InternationalCOAF to host fifth annual “Save a Generation” awards dinner October 24
A history of improving the lives of Armenian children
Published: Saturday October 18, 2008
Nicholas Kristof, who will be honored on Friday.
Related Articles
New school buildings jump-start educational potential in COAF cluster villages
COAF-Heifer cooperation aims to fight poverty one cow at a time
COAF after-school photo club brings light to villages through the dark room
COAF repairs ambulance station and kindergarten in Lernagog
New York - On Friday, October 24, friends and supporters of the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) will come together at Cipriani 42nd Street to celebrate and reaffirm the organization's mission of providing support and self-sustaining resources to the youth of Armenia. The fund has focused on improving the lives of thousands of children in six rural villages in Armenia.
During the dinner, COAF will honor Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times columnist, and will celebrate the generous and sustained support of the Feinberg family.
Mr. Kristof, who will accept the 2008 Save a Generation Humanitarian Award, has long been concerned with international human welfare. He has written for the Times since 1984; in 1990 he and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, were the first married couple to win a Pulitzer Prize, for their coverage of China's Tiananmen Square democracy movement.
Mr. Kristof won a second Pulitzer in 2006 for what the judges called "his graphic, deeply reported columns that, at personal risk, focused attention on genocide in Darfur and that gave voice to the voiceless in other parts of the world." As a humanitarian and as a writer, Mr. Kristof has always been on the front lines of advocacy and outreach; he is highly regarded for bringing attention to international human rights abuses and his writing regularly focuses on global poverty, health and gender issues, and climate change.
Cynthia and Larry Feinberg and their children Samantha, Harrison, and Jackson have been longtime friends of COAF and will be the recipients of the 2008 Save a Generation Benefactor Award. Their deep commitment to COAF was embodied by their daughter Samantha's selfless donation of the gifts she received for her 11th birthday to COAF. Their continued support on key educational and healthcare initiatives will be honored at the event.
Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Andrea Martin returns to serve as emcee for the evening. Ms. Martin is best known for her feature films Wag the Dog, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Stepping Out, All Over the Guy, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Cannibal Girls, for which she won the Best Actress Award at SITGES, the international horror film festival of Spain. Ms. Martin is of Armenian descent and a longtime advocate of COAF's work.
The 2007 Awards Dinner, which honored Sherry Lansing and Henry and Daniel Sahakian and family, was attended by more than 350 guests and raised a record $3.5 million to continue and expand the efforts of COAF. In the last year, the funds were combined with the resources of partner organizations to make significant progress in the villages of Argina, Dalarik, Karakert, Lernagog, Miasnikian and Shenik. Successes have included the reconstruction of healthcare facilities, literary enrichment through newly formed libraries, the complete training of over 50 schoolteachers and caregivers, provision of psychological assistance and counseling through the COAF-supported psychosocial program for over 230 families, the opening of newly renovated and refurbished schools in Dalarik and Shenik (which enroll over 800 children), and the establishment of a new community sports complex in Shenik - a resource that is enjoyed by over 250 families.
Proceeds from the awards dinner will be used for COAF to continue in its campaign to create productive and safe educational facilities, improved overall health care, sanitary living conditions, and a revitalized local economy for communities in rural Armenia.
www.coafkids.org 1-212-994-8234
