From l to r: (From Left) Vice President Peter Baghdassarian, President Al Cabraloff, the Shrikchian Family & AEF Fundraising Chair Melody
More than $560,000 was raised at the Armenian Educational Foundation’s donor appreciation dinner on Sunday, May 15 at the home of Harry and Shireen Shirikchian. Over 140 supporters, sponsors and members attended the evening event.
The program kicked off with AEF President, Al Cabraloff, opening the evening with a brief update report on the AEF. Some highlights included the completion of 8 school renovation projects in Armenia and Artsakh in 2021. He also highlighted that AEF provided over 1,000 scholarships in 2021 to university students in Armenia, Artsakh and Javakhk.
Vahik Petrossian, AEF Scholarship Chair, presented an overview of the current status of the scholarship program as well as the desperate need to continue to raise funds to support more students, including for our wounded soldiers and veterans. During the event, AEF announced a $100,000 donation from the Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund to cover scholarships for wounded soldiers and veterans of the 2020 war and another 15 new donors confirmed support for over 50 additional four-year scholarships for university students in Armenia and Artsakh.
The guests listen to a presentation about AEF’s activities
During acknowledgments, AEF also announced major gifts from benefactors including a $100,000 donation from Mr. & Mrs. Rafik & Helly Khatchaturian, as well as a $50,000 contribution from Mr. & Mrs. Bobken and Hasmik Amirian.
AEF’s Fundraising Chair, Melody Petrossian, commented, “The success of our fundraising directly impacts the future we can give our Armenian youth and we are grateful to our donors who continue to entrust the AEF with the responsibility to assist Armenian students with its programs.”
The Armenian Educational Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 1950. Since 2000, AEF has disbursed over $11.4M for various education programs, including $5.2M renovating over 200 village schools in Armenia, Artsakh and Javakhk and $4.3 million in scholarships.
For more information on the Armenian Educational Foundation or to donate online, please visit www.aefweb.org.