VALENTINE’S DAY FUNDRAISER GIVES HEARTFELT BOOST TO AYF’S YOUTH CORPS PROGRAM

Asbarez
aiser-gives-heartfelt-boost-to-ayfs-youth-corps-pr ogram/
Feb 26th, 2010

SANTA ANA-Orange County Armenians opened their hearts and wallets
this Valentines Day by sending their love and donations to children
in the Homeland. The February 14 breakfast fundraiser was hosted by
the AYF Ashod Yergat chapter and treated donors to a wonderful early
meal on this international day of love.

The event was titled "I Heart Gyumri," and its goal was to strengthen
the AYF Youth Corps annual mission to organize a summer day camp for
underprivileged kids and teens in Gyumri.

"This wasn’t just any fundraiser," said Nora Injeyan, chairperson of
the AYF chapter in Orange County. "This Valentine’s Day breakfast was
our way to show how much we love Armenia and how much we support the
Youth Corps program."

The breakfast featured an all-you-can-eat buffet of foul (beans),
mamounia (creme of wheat) and a traditional assortment of cheese
and vegetables. Attendees also enjoyed a slideshow chronicling the
program’s activities over the years and heard how Youth Corps also
helps AYF members experience Armenia for the first time.

Those attending also received free copies of the AYF’s quarterly
Haytoug Magazine, which features an article spotlighting Youth Corps’
2009 program.

Sose Thomassian, the Youth Corps Program chairwoman, believes raising
funds for a specific mission is often more rewarding and engaging
for the community. "What’s the point of a fundraiser if there isn’t
something bigger behind it," she said. "Events like these are so
vital to the program as we intend to expand it and look for ways into
establishing other camp sites around Armenia."

The Youth Corps program began in 1994 after the signing of the
cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan that ended the violence in
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

>>From its inception, it has been empowering young Diasporans
to take on a more direct role in the nation-building process in
Armenia. In the past Youth Corps would send Armenian-American youth
to Nagorno-Karabakh to help rebuild many of the newly independent
republic’s war-torn villages.

In 2008, Youth Corp changed its focus from rebuilding shattered
buildings to connecting Armenians in the Diaspora with Armenians
in the Homeland by launching 5-week-long summer day camps for the
children of Gyumri. Last summer, more than 150 young campers took
advantage of Camp Gyumri.

More information about the AYF Youth Corps program is available by
calling (818)507-1933 or e-mailing youthcorps@ayfwest.com. The current
issue of Haytoug Magazine featuring the Camp Gyumri story is available
online at Haytoug.org.