Business Wire (press release), CA
Oct 26 2006

Children of Armenia Fund Raises $2.3 Million for Model Cluster Project

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) raised a
record $2.3 million at its 2006 Save a Generation Awards Dinner, held
Friday, October 20, at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York. The money
raised will be used for the expansion of COAF’s Model Village program
to a cluster of six villages in a disadvantaged rural region of
Armenia.

COAF hosted more than 350 guests for the annual gala event. Jane
Fonda, Oscar®-winning actress and humanitarian, delivered the keynote
address, and COAF honored Mr. George Pagoumian, a philanthropist who
is an insurance industry giant. The event also recognized the
accomplishments of two outstanding corporate leaders, Pierre Michel
Fattouch and Eduardo Eurnekian, who have invested in several vital
businesses in Armenia. Andrea Martin, Emmy® and Tony® award winner,
was master of ceremonies.

The evening celebrated the success of COAF’s Karakert Model Village
project, an integrated comprehensive approach for poverty reduction,
which has resulted in a significant improvement in the quality of
life for more than 1,200 children since its commencement two years
ago.

`COAF has transformed a 5,000-person rural village by establishing
sustainable health care, schooling, transportation, water and
economic growth,’ said Garo H. Armen, PhD, founder and chairman of
COAF. `With the money raised from the gala, COAF can now move forward
by executing a broader village revitalization program by targeting
six villages, with a combined population of 17,000 – of whom 5,000
are children.’

The COAF annual awards dinners have raised more than $5 million since
2001, placing funding emphasis on the Model Village project, the
first such program ever to be undertaken. The project has been
recognized by international aid agencies, such as the United Nations
Development Programme and the World Bank, as an exemplary template of
sustainable development throughout the world.

About COAF

Founded in 2000, the Children of Armenia Fund is an independent,
nonprofit, nongovernmental organization (501(c)(3). COAF seeks to
reverse the impoverished conditions affecting significant numbers of
Armenia’s children by revitalizing Armenia’s villages and
implementing projects that provide immediate and sustainable benefits
to children and youth.

Contacts
For Children of Armenia Fund
Sunny Uberoi, 212-994-8206
or
Anna Sargsyan, 212-994-8234
or
info@coafkids.org