The #ARTSAKHSTRONG Telethon, held across Australia on Monday, 18th July 2016, raised $112,175 for the “Republic of Nagorno Karabakh Independence, Security and Peace Foundation” from the Armenian-Australian community, reports.
The Telethon under the auspices of Australia’s Permanent Representative to the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, Kaylar Michaelian, by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Australia, Hamazkaine, Homenetmen, Armenian Relief Society, the Armenian National Committee of Australia, Armenian Youth Federation of Australia and Armenia Media, Inc. with the active involvement of the entire Armenian-Australian community.
The event featured volunteers fielding calls from the Armenian Cultural Centre in Willoughby (Sydney) and the Armenian Centre in Springvale (Melbourne), as well as live interviews with the heads of all contributing organisations on Armenia Radio and on Armenia TV (Facebook) from Sydney and Melbourne.
Nora Sevagian and Nerses Baliozian expertly directed the Armenia TV Facebook coverage, while Azniv Ingilizian, Hovsep Kopoushian and Nishan Basmajian ran the Armenia Radio coverage.
In his interview, NKR Representative Michaelian passed on the gratitude of the Artsakh government to the Armenian-Australian community.
“The financial contributions of our community will go a long way to helping secure Artsakh and the people of Artsakh, who face a constant threat to their rights to self-determination by the aggressive Azerbaijan regime,” he said.
“We encourage all your donations and are humbled by this tremendous show of support by this mighty community.”
The Telethon began at 7PM, and when the final total was read out at close to 11pm, over 340 donations were recorded with the total at $110,625. This was greeted by rapturous applause from the volunteers at the Donation Centres. The amount was further increased to a total of $112,175 by the time the Telethon reached its conclusion.
Chairman of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation in Australia, Haig Kayserian congratulated the community.
“Our relatively small community has sent out a message today to our brothers and sisters guarding our Motherland in Artsakh, that although we are 14,000kms away from the frontlines, we are ready to continue to do our part to ensure Artsakh maintains its Independence, is Secure, and achieves Peace,” he said.
Kayserian added: “We thank all those who volunteered to make tonight possible, and to our Armenian-Australian community’s contributors, who answered our call to action and donated sums from $10 to $10,000 to keep Artsakh strong and thriving. Thank you all.”