Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
June 1 2004

Local Red Cross chapter honors Armenian group

Chapter to give award to United Armenian Fund and to celebrate its
87th year in community.

By Darleene Barrientos, News-Press

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — When the local Armenian-American community
rallied to collect medical and school supplies for Armenia, it gave
the local Red Cross chapter a valuable learning experience.

Now, the Glendale-Crescenta Valley Chapter of the Red Cross wants to
pay back the favor by giving the United Armenian Fund its annual Good
Neighbor award.

The award will be presented at the chapter’s annual meeting Wednesday
at the Hilton Glendale, 100 W. Glenoaks Blvd.

The organization helped pay for the two shipments the Red Cross
gathered last year, helped the Red Cross figure out what would
benefit Armenia and assisted the chapter’s fundraising efforts, said
Ron Farina, the chapter’s executive director. Their assistance was
invaluable because it was the first time the chapter had undertaken
such a project, he added.

“They gave us guidance on what we should look for and how we should
conduct fundraising in the Armenian community,” Farina said.

The chapter collected nearly $5,000 from local Armenian Americans in
Glendale. The United Armenian Fund helped pay to ship 20 pallets of
surgical prep trays and 35 chests of school supplies.

“They provided great insight and expertise in what we haven’t been in
before,” assistant chapter manager Irena Efremian said. “They guided
us from A through Z — they were very diligent in explaining what we
could do and not do.”

The meeting will be a celebration of the chapter’s 87th year in the
community. Donald A. Huffsmith Jr. will also be installed as the
chapter’s incoming chairman.

The chapter will also announce which member of the Red Cross board
will receive the Albert G. Cornwell Award for outstanding service.
The meeting is open to the public, and tickets are still available.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress