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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
AGBU Young Professionals of Northern California "Winter Gala Getaway
Weekend" Overwhelming Success
$12,000 Raised for AGBU Soup Kitchens in Armenia
San Francisco, CA – The AGBU Young Professionals of Northern California
(YPNC) hosted the 8th annual Winter Gala Getaway Weekend during
Presidents Day Weekend, from Friday, February 16 through Monday,
February 19, 2007. This fundraising weekend, which drew over 300 young
professionals from across the United States and Canada, raised an
impressive $12,000 for this year’s designated charity, the AGBU Soup
Kitchens in Armenia.
The weekend’s festivities began Friday night with a poolside welcome
mixer at the colorful 1960s-era landmark host hotel, The Phoenix, and
continued at a hip city lounge, Mr. Smiths’. Guests spent all day
Saturday strolling around the city, riding in the city’s distinctive
cable cars, shopping in Union Square and heading over the Golden Gate
Bridge to enjoy the impressive views from neighboring Sausalito.
On Saturday night, guests boarded the famous Hornblower Cruise line,
docked at Pier 3, for a cruise around San Francisco Bay. On Sunday
morning, a large group of guests attended church services at San
Francisco’s St. John Armenian Apostolic Church. After services and over
a light lunch, Fr. Sarkis Petoyan, the parish priest, made everyone feel
welcomed, along with the rest of the church parishioners.
The highlight of the fundraiser weekend was held at the Green Room,
inside the War Memorial Building, which was a spectacular backdrop for
the elegant Winter Gala dinner dance. Fr. Mesrob Sarafian, pastor of St.
Vartan Armenian Church of Oakland, offered his blessing to the weekend
guests.
Chairperson Alison Ekizian welcomed the guests with warm remarks. A
touching slide presentation was given showing guests the history of AGBU
and its various programs. After the Gala, at which dancing followed the
dinner and program, guests headed back to the Phoenix Hotel for an after
party, which continued on until the early hours of the morning.
The weekend’s festivities concluded on Monday with a private brunch held
at Farmerbrowns, a elegant restaurant in downtown San Francisco.
AGBU YPNC is dedicated to preserving and promoting the Armenian heritage
and identity through humanitarian, educational and cultural programs.
For more information on YPNC, email [email protected]. To view
pictures of this year’s Winter Gala, past YPNC events, or to learn more
about the organization, please visit