PARKERSBURG — Each year the YMCA of Parkersburg selects an individual that has demonstrated a history of community service and philanthropy.

In maintaining that tradition, the YMCA of Parkersburg has announced that Kiki Angelos has been named the recipient of the 2025 Heart of Our Community Award.

Angelos will be recognized at the Heart of Our Community dinner at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 13, 2025, at Grand Pointe Conference and Reception Center, 1500 Grand Central Ave., #118, Vienna. All proceeds from the event will support the YMCA’s community programs and resources that support youth development, social responsibility and healthy living within the Mid-Ohio Valley region.

To become a sponsor of the 2025 Heart of Our Community Dinner, call 304-485-5585, visit the YMCA of Parkersburg or visit www.parkersburgymca.org.

Angelos is originally from Athens, Greece. She came to the United States with her husband, Francis, when she was just 17 years old and made Parkersburg her new home. As a young mother of three children – George, Niki and Sophia – who were entering school, she was looking for something to do with her time, according to a release from the YMCA.

From 1977 until 1995, she helped run the family’s Olympic Deli where she also did all the cooking and baking. Angelos would start work early and stay well into the evening, showing her dedication to the business. Even in the middle of a busy restaurant day, she would take time to fix a home cooked meal for her family, the release said.

Although the family closed the deli after 18 years, Angelos re-dedicated herself to serving the community.

For over 45 years, Angelos has been a devoted volunteer for dozens of organizations in the Mid-Ohio Valley. She considers it a way of giving back to the community that welcomed her with open arms when she immigrated from Greece.

“I don’t know how to say no — because I love it and I love the people,” she said.

Angelos has served on numerous professional, business and community boards and foundations including being the president of the West Virginia Symphony League, serving on the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra Board Parkersburg, Parkersburg Woman’s Club, Parkersburg Art Center, Parkersburg High School Foundation, West Virginia University at Parkersburg and the United Way Alliance of the Mid-Ohio Valley.

She is also the founder and organizer of the annual Mid-Ohio Valley Easter Parade, the annual PHS Easter Egg Hunt and “Spring Easter Celebration” and the annual Easter Bonnet Contest. Angelos has been decorating Christmas trees for over 35 years for Easter Seals and now she decorates for United Way. She raised money for the Salvation Army and the American Cancer Society.

Angelos has her own weekly column at the Parkersburg News and Sentinel and contributes to the MOV Parent page as well. She has also worked at the family businesses Chick-fil-A, Auntie Anne’s Pretzels and Great Steak & Grill. When she worked at the Chick-fil-A at the Grand Central Mall the kitchen was named one of the best in the country. She has donated countless food items to charity events and church food pantries, among many other charitable and volunteer activities.

Angelos and her husband have eight grandchildren: Franklin, Eleni, Nadia, Kiki, Athena, Calli, Zoe and Ahna.

She has previously been honored for her volunteer work when she received the 2008 Mid-Ohio Valley Citizen of the Year award, an award for her random acts of kindness from the mayor of Parkersburg, the 2006 Woman of Excellence award in Parkersburg, the 2007 Women of Excellence award for volunteerism, the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Governor’s Service Awards and the 2024 Woman of the Year award from Zonta International.

“I am very honored and privileged and indeed very excited and much appreciate being nominated for the 2025 Heart of Our Community Award,” Angelos said. “From day one that I entered the USA, I felt love and affection from everyone and appreciated and still feel 59 years later wanted and needed. Therefore all the above made me respect, honor and cherish to make our community and world a better place for everyone and leave a good legacy.”