News
For Immediate Release
November 28, 2005
Contact: Arpiné Kocharyan
Tel: (212) 689-5307
VOLUNTEERS HELPING AT ARMENIA FUND
USA’S PHONATHON 2005
Calling upon donors, contributors and friends to raise
funds for the Rebirth of Artsakh
NEW YORK, New York - On November
17-20, 2005 a group of Armenian volunteers from various shifts
of life came to help Armenia Fund USA with its Annual Fundraising
Phonathon 2005. Having such diverse backgrounds, all of them
had something in common - eagerness to help Artsakh.
The Phonathon lasted for 4 days and was intended to raise
funds for the Agricultural Initiative of the Rebirth of
Artsakh Regional Development Program. Among 19 volunteers
there were high school and university students, as well as
professionals, all of them taking time from their busy schedules
to help with the Phonathon. Over 3,000 phone calls were made
to Armenia Fund USA’s donors and supporters east of
Mississippi.
Phonathon focused on two main purposes: raising awareness
among the supporters and friends of Armenia Fund USA by introducing
them to the new initiative the Fund is undertaking to bring
hope to the people of Karabakh and Armenia by improving standards
of life there, as well as raising funds for the Agricultural
Initiative project that Armenia Fund USA is spearheading
this year.
The volunteers were very enthusiastic and some ‘confessed’
that before coming to volunteer they did not know much about
Artsakh and its history, and that the opportunity of being
involved with Armenia Fund USA made them also very much aware
of what is really going on there. “As a volunteer for
the 2005 Armenia Fund Phonathon, it was exciting to come together
with other volunteers and work as a group to contact and reach
as many homes as we could in just a few short hours. With
everyone contributing positive ideas and enthusiasm, the experience
was definitely gratifying” said Linda Kalayjian, a student
from NYU.
This was the first time Armenia Fund USA conducted a fundraising
Phonathon of this kind, and the positive acceptance of the
Armenian-American community will certainly encourage the organization
to develop this fundraising initiative further.
Armenia Fund USA staff and its Board of Directors deeply
appreciate volunteers’ support to make the Phonathon
happen. Volunteers’ help is very valuable for the organization
because of the enthusiasm this group of young people bring
to the event, as well as the support they are able to provide
through the gift of their time and talents. The organization
would like to particularly thank the Armenian Club at Columbia
University and the Armenian Club at New York University for
combining their efforts to recruit volunteers. Among them
were: Linda Kalayjian, Colette Seter, Lorig Setrakian, Alison
Herdemian, Caroline Kahyaoglu, Christine Gemdjian, Eliz Agopian,
Elizabeth Gemdjian, Mary Krispo, Laurie Dabaghian, Levon Baghramian,
Levon Vrtanesian, Pierre Hagopian, Raele Sabounjian, Soupouhi
Bedikian, Vatche Tchekmedjian, Tamar Mikaelyan, Yeva Jermakian
and Alexandra Papazian.
All funds donated through the Phonathon this year will go
directly towards the Agricultural Initiative, the economics
underpinning of the Rebirth of Artsakh Regional
Development Program. The Agricultural Initiative is a three-region
project to develop the agricultural economy of Karabakh. Armenia
Fund USA will share the agricultural component of the Regional
Development Program - a strategic initiative that is
expected to bring long-term sustainable development for the
region. Funds raised will go towards establishing Agricultural
Development Associations (ADAs) throughout the Mardakert region.
These ADAs will set up facilities to own, maintain and operate
various types of appropriate farm equipment and provide mechanized
services to farmers, to work the land at affordable rates.
The ADAs will provide a technology package including access
to farm equipment (tractors, harvesters, haying) along with
other support elements such as fertilizer, plus training in
farm management and animal husbandry. The Agricultural Initiative
for the Mardakert region alone requires $3.0 million funding
to serve the region’s 17,000 population.
After Armenia’s secession from the USSR, a conflict
with Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh
followed. The liberation of the land and the 1995 ceasefire
came at great cost: those years of political unrest and economic
turmoil left the country in a vulnerable situation, in urgent
need for economic reform. Nagorno-Karabakh became an internationally
unrecognized territory having no rights to official statehood,
and, thus, no access to international aid. Because of this,
Nagorno-Karabakh has been left to fight for its survival alone
in order to sustain the land that was liberated at great human
cost. This is why the necessity of supporting the region has
fallen on the shoulders of the newly independent Republic
and the Armenian Diaspora.
The development support to Nagorno-Karabakh is a crucial
humanitarian initiative. Thus, let us hope that events like
Phonathon 2005 will become major fundraising initiatives in
the future and give Armenia Fund USA the opportunity to bring
hope to people who await it.
ABOUT ARMENIA FUND USA: ARMENIA FUND USA, founded
in 1992, was the first of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s
18 international affiliates and serves constituents in all
states east of the Mississippi. As a non-profit, non-governmental,
nonsectarian organization, the Fund represents all Armenian
constituents.
Armenia Fund USA is the largest contributor among the 18 international
affiliates - supporting strategic infrastructure projects
in Armenia and Karabakh, and having helped build 138 miles
of roads, 100 miles of waterways, 36 schools, 3 electric transmission
networks, 210 residential buildings and 15 healthcare institutions.
Armenia Fund USA’s Mission is the development
of strategic socio-economic infrastructure in Armenia and
Karabakh, focusing on major projects such as major highways,
schools, drinking water to communities and humanitarian programs
in education, training and medical facilities. The Fund has
adopted a policy to go “Beyond Bricks and Mortar”
to provide sustainability for projects it sponsors.
To learn more about Armenia Fund USA, please
go to our website at www.ArmeniaFundUSA.org
or call us at 212-689-5307.
Armenia Fund USA, 152 Madison Ave., Suite 803,
New York, NY 10016
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