PRESS RELEASE
Date: July 22, 2008
Armenian National Committee of America
Eastern Region
122 W. 27th St., Floor 12, New York, NY
Contact: Karine Birazian
Tel: 917-428-1918

ANCA EASTERN REGION ANNOUNCES HONOREES FOR 2ND ANNUAL BANQUET
–Harvard Professor Samantha Power to receive ANCA Freedom Award
–Community Supporter Martha Aramian to receive ‘Vahan Cardashian’
Award

NEW YORK, NY- The Armenian National Committee of America, Eastern
Region (ANCA-ER), announced the honorees for its Second Annual
Banquet and Awards Program, to take place on Saturday, September
13, 2008 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.

As announced previously, the ANCA-ER will present the ANCA Freedom
Award to Harvard University professor and human rights activist Dr.
Samantha Power. A leading voice on genocide awareness, Power won
the Pulitzer Prize for her book A Problem From Hell: America and
the Age of Genocide. She teaches at the Carr Center for Human
Rights Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government
and was a senior adviser to U.S. Democratic Party presidential
candidate Barack Obama.

The Vahan Cardashian Award will be presented to Martha Aramian of
Providence, Rhode Island, a long-standing active member of the
Armenian community. Aramian has been a strong activist in her
local Providence community and supporter of the ANCA’s efforts at a
national level. In 2006, on the occasion of the ANCA’s Capital
Campaign, she donated $200,000, greatly facilitating the purchase
of the ANCA’s new national headquarters in Washington DC. Aramian
has sponsored the establishment of a child care center, senior
center, and youth camp in Vanadzor, a city devastated by the 1988
earthquake.

"We are pleased to honor Samantha Power and Martha Aramian,"
commented Banquet Committee Chair Stephen Mesrobian. "These are two
individuals who have had a lasting impact and made a real
difference in the Armenian Cause through their dedication and
support."

The ANCA Freedom Award honors individuals who have succeeded in
bringing the history of the Armenian people and the truth about the
Armenian Genocide to the mainstream public consciousness. Recent
recipients have included U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans,
U.S. Senator Robert Menendez and musical band System of a Down.

The Vahan Cardashian Award is given annually to an ANC activist or
supporter who demonstrates longstanding accomplishments on behalf
of the Armenian Cause. The award is named for Yale-educated lawyer
Vahan Cardashian who set aside his successful New York practice to
dedicate himself to the establishment of the American Committee for
the Independence of Armenia (ACIA), predecessor organization to the
Armenian National Committee and advocate for the plight of the
Armenian nation. The 2007 Cardashian Award was presented to Vahe
Amirian of New Jersey.

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Photo Caption: Vahan Cardashian Award recipient Martha Aramian
a