ASME donates to charity's Sept. 11 relief effort

Jack Raplee
ASME NEWS

In December, ASME donated $10,000 in savings from scaled-back holiday celebrations to the United Way in support of the charity's Sept.11 relief efforts.

In an expression of solidarity with the United States, the Greek Section of ASME International gave $1,000 to ASME to be used for Sept. 11 relief efforts. ASME also donated that money to the United Way.

During a staff holiday party in New York in December, ASME Executive Director David L. Belden presented ASME's $10,000 gift to Cate Dolan, project director of United Way's September 11 Fund. Belden also presented her with the Greek Section's contribution.

During its First National Conference in Patras, Greece, last year, the Greek Section decided to contribute $1,000 to ASME for the Society to put toward relief efforts. That money was raised through the Section's sponsorship and conference registration fees. The conference was Sept. 17-20.

In his opening speech at the conference, Panagiotis Drakatos, president of the Greek Section, said, "These days, our thoughts are with the American people, the innocent victims and the incalculable material damage after the tragedy of these terrible terrorist attacks."

Drawing from the ancient Greek dictum, "Science divided from virtue is not wisdom," Drakatos said that the Greek section felt moved to contribute to relief funds because "Too often, people exercise a wild exploitation of technological progress, which results in wars and other catastrophes."

The National Conference of the Greek Section, "Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering," drew attendees from many countries, but few from the United States, since it was so close in time to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

During the September conference, Drakatos encouraged conference attendees and members of the Greek Section to visit New York and Washington.

 

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