PRESS RELEASE
SOCIETY FOR ARMENIAN ORPHANED RELIEF (SOAR-LA)
P.O. Box 69361
Los Angeles, CA 90069
Contact: Peter Abajian
Tel: 818-921-7173
Cell: 310-400-9061
E-mail: pabajian@gmail.com
web:

PHILADELPHIA BASED SOCIETY FOR ARMENIAN ORPHANED RELIEF ESTABLISHES
LOS ANGELES CHAPTER (SOAR-LA)

Local Board Raises Awareness of Orphanage Needs and Unveils Goals at
First Successful Event

Glendale, CA – On Saturday, February 9, more than 50 people, including
family and friends, gathered at the home of SOAR-LA Vice-Chair Annet
Arakelian to officially celebrate and launch the Los Angeles Chapter
of the Society for Armenian Orphaned Relief (SOAR-LA), as well as
learn more about SOAR-LA.

"On behalf of the Board of Directors, please allow me to thank all of
you for your support and enthusiasm this evening," said Peter Abajian,
SOAR-LA Chair. "Working together we hope to be able to provide needed
supplies to the children in Armenia’s orphanages."

Abajian along with Board Members Kevin Avetikyan and Manushak Amzoyan
presented a short video regarding SOAR’s involvement with Armenia’s
orphanages and discussed a new project SOAR-LA is considering to
sponsor. This project would entail the construction of a residential
group home on the grounds of the Kharpert Orphanage to provide
semi-independent living opportunities for the adults with mental
and/or physical disabilities when they are too old to live in the
orphanage.

SOAR-LA Board Secretary Kohar Mardiros Pelter took the initiative to
help establish the Los Angeles Chapter. "My father, Mardiros
Mardiossian, ended up in an orphanage following the Armenian Genocide.
My personal involvement in helping establish SOAR-LA is in his honor
and I am hopeful that together we will make a difference in the lives
of some of the children living in orphanages in Armenia today."

SOAR-LA is actively looking for partners (individuals and
organizations) to work with on the group home project as well as
collecting new humanitarian supplies to send to Armenia. For more
information and to get involved, please visit the SOAR website at

Established in 2006 in Philadelphia, SOAR has provided much needed
humanitarian assistance to 14 orphanages throughout Armenia. SOAR
collects and distributes new clothing, shoes, school supplies, diapers
and other humanitarian supplies from individuals and corporations in
the United States and delivers them through the UAF and its trusted
network of partners in Armenia. Financial contributions are used to
purchase and distribute needed supplies locally in Armenia.