Featured Alumnus: Alex Demopoulos '08 | Avon Old Farms News | About Us | Avon Old Farms

In 2025, Alex Demopoulos ’08 and his wife Aubrey prevented 15,000+ pounds of produce from going to waste, and instead turned it into more than 8,000 nutritious meals delivered to families in need. What sounds like a heroic and monumental undertaking is actually just a combination of two passions: helping children and families in need and cooking good food.

On top of raising two young children, the Demopoulos’s run Philo’s Kitchen. This Denver-area nonprofit collects perishable food donations and then cooks, packages, and freezes them; thus extending the shelf life before providing those in need a nutritious meal. “Food waste and hunger—the two of those things literally solve each other,” Alex Demopoulos says. 

This venture began after a previous charitable endeavor inspired Demopoulos to do more. Shortly after Demopoulos graduated from college, he and his father started Woodshop Wizards, an organization that taught elementary age children woodworking skills. It was the type of job he could really see a future in. “We ended up working with so many lower-income families. When we were working with that demographic, I realized that’s what I really enjoyed. Working with people that needed us really stuck with me.” So, when COVID-19 prevented them from continuing this work, Demopoulos looked for a way that would allow him to continue to service a similar demographic. “Whatever I did, I wanted to try to structure it around helping those kids.”

His inspiration came after a stint working at Whole Foods exposed him to just how much food goes to waste on a daily basis. “Everyone knows food gets wasted, but once you’re in the space looking at pallets of food going bad right in front of you, it becomes a motivator,” Demopoulos shares. When that motivator met his passion for cooking, the idea of Philo’s Kitchen was born. “I come from a large Greek family, so food and cooking has always been important to me. It’s part of my heritage.”

In January 2023, Demopoulos officially established his new nonprofit and began by simply collecting produce before it expired, and packaging it for redistribution. Now, the effort has grown to include making and distributing full meals, collaborations with local companies and other nonprofits, and even education courses in things like meal prep and nutrition. “With these cooking demonstrations and other classes, now the people we serve will have the tools to change their diets on their own.” This, Demopoulos says, is the larger goal of he and his wife’s work. “While we will always provide meals to those in need, our deeper goal is to empower low-income communities to improve their own health through the food they eat. By teaching practical cooking and nutrition skills, we aim to help people become more self-sufficient and build habits that start in the kitchen but have a lasting impact on their overall health and quality of life.”

The nutritional value of the meals comes from another passion of Demopoulos. “My wife and I are passionate about eating healthy, so we noticed there was a problem there as well. A lot of these families either don’t have the knowledge or the resources to consistently eat healthy meals.” Philo’s Kitchen creates and delivers fully prepared nutritious meals that just need to be heated up, giving anyone the ability to eat healthier when they otherwise might not have the time, means, or know how to cook healthier foods from scratch.

With such a commitment to helping charitable causes, fellow Avonians may be surprised to hear that Demopoulos wasn’t particularly involved in any community service during his time at Avon Old Farms. Instead, he and his brothers were all fully faithful to sports. 

Originally from San Diego, the Demopoulos family relocated to Avon when oldest son Nick ’06 enrolled. “Adjusting from the weather of San Diego right into a New England winter was a challenge,” Demopoulos admits. Nicholas would go on to play football in college, while youngest brother Stefan ’09 played hockey. Alex Demopoulos chose lacrosse. “It worked out really well for all of us. We received scholarships, forged connections, and met a lot of great people we’re still in touch with today.” Even their mom got involved in the Avon experience, serving as a tutor and working in the school store, the Hawk’s Nest.

While at Avon, Demopoulos served as a monitor and was captain of the varsity lacrosse team. “The leadership aspect I developed really helped me going forward,” he shares. He also served as a captain at the collegiate level when he matriculated to the University of Denver to play lacrosse, helping his team reach the final four. It was during this time that he began to get more involved with community service. “It was nothing like what I’m doing now, but I was an ambassador for the school’s athletics program which involved lots of community work.”

After college, he moved to Texas for work. While his stop there was brief, it lasted just long enough to meet his future wife. The two relocated to southern California where the nonprofit work began before eventually moving back to the Denver area. “I had grown such a network here, and I spoke highly enough of it that my wife agreed.”

While his time at AOF didn’t necessarily inspire his future in community outreach, Demopoulos says it definitely secured his future in other ways. “At Avon, you have to plan out your week. That structure sticks with you, and I don’t think most people get that at the high school level. And it doesn’t just give you a structure to follow, it teaches you to create one yourself. Sometimes when I need to get back on track, I think to myself, ‘What worked for me at Avon.’”

This is a necessary skill to have for Demopoulos as he continues building Philo’s Kitchen, which is now reaching new heights. “We’re getting to the stage now where we’re taking steps toward fundraising. It’s a whole new animal, but it’s essential for nonprofits.” 

If the mission of Avon Old Farms School is to develop boys into men of strong moral character who positively and constructively impact their community, then Demopoulos is a shining example of what it means to be a Man of Avon. 

For more information about Philo’s Kitchen, visit their website at www.philoskitchen.org.

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