Update from The National Hellenic Museum on coronavirus pandemic

CHICAGO – A new message from The National Hellenic Museum on COVID-19 follows:

As the world adjusts every day to the new realities of the Covid-19 outbreak, we wanted to take a moment to update you about how the National Hellenic Museum is responding.

Continued closure in accordance with Governor Pritzker’s Executive Order

• Our guests, members and employees are the most important asset we have.  The museum has remained closed and we have thoroughly cleaned and disinfected the building.  Our mail and phones and have been forwarded in a manner that allows us to continue to receive important communications.  We will remain closed to the public until it is safe for us to reopen.
• Our Greek Language Instructors have pivoted to an entirely distance-based learning model and remote instruction continues.

Remaining careful stewards of your donor dollars

• If you have gone by the National Hellenic Museum you will note that the blinds are drawn and all lights, except for emergency lights, are off.  We did this to save money on utilities.  We continue to carefully monitor the temperature and humidity to ensure the physical safety of the items in our collection that you have entrusted to us.
• We have postponed Gala 2020, originally scheduled for May 30, 2020.  We do not yet have a rescheduled date, but it is important to us that we work not only with the best interests of the museum in mind, but also with the other important members of our community.  We know our churches and schools are empty now and are reliant more than ever on donor support.  We know these important institutions need your help too, and we are sensitive to that.  We support these entities and will work with them in mind when we reschedule.

Temporary staff furloughs

• These are unprecedented times for all.  The Trustees of the National Hellenic Museum waited as long as possible before making the difficult decision to furlough all but the most essential staff. This was a painful decision and one that we hope to make as short-lived as possible.  We are working directly with our impacted staff and are paying their medical premiums during this time and assisting them with accessing all the benefits that may be individually available to them.

In the coming days and weeks, you will receive updates from us about different online events we will be holding.  We intend to host multiple Facebook Live, You Tube and Instagram Live events with our Resident Scholar, Dr. Katherine Kelaidis, talking with some of the best and brightest minds in Hellenism and Digital Humanities from around the world.  We are considering holding a virtual classroom for elementary students to discuss mythology with Dr. Kelaidis.  If you have an idea for a topic or an online program-let us know!  Now, more than ever, we want to hear from you.
We know these are hard times for many of you. The loss of jobs, illness and physical separation from our faith communities is painful, especially during Lent.  Seeing an empty building hurts.   The path forward is certainly not the one we thought we would be taking.  But if there is one thing we know as Greek Americans and Philhellenes, it’s how to take the detour. Resilience is one of the themes of our shared history.  The National Hellenic Museum was built by men and women that worked their entire lives to ensure the legacy of Greeks in America.  We are not about to let them down.  Join us, virtually,  in the days ahead as we take this detour.  We stand with our Church, our parea, our city and our nation.
Separate but united.

Read more at thenationalherald.com

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