FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                           

December 3, 2020

PRESS
RELEASE

"Knights
of Vartan" Communication Office

2
Arshagunyats Ave,

Yerevan,
Armenia

Contact:
Gohar Palyan, Liaison

Tel:
+374 94 20 64 68

Web:
www.kofv.org

Knights of Vartan Detroit Ships
$503,000 Worth of Medical Supplies to Armenia

(Detroit) – With the recent events taking place in Armenia
and Artsakh, the Knights of Vartan Nareg-Shavarshan Lodge of Greater Detroit, in
addition to their monetary donation to the Hayastan All Armenia Fund, felt it
was necessary to do something more. Coincidently, one of the Lodge’s newest
members, Greg Baise, approached Commander Kazar Terterian and proposed the idea
of a possible donation of medical supplies from World Medical Relief (WMR)
whose headquarters are located in Southfield, Michigan; it turns out, Baise, a
Pharmacist by profession, is on the Board of Directors of the organization.

Nareg-Shavarshan Lodge would be responsible for the cost of a
40-foot container and its passage to New York, then the fee to ship it to Poti,
Georgia and finally transporting it from the port to Yerevan which would total
nearly $17,000.  Terterian contacted Past
Grand Commander (PGC) Dr. Gary Zamanigian who was tasked with raising the funds
necessary to get the medical supplies to Yerevan. The Lodge’s Commander then
spoke to Peter Abajian, Executive Director of the Paros Foundation, and
requested that he communicate with Armenia’s Minister of Health to determine
the list of equipment needed and to facilitate the pickup and delivery of the
container from Georgia to Armenia. The project proceeded covertly to assure
safe delivery of the medical equipment which did in fact arrive in Yerevan on
Thanksgiving Day.

Unaware that the container was going to Armenia, it was,
within a few weeks, filled by WMR volunteers from St. John Armenian Church in
Southfield with Ultrasound Machines, Centrifuges, Cardiac Monitors, Dialysis
Machines, Wheelchairs, Surgical Instruments, Medications and because of the
rising COVID 19 cases in Armenia, plenty of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
all provided through the generosity of WMR; the total shipment was valued at
$503,000.

Finding a benefactor would pose an almost insurmountable
problem because at this same time Nareg-Shavarshan Lodge was in the midst of
another project to raise $25,000 to complete the renovation of the Knights of
Vartan School #106 in Yerevan. During a conversation with Past Commander Howard
Atesian, Dr. Zamanigian mentioned the WMR project and without even asking how
much it would cost, Atesian said he would donate the funds necessary to get the
container to Armenia i.e. the entire $17,000!

World Medical Relief is the ninth largest organization of its
kind in the United States with an excellent rating. In addition to Greg Baise,
Nareg-Shavarshan Lodge members would like to extend their sincere appreciation
to Dr. George Sampson, President and CEO of World Medical Relief for his
supervision and attention to this timely need of medical equipment in Armenia.

The
Knights of Vartan Inc. is a fraternal leadership and service organization of
Armenian men dedicated to safeguarding and perpetuating the Armenian heritage
and its cultural traditions. Its membership represents the spectrum of the
leadership of the Armenian community. It was founded in 1916 in Philadelphia
and is based in the United States with 23 local chapters which support Armenian
causes around the world.