A “can-do nation” joins forces in Armenia Fund Telethon

Record-breaking $15.2 million pledged

A resurgent Armenia donates $1.2 million

by Naush Boghossian

Published: Saturday November 24, 2007

Funds raised this year will support Armenia’s villages. Max Sivaslian

Hollywood, Calif. - For twelve hours, two rows of names and numbers scrolled across the bottom of television screens and computer monitors around the wowrld. Occasionally, one saw the name of a friend, an acquaintance, and smiled. There were people living nearby, and people hailing from faraway places. There were businesses and organizations. Donations in memory of loved ones. The numbers and currencies varied: $100, ?250, $10,000, $50.

A nation dispersed across the globe had come together for a common purpose, that of nation-building.

The energy was palpable as hundreds of volunteers buzzed around KCET's Hollywood studios on Thanksgiving Day, driven by a collective feeling best described as a mixture of purpose and hope during the 10th annual Armenia Fund International Telethon.

The undeniable expectation was to surpass the $13.7 million raised last year - and there was no reason to think that Armenians would not pitch in and make it happen.

Each year, the event has become more sophisticated and technologically savvy, and the kinks have been worked out - a long ways from the first telethon, which raised $2.6 million in pledges.

And the returns this year did not disappoint. The live telethon brought in just over $15.2 million by its close at 8 p.m., with additional funds expected to be accounted for in the coming days, said Vahe Aghabegians, executive director of Armenia Fund International.

"It was more or less our expectation. We weren't surprised; we weren't disappointed," Mr. Aghabegians said after the telethon ended. Though the organizers hoped to raise more, "this was more or less what we realistically expected. This money will help us make changes and a real difference in lives of people in villages.

"But we need 10 times as much. We have just begun."

The money raised this year will come on top of the more than $170 million raised since the first international telethon in 1997, to go toward large-scale infrastructure and economic development in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Projects initiated by Armenia Fund over the years have included the construction and reconstruction of schools, healthcare facilities, highways, rural roads, drinking-water facilities and systems, and irrigation systems.

The nonprofit organization is credited for constructing the Goris-Stepanakert Highway - called the "lifeline highway" - connecting the Republic of Armenia and Karabakh, as well as the north-south highway that connects more than 150 villages in Nagorno-Karabakh.

But most recently, the organization has focused on agricultural development, embarking on an ambitious regional development plan that promotes long-term sustainability by empowering farmers with technology packages, training, new equipment, fertilizer, and new farming standards, said Greg Boyrazian, development director of Armenia Fund.

The measure of success

Proceeds from the telethon will benefit a cluster of villages in the Tavush region of Armenia and the Martuni region of Karabakh through the organization's Village Development Program.

"We have one measure of success: looking back and seeing if this program caused a rise in the populations of these villages. If it does, then it's a success," Mr. Aghabegians said. "If those who have left the villages seeking gainful employment come back and are able to lead a dignified life because of the economic infrastructure and availability of employment, then it's a success."

The agricultural program, which started in 2005, will be coordinated with the U.S. government's Millennium Challenge Corporation, the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Program, or UNDP. The goal is to implement the holistic model throughout Armenia, Mr. Boyrazian said.

"Right now, they're only growing crops for themselves. Our plan is to help make the agricultural sector the breadbasket of the region - to introduce its agricultural products to local markets and the international market," he said.

An electronic bridge

The telethon itself has become a Thanksgiving Day tradition for Armenian households worldwide, and has evolved into one of the few annual events capable of uniting all Armenians across religious, political, and geographic lines.

"This is an extremely big event in the community. It's the only day and time when the Armenian diaspora at large are able to connect with Armenia at the ease and comfort of their television sets and their high-speed Internet," Mr. Boyrazian said. "That's where they can really see the faces, that dollar they are donating is making a difference for the boy or girl living in an impoverished region of Armenia."

Individuals and businesses in Armenia itself donated $1.2 million, according to preliminary figures. Archbishop Barkev Martirossian, prelate of Karabakh, said that Karabakh was contributing $1 million, with five businesses contributing $100,000 each, another business contributing $80,000, and the rest coming from smaller donations.

Another $2.2 million came from Europe.

Levon Hairapetian, who is based in Russia, pledged $2.5 million, and Vahe Garabedian of Southern California pledged $1 million. The bulk of the money pledged, however, came from thousands of individuals and families in the United States and beyond watching the telethon on their screens.

The telethon, Mr. Boyrazian said,"carries an important meaning. It's an electronic bridge between the Republic of Armenia and the diaspora at large."

Broadcast coast-to-coast in large Armenian-American communities as well as internationally, the 12-hour fundraiser featured guests including the newly elected president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Bako Sahakian, Armenia's foreign minister, Vartan Oskanian, and more than 40 musical acts, featuring some of the top names in Armenian music.

"We like to call it the Armenian Super Bowl," Mr. Boyrazian said. "Our challenge is to create a wonderful program that will cater to Armenian-Americans from all walks of life, be it in New York, in Boston, or in L.A."