InternationalArmenians worldwide raise $15.9 million for Armenia and Karabakh
More Armenian-Americans donate, but total Armenian-American contribution continues to fall
Published: Thursday December 03, 2009
Hosts and volunteers celebrate at the end of the telethon. Photolure.
Washington - The Armenia Fund raised about $15.9 million in 2009 to help revitalize the town of Shushi and rural areas throughout Armenia, the fund reported on November 27 following its annual Thanksgiving Day telethon.
But for a fourth consecutive year, contributions from Armenian-Americans declined, with Russian and European Armenians providing the bulk of the funding for a second year in the row.
Most of the Russian-Armenian funds were pledged on October 25, during a fund-raising event in Moscow attended by the presidents of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, Serge Sargsyan and Bako Sahakian.
Like last year, real estate developer Samvel Karapetian was the largest contributor in Russia, pledging $1 million.
A European phonathon was held between November 19 and 22, involving more than 12,400 supporters making pledges or donations.
Meanwhile, some 20,000 Armenians in Armenia and Artsakh donated a total of $1.75 million, setting a record for fundraising in the homeland.
12th annual 12-hour telethon
The telethon, broadcast live from Los Angeles included Nagorno Karabakh's Prime Minister Ara Harutiunian, the Primate of Artsakh Archbishop Barkev Martirossian, and other officials.
Armenia and diaspora celebrities were featured. Inga and Anush Arshakyan performed duets and Serge Tankian of System Of A Down fame appeared with his father Khatchadour Tankian.
VivaCell-MTS served again as the main corporate sponsor of the telethon. Other sponsors included ACBA Credit-Agricole Bank, Ameria Bank, ArdShinInvestBank, and Armenia's postal service HayPost.
The fund's executive director, Ara Vardanyan, called the telethon "yet another testament to the unity of the Armenian people" and "an opportunity to address issues of national importance."
Funds generated in 2009 will finance construction and renovation of roads, schools, water networks, residential complexes, and various cultural and community institutions in the town of Shushi. They will also continue to benefit the Armenia-wide Rural Development Program, with initiatives ranging from new gas and water pipelines to new or restored schools and farming-assistance programs.
Armenian-Americans give less
According to data on the fund's website, as of last week Armenians in European Union countries gave or pledged $5.36 million, Russia $5.29 million, the United States $2.09 million, Canada about half a million U.S. dollars, and Argentina, Brazil, Lebanon, and Australia provided most of the rest of the funding.
The volume and share of contributions from U.S. has been falling from a high of about $10 million in 2006 to $6.1 million in 2007 and $2.7 million in 2008.
Of the $2.09 million contributed this year, $400,000 came from an anonymous donor in San Francisco, $125,000 from longtime fund supporters Vahe and Veronique Karapetian (who have contributed about $3 million over seven years) and another $100,000 from TF Educational Foundation of Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian.
Asked for a comment, an official with the fund's Western U.S. affiliate told the Armenian Reporter that the trend reflected a decline in large donations by Armenian-Americans, whereas participation on a grassroots level increased in 2009 over the past year.
Following the 2008 telethon, in which total Armenian-American pledges fell by about 50 percent, telethon organizers reported a 20 percent jump in participation.
In the 17 years of the fund's existence, Armenian-Americans have contributed most of about $200 million spent by the Armenia Fund on some 700 projects in Armenia.
