{"id":152352,"date":"2026-03-30T14:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T14:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/152352\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T14:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T14:08:07","slug":"citizen-of-the-week-christina-kallas-saritsoglou-quiet-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/152352\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizen Of The Week: Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou, Quiet Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou learned the importance of serving others from her mother, who opened her front door and her heart, to young people who needed a place to live.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf parents found out someone was gay and kicked them out of the house, my mom would take them in,\u201d says Kallas-Saritsoglou, 58, who grew up in Reading, PA. \u201cShe showed us what unconditional love looked like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kallas-Saritsoglou has honored her mother\u2019s memory every day of her working life. In 2005, she co-founded Philly AIDS Thrift<\/a> (P.A.T.) as a nonprofit thrift store with all proceeds going to organizations involved in HIV\/AIDS prevention, care, and support. To date, the organization has given away $5.6 million, via grants to dozens of organizations providing HIV\/AIDS services across the Philadelphia region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an insane amount. It\u2019s a huge store, and there are significant expenses attached to the building, and they\u2019ve raised that much money selling $1 t-shirts and used coffee cups,\u201d says P.A.T. Board President Michael Byrne.<\/p>\n

In early March, P.A.T. announced its 2026 grant recipients, awarding $404,500 in $5,000 to $15,000 chunks to 33 organizations. Among them were Prevention Point Philadelphia, The Attic Youth Center, and the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s game-changing money, especially for smaller organizations, like Kennett Square\u2019s Camp Dreamcatcher, which offers year-round programming to youth impacted by HIV\/AIDS. Founder Patty Hillkirk says P.A.T.\u2019s dollars have allowed more than 160 young people to attend its programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristina Kallas-Saritsoglou, and Philly Aids Thrift, have been making dreams come true for children served by Camp Dreamcatcher for over 11 years,\u201d Hillkirk said in an email. \u201cShe is truly a Camp Dreamcatcher superhero.\u201d<\/p>\n

Add that to the organization\u2019s other contributions, which include employing 30 people, offering free on-site HIV testing, and allowing local organizations to give clients-in-need $50 store vouchers for clothing and household products.<\/p>\n

P.A.T. can also brag that because of its intervention, Giovanni\u2019s Room, the country\u2019s oldest LGBTQ+<\/a> and feminist bookstore, is still open for customers.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most importantly, P.A.T. has built a community, becoming a valued local hub that hosts block parties and attracts visitors from around the neighborhood and the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just the LGBT community. It\u2019s not just people with HIV. It\u2019s not just people of color. It\u2019s everybody,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cIt\u2019s for people who love thrifting, have a sense of humor, love kitsch. The store has a personality that\u2019s really fun and cool, and that\u2019s Christina.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The outside of Philly AIDS Thrfit. <\/p>\n

The store reflects that fun, cool vibe, inside and out. It\u2019s the kind of place where you need time to stand and take in all of the art on the walls, the small signs, the unusual items used for decor, including the odd skeleton and the head of Michelangelo\u2019s David. Outside, a street pole is covered with stuffed animals, and a vivid 95-foot mural honoring the lives, contributions, and challenges of Black trans women stretches across the top of the building. Boxes of free items line the sidewalk.<\/p>\n

The store is known for being affordable; there are large bins of clothing going for $1 each and multiple shelves of $1 books. Of course, there are a few higher-value items. On a recent visit, those included an antique sculpture\/ashtray priced at $189.99 and an electric guitar for $119.99.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a thrift store. The price is always going to be lower than what it\u2019s worth, but we also want to honor our donors by saying, \u2018We recognize you gave us this really wonderful thing,\u2019\u201d says Kallas-Saritsoglou, who is often in her office, in the far back of the store, out of shoppers\u2019 gaze. \u201cI just think it\u2019s such a beautiful thing that we\u2019re able to take these items that folks no longer want and turn them into dollars that really make an impact in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Bartlett, retired executive director of the William Way LGBT Community Center says Kallas-Saritsoglou \u201coperates out of passion.\u201d He calls her \u201ca champion of the underdog, [who] has a healthy suspicion of those who have too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also uncomfortable with the attention, stressing that she\u2019s just one member of a large team. P.A.T store Manager Adam Proctor has worked with her for 19 years and says his boss\/friend prefers to stay behind the scenes, as she does when she\u2019s onsite.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know when you go to a hospital and it says, \u2018This wing is sponsored by an anonymous donor?\u2019 She\u2019s the anonymous donor,\u201d he says. \u201cShe does all the nice things, but doesn\u2019t want anyone to know she did them. A lot more people should be like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philly, AIDS and thrift <\/p>\n

Growing up in Reading, Kallas-Saritsoglou says, \u201cthere wasn\u2019t a lot going on,\u201d especially for her and her friend group of \u201cpunk rockers, artists, and queer kids.\u201d They frequently visited Philadelphia, going to live music shows and hanging out on South Street.<\/p>\n

Moving to the city after graduating high school \u201cwas a no-brainer.\u201d At that point, the AIDS epidemic had been unfolding in waves for years. Kallas-Saritsoglou and her friends noticed when people in their extended circle began getting sick and, increasingly, dying.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all thinking, \u2018What\u2019s going on?\u2019 Everybody was freaked out. There were no computers, and it was much more difficult to get information than it is today.\u201d Kallas-Saritsoglou recalls. \u201cThe AIDS epidemic really had a profound impact on my life, which is why HIV\/AIDS advocacy and activism has always been deeply important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Settled in Philadelphia, Kallas-Saritsoglou began volunteering at a South Street thrift store that raised money for HIV awareness and prevention, eventually rising to become the charity shop\u2019s director of volunteers. She then worked at other HIV service organizations, where she found herself surrounded by \u201cpassionate people with a mission: saving people\u2019s lives. It was serious work, carried out by wonderfully dedicated people,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Jason Evans met Kallas-Saritsoglou when he was a volunteer for the AIDS Information Network, where she was coordinating volunteers. Evans calls his friend, \u201ca major influence on my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChristina has always been a person who gives a lot of love to a lot of people. I\u2019ve watched it for close to 30 years now,\u201d Evans says. \u201cShe\u2019s someone you can always pick up the phone and talk to when you feel like you have nobody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being a young Black gay man in the 1990s was challenging, Evans says. Kallas-Saritsoglou showed him ways to engage in the community in positive ways, launching a lifetime of volunteerism, he says. She showed him that he was not only welcome, but wanted.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing you had even just one space where you could let your guard down in a big, scary world \u2026 was essential for survival,\u201d Evans says.<\/p>\n

Bobby Saritsoglou, Kallas-Saritsoglou\u2019s husband, a chef, and, with her, co-owner of the South Philly Mediterranean restaurant Stina, says his wife is an empath who naturally attracts people and inspires them to do good work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world is kept together by a few people, She\u2019s one of them,\u201d he says. \u201cShe\u2019s been a force in this city for 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bobby<\/a>Bobby and Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou at their restaurant, Stina. Photo by Neal Santos. And then \u2026 Philly AIDS Thrift <\/p>\n

In 2005, Kallas-Saritsoglou and friends Peter Hiler, Tom Brennan and Mike Wilson learned about an empty retail space on Bainbridge Street near S. 5th Street, a property that would become Philly AIDS Thrift\u2019s first location. Hiler and Wilson launched the organization\u2019s board. Kallas-Saritsoglou and Brennan, who retired four years ago, ran the store.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re AIDS activists and lovers of junk, so we combined the two and this is what came of it,\u201d she says. \u201cI had no clue if this was going to work out or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starting out, the four scoured their own homes for things to sell. They asked friends to do the same. Soon, community members began donating items as well. P.A.T. grew quickly. One year after opening, it expanded to include a second Bainbridge Street property.<\/p>\n

In 2011, P.A.T. moved again, but to a storefront on the 700 block of S. 5th Street that was more than double the size of display space with room to expand. The larger site meant there was also space for private, on-site HIV testing.<\/p>\n

In 2014, the organization saved Giovanni\u2019s Room, the nation\u2019s oldest and feminist LGBTQ+ bookstore, from closure, stepping in to run daily operations. They renamed the satellite store Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni\u2019s Room, and added thrifted items to its inventory of new and used books. In 2018, P.A.T. purchased the building at 12th and Pine Streets that has long housed the business. (The building\u2019s purchase price is not included in the $5.6 million they\u2019ve given away in grants.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to preserve the legacy of what had been created and insert who we are into the store as well,\u201d Kallas-Saritsoglou says. \u201cYou simply can\u2019t have enough safe queer spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

She knows it\u2019s working: She recently received a letter from a young person who is transitioning and has always felt uncomfortable shopping for clothes, even at other secondhand stores.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey shared how coming to Philly AIDS Thrift completely changed their experience. Our staff answered questions, helped them shop, and made them feel supported,\u201d Kallas-Saritsoglou says. \u201cThey wrote to tell us how much the experience meant and how safe they felt here.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Full disclosure: This reporter is a frequent P.A.T. shopper and used to take her pre-school aged nieces there so the girls could try on high heels in the store\u2019s shoe department. They continue to balance better on heels than this reporter to this day.)<\/p>\n

\"\" MORE AMAZING PHILADELPHIA CITIZENS<\/p>\n

Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou in her office at Philly AIDS Thrift. Photo by Phil Chau. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou learned the importance of serving others from her mother, who opened her front door and her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[29145,8987,8270,69,71,70,2938,2918],"class_list":["post-152352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-citizen-of-the-week","tag-lgbtq","tag-nonprofits","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-poverty","tag-small-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}