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Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
Nov 24 2004
Telethon paves way for Armenia
Armenia Fund hopes to raise $10M with annual telethon, which will
include many Glendale faces.
By Josh Kleinbaum, News-Press and Leader
GLENDALE -- When the Armenia Fund holds its 10th annual Thanksgiving
Day telethon on Thursday, it expects to have its most successful
fundraiser to date, with a goal of $10 million. But the one-day event
has really been four years in the making.
In 2000, Maria Mehranian, a La Caņada Flintridge resident, led a
delegation of state and local officials to Armenia. While there, she
met with the executive director of the Armenia Fund, an organization
that is trying to raise $25 million to complete a 105-mile highway in
Armenia.
Mehranian made an impression. Eight months ago, the Armenia Fund
asked Mehranian to head the organization's Western United State
region.
Mehranian, who is a managing partner of Cordova Corp., implemented a
bold plan with the $10-million goal. She decided to use an intensive
outreach program to boost awareness of the Armenia Fund and raise
money before the actual Thanksgiving Day telethon.
"We have created a database of 90,000 people, and they have already
received three pieces of mail in the last 45 days," Mehranian said.
"This year, the goal of the telethon is much bigger than we have ever
collected."
Through the outreach effort, Mehranian said the Armenia Fund has
already come close to last year's total of $6.5 million. The money
will be used to complete the remaining 56 miles of a 105-mile
north-south highway in Armenia. The highway links 150 towns and
villages and is expected to be vital to the country's economic
development.
The telethon, which runs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and is broadcast from
Glendale, will be televised in 23 American cities, as well as Europe,
the Middle East, parts of South Africa and Armenia.
In Glendale, the telethon will be broadcast on KSCI Channel 18. It
will also be carried on the internet at http://www.armeniafund.org .
As usual, the event will have a Glendale flair to it. Local
television host Larry Zarian, a former Glendale mayor, will serve as
the master of ceremonies, and a handful of community leaders are
expected to appear on the telethon between sets by prominent Armenian
entertainers, including Aram Asatryan, Shushan Petrosyan and comedian
Vahe Berberian.
City Councilman Rafi Manoukian taped a spot for the telethon.
"Most individuals of Armenian descent around the world would want to
make some kind of contribution," Manoukian said. "Whether you're
Irish or Italian or anything, we all have an emotional attachment to
those countries, and the same goes for Armenians."
--Boundary_(ID_qSzx2l8rA3ZfndL3whBbkA)--
LATimes.com
Nov 24 2004
Telethon paves way for Armenia
Armenia Fund hopes to raise $10M with annual telethon, which will
include many Glendale faces.
By Josh Kleinbaum, News-Press and Leader
GLENDALE -- When the Armenia Fund holds its 10th annual Thanksgiving
Day telethon on Thursday, it expects to have its most successful
fundraiser to date, with a goal of $10 million. But the one-day event
has really been four years in the making.
In 2000, Maria Mehranian, a La Caņada Flintridge resident, led a
delegation of state and local officials to Armenia. While there, she
met with the executive director of the Armenia Fund, an organization
that is trying to raise $25 million to complete a 105-mile highway in
Armenia.
Mehranian made an impression. Eight months ago, the Armenia Fund
asked Mehranian to head the organization's Western United State
region.
Mehranian, who is a managing partner of Cordova Corp., implemented a
bold plan with the $10-million goal. She decided to use an intensive
outreach program to boost awareness of the Armenia Fund and raise
money before the actual Thanksgiving Day telethon.
"We have created a database of 90,000 people, and they have already
received three pieces of mail in the last 45 days," Mehranian said.
"This year, the goal of the telethon is much bigger than we have ever
collected."
Through the outreach effort, Mehranian said the Armenia Fund has
already come close to last year's total of $6.5 million. The money
will be used to complete the remaining 56 miles of a 105-mile
north-south highway in Armenia. The highway links 150 towns and
villages and is expected to be vital to the country's economic
development.
The telethon, which runs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and is broadcast from
Glendale, will be televised in 23 American cities, as well as Europe,
the Middle East, parts of South Africa and Armenia.
In Glendale, the telethon will be broadcast on KSCI Channel 18. It
will also be carried on the internet at http://www.armeniafund.org .
As usual, the event will have a Glendale flair to it. Local
television host Larry Zarian, a former Glendale mayor, will serve as
the master of ceremonies, and a handful of community leaders are
expected to appear on the telethon between sets by prominent Armenian
entertainers, including Aram Asatryan, Shushan Petrosyan and comedian
Vahe Berberian.
City Councilman Rafi Manoukian taped a spot for the telethon.
"Most individuals of Armenian descent around the world would want to
make some kind of contribution," Manoukian said. "Whether you're
Irish or Italian or anything, we all have an emotional attachment to
those countries, and the same goes for Armenians."
--Boundary_(ID_qSzx2l8rA3ZfndL3whBbkA)--