their families too. I am proud to be helping Prolepsi in this very important cause. Ilia Sharp(student at ACS)

Role: Donor

Από το σχολικό έτος 2012-13, το σχολείο μας, το Ειδικό Δημοτικό Περάματος, συμμετέχει στο πρόγραμμα του Ινστιτούτου Πρόληψη, εξασφαλίζοντας το καθημερινό πρωινό όλων των μαθητών μας, που είναι το σημαντικότερο γεύμα της ημέρας. Στη διάρκεια αυτών των ετών, διαπιστώσαμε ότι το σωστό καθημερινό πρωινό γεύμα τους βοηθάει τους μαθητές στο να ανταποκρίνονται καλύτερα στις σχολικές απαιτήσεις και να έχουν τακτική φοίτηση, χωρίς απουσίες λόγω ασθενειών. Για δε τους γονείς που στην πλειοψηφία τους είναι άνεργοι, είναι μεγάλη οικονομική ελάφρυνση, απαλλάσσοντάς τους από το πρόβλημα της καθημερινής εξασφάλισης του γεύματος των παιδιών τους. Παράλληλα με το γεύμα λάβαμε εκπαιδευτικό υλικό που αφορά τη σωστή διατροφή και το αξιοποιήσαμε στην εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία. Πιστεύουμε ότι το έργο αυτό πρέπει να συνεχιστεί, ιδιαίτερα στις μέρες μας που η κρίση έχει πλήξει σοβαρά την ελληνική κοινωνία.
Η προσφορά του πρωινού σε συνδυασμό με τα προγράμματα Αγωγής Υγείας που υλοποιούμε κάθε χρόνο στο σχολείο μας , πιστεύουμε ότι συμβάλλουν τα μέγιστα στη διαμόρφωση πολιτών με σωστές διατροφικές συνήθειες.
Ευχαριστούμε όλα τα μέλη του Ινστιτούτου Πρόληψη για την προσφορά και το έργο τους και τους ευχόμαστε καλή συνέχεια στο έργο τους.
Η εκπαιδευτικός Παυλάκη Σταματική

CONTRIBUTING TO BETTER EATING OF CHILDREN IN NEED THROUGH THE
PROLEPSIS INSTITUTE

Through the past months I have been a donor of the Prolepsis Institute several times. Personally, I prefer to offer money to institutes helping the living, in order to pay my respects to the memory of a person who has just passed away, instead of giving the money to flowers. I feel that I do more than just giving money and that’s why I totally support this act.

Searching for a well established organization that honors its aim and does everything for it, I chose the Prolepsis Institute. I visited the place and I was surprised with the nice and friendly environment. The people are really serious and sensitive about their work. They know that it is not just a normal job, it is something more. It’s a philanthropic work.

The donation someone is making is really going to the “DIATROFI PROGRAM”, the main program of the institute. I can assure you about it. Finally, I would like to share with you one more thing that I liked about the donation method of the Institute. At the letter informing the family of the dead person about the donation, they do not mention the amount of the donation you made, but the number of children that will be profited from it.

V.

This past summer intership was quite the immersive and educational experience. The Prolepsis Institute is involved in a myriad of public health initaitves which have proved not only to be beneficial but also quite necessary in Greece. Specifically, the DIATROFI Food Aid and Nutrition program has targeted food insecurity for school children in the disadvantaged regions of Greece with great outcomes. No child should have to suffer in hunger and dispair. With the DIATROFI program, children are given the chance for physical and mental growth, as well as, the chance for a holistic nutrional education as the program, beyond bringing nutritious food to schools also implements nutrition and overall well-being segments. Having had the chance to work behing the scenes of this program, as well as, the other programs Prolepsis implements has allowed me to realize and experience first hand the importance of these programs.

Interning here has been a delight. The staff is hard-working, dedicated to the causes, warm to newcomers, and creative in the ways in which they plan to create, implement, and improve current and existing programs!

The Prolepsis Institute is one of the leading public health NGOs in Greece. They implement countless initiatives aimed at improving people's overall quality of life and health. I have had the opportunity to volunteer with Prolepsis and witness how they help reduce food insecurity among the most vulnerable children in Greece. Prolepsis operates DIATROFI, a school food aid program, that provides one healthy meal per day to children in low-income schools across Greece. Their work is incredibly vital to being able to provide children with opportunity and a healthier life. Beyond feeding children in Greece, Prolepsis also is involved with several other projects with European Union (EU) countries.

Everyone who works at Prolepsis is also very qualified and welcoming. Prolepsis is unique because of its collaborative nature and everyone works alongside each other to truly help society and improve people's lives.

Prolepsis is an amazing organization that does lifechanging work in Greece. I had the opportunity to visit a school that was part of Prolepsis' DIATROFI program, and seeing the real-world impact of the food aid that DIATROFI provided was eye-opening, as many children participating in the program depend on these school meals for much of their nutrition. The people who work at Prolepsis are very professional, and very passionate concerning their work towards furthering public health. They're all incredibly dedicated and hardworking, and are also very helpful and considerate.