For Immediate Release
October 15, 2009

ARMENIA FUND ESTABLISHES
AFFILIATE IN GREECE
Number of worldwide affiliates grows to 17

NEW YORK, New York — Greece has become home to Armenia Fund’s newest local committee. On October 6, the Fund’s Greek affiliate was officially launched when its founding assembly convened in Athens. With this latest addition, the fund now boasts 17 affiliates in 15 countries.

Participants of the founding assembly included Vahram Kazhoyan, former ambassador of Armenia in Greece, representatives of Armenian political parties, and other Greek-Armenian community leaders. Hrach Hovhannisyan, advisor to the executive director of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, familiarized attendees with the particulars of the Fund’s organizational structure, current programs, and methodology. Also discussed were various fundraising measures and mechanisms as well as the coordination of the Greek affiliate’s day-to-day activities. Subsequently the attendees examined the new affiliate’s scope of upcoming activities and determined the relevant next steps.

	Armenia Fund establishes affiliate in Greece

Meeting participants were further familiarized with the Fund’s objectives as they watched a documentary film on Shushi. The reconstruction and development of Shushi, along with the ongoing development of rural communities in Armenia and Artsakh, are at the heart of the Fund’s current goals. The Shushi documentary will have its public debut on November 26, during the Telethon 2009 broadcast. “I salute the Greek-Armenian community for joining the worldwide ranks of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund,” said Hrach Hovhannisyan in his remarks at the founding meeting. “Due to historical circumstances, today we Armenians live and work in various countries of the world, yet we’re united by our overarching mission to develop our homeland and help it become prosperous.”

The founding assembly unanimously elected Vatche Der-Garabedian as chair of the Greek affiliate. Der-Garabedian is an ophthalmologist and a highly respected member of the Greek-Armenian community. The assembly also elected Vahan Bzdikian and Bedros Kassardjian as deputy chairs.

Plans for the establishment of the Greek affiliate have been underway since April of this year, when the Fund’s executive director, Ara Vardanyan, who at that time was acting executive director, met with prominent members of the Greek-Armenian community and discussed the possibility of founding a local affiliate.

ABOUT ARMENIA FUND USA: founded in 1992, was one of the first of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s 16 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. 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 visit our website at
www.ArmeniaFundUSA.org or call us at 212-689-5307.

Armenia Fund USA
80 Maiden Lane, Suite 301
New York, NY 10038