By Demetrios Rhompotis
In an interview with NEO magazine hours after he was elected chairman, Mr. Caras said that he views the L100 not just as an organization, but as a movement. Asked whether there are thoughts of expanding its scope to include other areas in the community where assistance in badly needed, he left the possibility open, saying that although the L100 Charter states as its sole mission to support the church and Hellenism, “there are different ways to do that and different interpretations of how to accomplish that.”
Constantine Caras has served as Lykes Bros. Steam Ship Corporation Senior Vice President; Ogden Corporation (New York) (Fortune 500 company) Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; Board of Directors, OMI Corp (New York); Vice President, Board of Directors, Avondale Shipyards (Louisiana); Vice President, Board of Directors, Versar Corporation; International Terminal Operators, Inc.; and ERCE Corp, General Counsel, U.S. Maritime Administration and U. S. Maritime Subsidy Board. He currently manages family-owned real estate properties in the Delaware area.
Besides being a member and now chairman of the Leadership 100, Mr. Caras is an Archon of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, Parish Council member, Holy Trinity, Wilmington, DE (including President of Parish Council) and he has received the Medal of St. Paul, the highest distinction by the Greek Orthodox Church in America.
What will your main priorities be as Chairman?
I look at L100 as a movement, not as an organization, as a movement which we like to see grow exponentially and we want to make it interesting to our young people. We want our young people to take an ownership interest in this movement and I think if we do that, we’ll build a good product, so to speak, if we don’t we will fail. We really need to make this attractive to young people.
What are you planning to do in order to facilitate that?
First of all, on a very rudimentary level, we will try to have gatherings across the country and invite the new generation of young people, speak to them about what the Church is doing, where its efforts can be doubled, where we can do more. I think we have a good story to tell.
The last two years have been tough for many people. Is this the right time to expand?
Charitable contributions have been down the last two years, that is a fact. Most foundations have suffered 25-50% losses in terms of new members. However, we have been able to attract new members, notwithstanding the economic conditions. Maybe not at the rate we had it before, but over the last two years we have been able to attract maybe up to 100 people. Our trust fund has suffered some losses, we are very transparent, we tell everybody what it is, but we are on the road to recovery and I have enough confidence to believe that this is temporary and we will come back.
L100 for too long has kept itself away from the public eye. It is not as known as some would expect, given its size and success.
Sometimes organizations gain the public eye because there are controversies involved, because of politics etc. We haven’t had any of those, there is no reason for us to be involved in any controversy we have no political differences. On the other hand, as you know, our mission is to help the Church, to promote Orthodoxy and Hellenism. Sometimes that doesn’t translate into front page headlines, but we are going to try as we have before to demonstrate to the world what we do. And when we do that, I’m sure we’ll raise more interest and perhaps we’ll gain some membership out of that.
Have you thought of expanding the Leadership’s scope to include new areas where our community needs leadership in order to move forward?
Well, there are some legal considerations we have. We are a charitable organization: under the laws for the State of New York we are 501 C3 corporation and we are prescribed in terms of what we can do. It has to be a charitable public need. There are definitions on that by the Internal Revenue Code and we have to abide by that. And also, our main mission is spelled out in our Chapter, which is to promote Hellenism and Orthodoxy. Now, there are different ways to do that and different interpretations of how to accomplish that.
For the next two years you will have a very busy schedule as Chairman. Why are you doing this?
I could have chosen not to be a member and to not get involved, (which applies to all members), I am no exception. We have a passion for our church, for our heritage. People need to leave their fingerprints on life, so to speak, and I would think my life would be not as complete, and I think all members are on this position, if we did not try to leave our children and grandchildren a heritage as rich as the one that we inherited, and I think L100 is the perfect vehicle by which to do that.
What about holding a future convention in Greece or Cyprus?
We haven’t spoken about Cyprus per se, but we’ve spoken about Greece. We have looked at that, although logistics don’t seem to favor it. But it’s something we will pursue. We’ve spoken about having perhaps a trip, or cruise, to Greece, which will also include a visit to the Patriarchate. That is one of the things we are looking at.
I believe you have members in Greece.
We do have members there, yes. And there is no reason why we can’t have a conference there.
When this time next year comes, what are the things you would like to have seen accomplished?
Obviously we would like to see our membership grow, our portfolio grow so that we can increase our grants. Right now, because of the economic situation, the only grants we’ve been able to make are the scholarships to Hellenic College Holy Cross, which is the most important thing we have, because unless we have Holy Cross there is no Hellenism, and no Orthodoxy in the United States. But, hopefully, we can see our portfolio grow and we can increase the support of other ministries in the church.
Are you also going to further support the Ecumenical Patriarchate?
Again, we are sort of prescribed by laws of the United States as to what we can do financially. But many members of Leadership are also Archons and obviously as individuals all of us we will do whatever we can. Financially, we cannot go much further than what we already do.
What about the Patriarch’s suggestion for Parishes to transfer ownership of property to Constantinople?
I don’t think that will be an issue, I don’t think that will be something that the Patriarchate is going to really insist upon. I understand what the benefit will be of having some properties worldwide. However, I don’t think the Patriarch had in mind any sort of grand empire!
A message to L100 members upon assuming the chairmanship?
Keep up the faith; please look around among your families, friends, neighborhood, communities, for people that perhaps could join the movement. I will come around, you can bet on that, visiting you and hopefully this time next year, we’ll have a much larger group.
