Area businessman making difference in community
Mike Makripodis shares his heart daily and his generosity has many extensions into the local community.
Word of his generosity, however, doesn’t spread very easily.
Sharing his blessings is just what he does and who he is. More concerned with sharing his love of God than taking any credit for his donations, Makripodis’ weekly Bible study draws a large crowd, even as it’s been held online because of COVID-19.
Makripodis said his relationship with God wasn’t always as it is now. He detailed an experience where his life was at a crossroads and he wasn’t really where he should be. He doubted himself, his faith, and God’s existence. After a firsthand experience at home, he felt God’s presence and instruction for him to follow him. Not just in a mechanical way as he had done for most of his life, but to truly do as God wanted him to.
He said his “life has never been the same and has never been better. I am truly blessed.”
One of the regular attendees of his weekly Bible study is Washington High School athletic director and football coach Mike Bosnic.
Makripodis said he got to know the coach over the last two years and he liked how he had brought some of his players along and always went above and beyond in working with his team on and off the field. He said he was impressed with how Bosnic took a personal interest to help his students deal with their various situations.
“Coach Bosnic is a role model to those team members,” Makripodis said. “He helps them in a way a father would help his own children.”
To show his appreciation, Makripodis purchased the camera equipment needed to broadcast Wash High games on Facebook, livestreaming the games during a season when fans were not allowed to enjoy the games in person because of COVID-19.
“Coach Bosnic was so thankful for the donation he was speechless,” said Margarita Tedrow, Makripodis’ daughter.
She said her father wanted to show Bosnic, “how much of a difference he made with the kids he worked with and mentored.”
Tedrow said her dad had also supported Trinity by purchasing the electronic scoreboard and similar equipment to broadcast games online. Besides the donation, Tedrow said her son, Collin, and one of his friends, Brian Boyd, who both attend Trinity, accompanied her husband Roy, along with installer Dan Skirpan, to their cross-town rival to get the equipment ready at Wash High.
“I think it was good the boys helped get it installed,” Tedrow said. “They learned an important lesson in volunteering and sharing.”
Bosnic said Makripodis’ gift to the Prexies was unprecedented.
“Buying that equipment and having it installed for us to use in the district has been a tremendous gift,” he said. “It is overwhelming.”
Makripodis began a nonprofit several years ago called Bridge the Gap, which helps young people in a missionary to missionary way.
A businessman for most of his life, Makripodis has owned a gyro shop, opened D&M Painting in 1984, and now Makripodis Olive Oil. His olive oil can be purchased online or at several local businesses throughout the area.
In the 1980s when Makripodis had been in his homeland of Crete, his family planted 220 olive trees. About three years ago, the olive oil business began locally with the olives grown in Crete.
Makripodis shares his life with his wife Kathy. Their blended families includes 10 adult children and a number of grandchildren.