A HELPING HAND — Mike Smith, right, executive director at Family Connections, and Ean Fennell and Bonnie Eltringham of Brooke Place hold some of the items recently donated by the All Saints Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society. -- Contributed

WEIRTON — All Saints Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society held an informal meeting on July 30 at the Hellenic Memorial Hall where a COVID-friendly luncheon was sponsored by one of the members. Twenty-four members were in attendance.

Darlene Ballas and Debbi Karnoupakis shopped and donated a wide variety of activity-related materials for the girls of Brooke Place, along with a donation from the Philoptochos. Kim Weaver and the Weirton Christian Center also provided bags for each girl, which included items such as personal hygiene products, towels, washcloths, socks, beach towels and treats. Members of Philoptochos then delivered them to Mike Smith, executive director at Family Connections.

Pearl Tranto presented a brief program which included the history of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, which recently was converted from a museum into a mosque. A video was shown about the miracle of the weeping icons of the Theotokos that took place at Camp Nazareth in the summer of July 1988. It features George Kazas, a member of Kimisis Tis Theotokou of Aliquippa, Pa., as a teenager who, along with many other campers, witnessed the miracle. The video can be viewed on You Tube under Miracle at Camp Nazareth.