The Social and Cultural Affairs Welfare Foundation (KIKPE) was founded and is active at Athens since 1988. Its major goals are:
- Provision of social welfare and reinforcement of institutions that take care of vulnerable groups of the population.
- Development of cultural activities, mainly through utilizing the Foundation’s collections and archives and their promotion in Greece and abroad.
- Support for long-term actions within the educational and cultural fields, in cooperation with similar institutions and foundations.
The Foundation is administered by a nine-member Board, which is supported, aside from its employees, also by specialized external associates for the implementation of each and every task. The Board is consisted of: Ippokratis Ioannis Stasinopoulos (President), Athanasios Molokotos (Vice-president), Angeliki Papadopoulou (Secretary–Treasurer), Christos-Emmanouil Dimitrakopoulos, Nikephoros Kominis, Anastasios Metaxopoulos, Eleni Molokotou, Ioannis Panagiotopoulos and Theodoros Valmas (Members).
Some of the main activities of KIKPE, as well as the financial support provided to many cultural, educational and charity institutions are indicatively noted.
- KIKPE assists the organization of meals, run by the Archdiocese of Athens, in areas of Attica where mostly are affected by the consequences of the economic crisis, as well as other corresponding actions of the Municipality of Athens. In the same direction, the Foundation assists other similar institutions, such as the non-profit institution “Prolepsis” for the distribution of meals for students in schools of Attica.
- It also supports the “Therapy Center for Dependent Individuals” (KEThEA) for the training of professionals of certain rehabilitation communities.
- In 2017, KIKPE enhanced its financial support to the following associations: Cerebral Palsy Greece-OPEN DOOR, “THEOTOKOS” foundation, “Smile of the Child” (“To Hamogelo tou Paidiou”), “PNOE-Friends of Children in Intensive Care”.
- The Foundation owns an important Numismatic Collection, which has been gradually formed since 2001. The KIKPE Numismatic Collection is comprised of (ancient Greek, Roman Provincial, Byzantine, Islamic, modern Greek, etc) coins, as well as medals, seals, weights and other small items. Within the framework of the utilization of the Numismatic Collection, the Foundation promotes the study and publication of specific sections, the development of periodical exhibitions in order to highlight thematic approaches (such as the exhibition under preparation “Memory and impression: An itinerary through the Peloponnese in the company of ancient coins” in collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Arkadia and the Michail N. Stassinopoulos–Viohalco Public-benefit Foundation), the organization of seminars so that to provide access to researchers and students, as well as other relevant activities. The activity of the KIKPE Numismatic Collection is often the pinnacle of the cultural affairs of the Foundation, covering at the same time educational and social parameters.
- KIKPE possess a collection of Greek paper money and banknotes, spanning the period from 1822 (first steps for the establishment of the Greek State) until 2002 (year of the replacement of the drachma by the euro). This collection is on loan for use to the Historical Archive of the National Bank, where it is regularly deployed through both the permanent exhibition of the Archive and the educational programs aimed at students.
- KIKPE organized series of lectures that took place during the period 2010–2015 on timeless and current topics, in collaboration with the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron Plus program). The lectures were published as pamphlets, which are gratuitously distributed to the audience.
- KIKPE publishes monographs based on the acquisitions of the Foundation, such as the Numismatic Collection and the unpublished correspondence between I. Kapodistrias and Al. Kontostavlos.
- The Foundation finances the production of a documentary film on the life and work of Ioannes Kapodistrias.
- From 2014 to 2018, in cooperation with the organization Future Library and the Public and Municipal Libraries of the region, KIKPE has undertaken the organization of model teachings for middle-grade teachers. The program entitled “From Research to Teaching” focused on four courses of the middle-grade curriculum: Ancient Greek, Modern Greek, History and Economics. The teachings, which took place at the reading rooms of the libraries, were undertaken by experts working at Greek universities and research institutes.
- In the period 2012-2018, KIKPE was the recipient of books donated by individuals, which were forwarded to public and private libraries, libraries of foundations that host vulnerable social groups (addictive persons, prisoners, patients, etc), libraries of research centers and modern Greek studies, as well as libraries of Greek homogeneity on demand. In this procedure they have been delivered 20.000 volumes until December of 2018.
- During the years 2012–2020, in collaboration with the organization ‘Future Library’, 66 Public and Municipal libraries all over Greece, have been enriched with 50,000 titles. In cooperation with the non-profit foundation Library4all, it enriches the libraries of schools in remote areas of the country, at the request of the pre-school teachers, teachers and parent associations. During the school year September 2019-June 2020, for example, it has been delivered 12,840 books in 301 schools in Attica and the periphery.
- Supports the mobile library of the Public Library of Veria, which visits all the preliminary schools of the Imathia Province, in order to make possible for all students to lend books and to have access in network through computers, installed in the special made bus, which visits the area.
- The Foundation organizes a series of annual lectures called “History and Literature” that take place at the main building of the University of Athens (Argyriades Amphitheatre). The lectures are aimed at teachers but can also interest the greater public. Their topics draw inspiration mainly from the middle-grade curriculum, intending to educating the teachers and facilitating their educational work.
- KIKPE has also contributed in the organization of the series of annual courses of “Free University” (Education cycle of Books’ Archway), founded by the “Athens Society for the Promotion of Education and Learning”.
- KIKPE contributes to the publication of the acts of international conferences, mainly on human sciences, held in Greece as well as the publication of selected important monographs: “Greece in the decade 1940-1950. Bibliographical guide. Historiography and memory from the days of the War until 2019 “. The third volume “History of Modern Greek Music” etc.
Legal framework & Organization
The Social and Cultural Affairs Welfare Foundation (KIKPE) is a Greek public benefit foundation privately funded, governed by Law 2039/1939. The Foundation’s by-laws were ratified by presidential decree of 13.10.1988 (Official Gazette 801B, 2.11.1988) and subsequently amended by presidential decrees of 3.4.2000 (Official Gazette 459B, 4.4.2000), of 11.11.2003 (Official Gazette 1750B, 26.11.2003) and of 24.10.2011 (Official Gazette 2591B/7.11.2011).