News
For Immediate Release
December 9, 2005
Contact: Arpiné Kocharyan
Tel: (212) 689-5307
ARMENIA FUND USA’S
THANKSGIVING TELETHON 2005
Over $7.7 million raised by Armenia Fund USA and its
worldwide affiliates.
NEW YORK, New York - On Thanksgiving
Day, November 24, 2005, Armenia Fund USA’s fall fundraising
campaign culminated in the traditional Thanksgiving Telethon.
Originating from the California office of the West Coast Affiliate,
and scheduled for 8:00a.m. to 8:00 pm (PST), Telethon 2005
was a 12-hour live broadcast airing throughout the United
States, Europe, South America, and the CIS and the Middle
East. Featuring leaders of Armenia, Artsakh and the Diasporan
communities around the world, the telethon was aired east
of Mississippi, in more than ten states - New York,
New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Florida,
Illinois, Road Island, Michigan and Wisconsin. Armenian communities
throughout the United States were able to view Telethon 2005
program which included cultural programs, interviews/speeches
of Armenian leaders and entertaining programs and performances
of favorite Armenian musicians. Armenian dance and music,
as well as guest appearances of many well-known figures in
the Armenian community accompanied the telethon broadcasting
all day! Among the guests were Foreign Affairs Minister of
the Republic of Armenia, Vartan Oskanian, President of Nagorno-Karabakh,
Arkady Ghoukasian, as well as the primate of the Artsakh Diocese
of the Armenian Apostolic church, Archbishop Barkev Mardirossian.
The 8th Annual Thanksgiving Telethon raised 7.7 million globally.
Major contributions were made by Louise Manoogian Simone with
a donation of $1 million from the Eastern United States and
Ara Abrahamyan from Russia with a gift of $250,000. The Toronto
community raised $250,000. Armenia and Karabakh contributed
about $1.2 million. The fundraising Phonathons in France,
Germany, Switzerland, Portugal and Spain raised another $1.2
million. Armenian communities in Lebanon, Argentina and Great
Britain raised $100,000, $51,000 and $31,000 respectively.
Armenian communities in many other countries also contributed
to the Telethon. Hrach Kaprielian from New York pledged $50,000.
Donations received at the time of broadcasting from the general
public and donors of Eastern United States were about $36,000.
Telethon 2005 once again demonstrated the support and great
interest of the Diaspora in rebuilding the Armenian homelands
through major infrastructure development projects and initiatives.
Funds raised through Telethon 2005 will go towards the regional
development program “Rebirth of Artsakh”.
Funds raised by Armenia Fund USA will go directly towards
the Agricultural Initiative, the economic underpinning of
the “Rebirth of Artsakh” Regional Development
Program. The Agricultural Initiative is a
three-region project designed 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 $2.5 million funding to serve the region’s
20,000 population.
After secession from the USSR and its liberation, Nagorno-Karabakh
has become an internationally unrecognized territory having
no rights to official statehood. This considerably impacts
the recovery efforts of an already war-torn region, as Karabakh
cannot receive international aid from intergovernmental and
regional organizations as the United Nations and the European
Union, and receives no assistance from such specialized development
programs as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
and the World Bank. 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 on the agenda
of Armenia Fund USA and its 18 worldwide affiliates. Let us
hope that such major fundraising initiatives as Telethon 2005
will give us an 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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