The mission of the AHEPA Family is to promote Hellenism, Education, Philanthropy, Civic Responsibility, and Family and Individual Excellence.  Read about AHEPA and it’s mission at AHEPA.org.

AHEPA Chapter 212 History

It was during the summer of 1922, that two businessmen, George Polos and John Angelopoules had a chance meeting in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  They talked of business, family, and their heritage.  Soon they were discussing the renaissance of hatred perpetuated by a newly reorganized Ku Klux Klan against “less desirable” immigrants from “certain countries”.  That meant countries such as Greece and others from the Balkan nations.

Both men agreed that now was the time to form a patriotic organization that would direct and channel the energy of the Greek community in the United States.  Both men agreed that a truly American fraternity of Greeks was the order of the day; a national group determined to contribute to American society.  They presented the idea to a group of twenty-five members of the Atlanta Georgia Greek community.  Seventeen men offered their support, and on July 26, 1922, the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association – the Order of AHEPA became a reality.

By 1928 – 1929 The Order of AHEPA had over 192 chapters and over 17,000 members nationwide.  It was during this time that a group of twenty – five men in Stockton California, many of them the founding fathers of what would become St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church, met with the idea of forming a local chapter of the Order of AHEPA.  On March 3, 1929, the idea became a reality and the Stockton Chapter 212, became one of the over 200 local chapters of the Order of AHEPA.

The 1930’s saw explosive growth for the Stockton Chapter and by 1940 there were 156 members.  During the dark days of World War II, the Order of Ahepa was at the forefront of the Greek War Relief Association and helped raise $4 million in food and supplies by May of 1941.

In 1942 the United States Treasury Department named the Order of Ahepa as an official Issuing Agent for U.S. War Bonds, an honor achieved by no other civic organization.  Each chapter had been issued a quota for bonds sold with the goal of reaching $50 million in four months.  The Order of Ahepa reached that goal, and by the end of World War II, raised $263 million.  After World War II, the Order of Ahepa post war projects were aimed at helping to rebuild war-torn Greece.  By the 1950’s the Order of Ahepa started programs aimed at affordable housing for seniors.  By the 21st Century Ahepa has raised $500 million through its Ahepa Housing projects.

In the early years, the Order of Ahepa educational program’s emphasized citizenship, Greek and American history.  Indeed, education in a variety of forms has been a pillar of the Order of Ahepa since the very beginning.  Ahepa started out educating the immigrant, assimilating him into American culture, and as Ahepa chronicler George J. Leber phrased it, “making him a gentleman”.

Scholarships have been a part of the Order of Ahepa’s civic service since the Chicago Supreme Convention of 1925.  Today the Order of Ahepa gives scholarships on the local and national levels to promising Greek American students as well as students whose parents and grandparents are or were members of the Order of Ahepa and the Daughters of Penelope.  Within our own District 21, the Order of Ahepa currently has a very successful scholarship program as well.

The Order of Ahepa continues to perpetuate the importance of the Hellenic culture as it relates to American culture.  The importance of continuing to educate, not only the Greek American community, but the American community as a whole, of the important role ancient Greece and its great thinkers such as Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, and Pericles had on the Founding Fathers of the United States of America.

Our local chapter continues the legacy of identifying Greek Americans with the greater American community through its philanthropy and scholarship programs.  We continue fundraising projects for St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church, medical research for Cooley’s anemia, and the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island restoration projects. 

Currently our chapter has 30 active members and life members, and we continue to strive to grow the chapter.  We are always looking for good men who can and must strive to achieve excellence.  Ahepans will always work together to reach for that excellence which can only be found in man’s commitment to serving his fellow man.