Star Weekly is looking back at the best stories of last year and this is one of them.
Kon Karapanagiotidis has dedicated his life to advocating for the rights of people seeking asylum and refugees, founding the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), and now he has found a new passion in cooking.
Together Kon and his mother Sia developed a Greek vegetarian and vegan cookbook, titled Philoxenia: A Seat At My Table, of which all the proceeds from the sales will go back to the ASRC.
“I created this cookbook because I wanted to have the chance to share this with my mum,” Kon said.
“I wanted to be able to create something beautiful with my mum because I lost my father at 17 and regretted all the things I never learned about my dad or asked my dad about.
“I thought her recipes and her stories would be great to pass them on generations to come.”
In addition to creating this keepsake for his mum, Kon said he wanted to raise money for the ASRC.
“I wanted to be able to raise money to provide food security to refugees.
“All the money I’m making from this cookbook I have donated back to the ASRC to provide food security to refugee families.”
Kon sold 6,300 copies of the book during the presale period from February to June.
Including those sales, so far Kon has raised over $211,000 on the book, which Kon said was created to celebrate and encourage people to be kind and compassionate towards those doing it tough and to be welcoming in the power of food.
“My mum and I are really proud of how it’s turned out, I hope this will also encourage men to get to the kitchen and step away from gender roles.”
The book is released on Wednesday, October 4.
Jennifer Pittorino
