PRESS RELEASE
Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Governmental Buiding 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Hasmik Grigoryan
Tel: +(3741) 56 01 06 ext. 105
Fax: +(3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: pr@himnadram.org
Web:
1 June, 2009
Hayastan All-Armenia Fund Toronto Banquet, a big success for the
construction of the school in Spitakashen village
On Sunday, June 7,?at the Armenian Community Centre,?Mr. Ara Vardanyan, the
Executive Director of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, the key-note speaker at
the annual banquet of Armenia Fund Toronto, kicked off the fundraising for
the completion of another school project in Artsakh.
Amongst some thirty projects realized, the Toronto chapter of the Fund has
already built four schools in Artsakh. ?The 5th school is for the
Spitakashen village, in the Martuni Region of Artsakh. ?With the help of
previous fund-raising campaigns, the construction is well underway.
The MC of the evening was Tenny Nigoghossian, who gave a high level overview
of the Fund and emphasized its humanitarian purpose of helping our
compatriots who needed basic infrastructure. Before blessing the tables,
Rev. Father Meghrig Parikian, of St. Mary’s Church, spoke about the virtues
of "giving".
After the cultural program, the status of the construction and
the?financial?status of the project were presented. Through video, the
principle of the Spitakashen school, Mr. Hayrabetyan made a direct appeal
and offered his thanks to the Toronto community for building a modern school
for the village.?
Mr. Vardanyan, who was recently elected to the Director’s position in May,
gave an eloquent speech about the recent activities of the Armenia Fund’s
office in Yerevan. He also presented the great number of innovative fund
raising ideas vastly expanding the base of the internal donors throughout
Armenia and Artsakh. Mr. Vardanyan also presented an overall strategy of the
Fund worldwide for the coming years.
"We are very excited about building our fifth school in Artsakh because we
are convinced that in 2040, the president of the Republic of Armenia or NKR
will be from one of the graduates of our schools. If not the position for
the president, we believe that our schools will?graduate?students who would
become renowned scientists, diplomats, artists, doctors and other
professionals." said Migirdic Migirdicyan, the chairman of the Toronto
Chapter.
Mrs. Calabrina Boyajian, who in 2008, had organized and led?a joint
Toronto-USA West Coast Armenia Fund?Bike-a-thon, announced the new ride for
2009, which will take place in September,?from Monterey to Los
Angeles,?again for the construction of the Spitakashen school.
Mr. Vazken Terzian emphasized the importance of "National Giving". After
that, Messrs. Kourken Sarkissian and Sarkis Yacoubian, long time benefactors
of the Toronto Chapter, offered a challenge to the audience, of "matching
funds for every new dollar raised" during this function. The offer
electrified the donors bringing the grand total of the drive from this
evening to $200,000. Another high point of the evening was the presentation
of a $5,000 cheque to Mr. Vardanyan, by two student representatives,
Victoria and Ari. This amount was collected under the motto "From the
students of Toronto Armenian schools to the students of Artsakh".
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Hayastan All Armenian Fund