ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
Tel: (617) 926-TREE
Email: [email protected]
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PRESS RELEASE
May 14, 2007
Armenian Rock Bands Organize 4/24 Benefit For Hrant Dink Memorial Forest
HOLLYWOOD, CA–Young Armenian-Americans came forward once again to volunteer
their time and energy in support of Armenia Tree Project (ATP). When
Hovannes Donelyan and his friends in the rock group the Mercenaries heard
about ATP’s effort to plant a forest in memory of the slain writer Hrant
Dink, they contacted our Watertown office and offered to help.
Hovannes and his friends in the California-based bands Onesidezero, Red
Snow, Mercenaries (name changed to 24 Black), Vokee, Medagh, and Full Force
Rising all came together to raise funds for the Hrant Dink Memorial Forest,
by donating the proceeds of a benefit concert held on April 24 at the
Knitting Factory in Hollywood to ATP.
The concert was attended by more than 1,000 young Armenians, as well as a
small number of older but still committed supporters. Most of them came to
the concert after attending commemorations of the Armenian Genocide held in
their local communities earlier in the day.
`We were very proud that these bands decided to dedicate their time and
talent in support of ATP’s Hrant Dink Memorial Forest in Armenia,’ stated
ATP Deputy Director Jason Sohigian. `The music was great and the crowd was
full of energy and pride the entire night, and ATP was honored to be chosen
as the recipient of the proceeds from the night to create a living memorial
to Mr. Dink who was tragically killed in Istanbul earlier this year.’
The night was also a chance for ATP to connect with other supporters in the
Los Angeles area who were supporting the Hrant Dink Memorial Forest. A group
of professional women who are raising funds for this project actually
attended the rock concert to show their support for ATP and to offer further
support for the Hrant Dink Memorial Forest.
All of the bands have a strong presence on the popular My Space web site,
and the benefit convinced ATP to create its own outreach page on the site,
to link to the special page for the April 24 concert:
In addition to the volunteer efforts of the six bands, the concert was
organized by Never Say Die Records and Sean Healy, who organized the sale of
commemorative t-shirts and a guitar raffle with all of the proceeds going
toward the planting of the Hrant Dink Memorial Forest. Several organizations
in addition to ATP had informational tables at the event, including Armenian
Film Foundation, Armenian Youth Federation, Armenian National Committee of
America, and Axis of Justice. Glendale community leader Greg Krikorian was
also invited to address the audience during the evening, and the event was
promoted on Armenian television.
ATP announced its plans to plant a forest in Armenia memory of Hrant Dink
soon after he was killed in January. In a special appeal, Executive
Committee member Nancy Kricorian announced that ATP will be planting a
memorial forest of 53,000 trees–1,000 trees for each of Hrant’s 53 years of
life. The first part of the forest is being planted this spring at a special
site near ATP’s nursery in Margahovit, and the remainder of the trees will
be planted in the fall when the site will be officially inaugurated.
Armenia Tree Project (ATP), a grassroots-supported non-profit organization
based in Watertown and Yerevan, conducts vitally important environmental
projects in Armenia’s impoverished and deforested zones. Since 1994, ATP has
made enormous strides in combating desertification in the biologically
diverse but threatened Caucasus region. More than 1.5 million trees have
been planted and restored, and hundreds of jobs have been created for
Armenians in seasonal tree-regeneration programs. For more information or to
support ATP, visit the web site