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AZG Armenian Daily #147, 20/08/2005
Aid
'DOING OUR PART TO HELP'
IN-KIND DONATIONS AID ARMENIA'S DEVELOPMENT
"After observing an operation at the University Hospital #1 in Yerevan, my
husband Roberto, who is a surgeon, was awed by the great lack of medical
supplies, the extremely outdated equipment, and the huge difference in
conditions under which Armenia's doctors operate," explained Nadia
Rodriguez. "For example, we were told that surgeons are instructed not to
use sterile gloves on patients who cannot afford the extra $5 fee. By
American standards, this is unbelievable! We wanted to help improve the
conditions in Armenia's public hospitals for the sake of both the patients
and the doctors."
Since February 2005, Mrs. Rodriguez, working with the Fund for Armenian
Relief (FAR), has coordinated with hospitals in the northeast to donate
supplies and equipment to Armenia. These range from such basics as sterile
gloves, blood tubes, and wound closure kits to more complicated machinery
such as fetal heart rate monitors, defibrillators, critical care monitors
and x-ray equipment. Mrs. Rodriguez has secured more than $170,000 worth of
gifts in-kind. "I hope this is only the beginning," she states.
"Since we had the contacts, my husband and I wanted to do our part to help.
Jeffrey Welsh, Vice President of resources and materials management at
Meridian Health, has been extremely helpful in offering equipment for our
cause. Through him and others we have been able to secure equipment that is
more modern than the equipment currently in use by many U.S. hospitals! If
only we knew more people that hold similar positions in other hospitals
throughout the US. Our goal is to have a continuous flow, in bulk, of
updated medical supplies to Armenia."
The gifts in-kind identified by Mrs. Rodriguez complement FAR's Continuing
Medical Education (CME) program. This program offers post-graduate training
opportunities to Armenia's doctors in order to enhance their skills and
knowledge in their chosen fields of medicine. The medical equipment and
supplies will be distributed to the hospitals and clinics where FAR trainees
and their mentors practice.
IN-KIND DONATIONS
Gifts in-kind are contributions of material items made by a donor to help
support the operations or services provided by a nonprofit organization.
FAR, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in New York, accepts
all in-kind donations, with the exception of medicine, that would be needed,
useful, and helpful to the people of Armenia and Karabakh by the
container-load.
Gifts in-kind have been particularly bountiful for FAR in 2005.
Continuing a long tradition, New York's Jack Torosian donated valuable
science and reference books to FAR for specialized schools and universities
in Armenia.
More than $100,000 worth of medical equipment and supplies has been
collected by Dr. Raffi Avitisian and Serop Demirjian of Cleveland, OH to be
sent to Armenia for FAR's CME Program.
Dr. Dennis Vollman, of the Southgate Radiology & CT, Nuclear Medicine and
Ultrasound in Michigan, donated a CT scanner and an ultrasound unit, valued
at $85,000. This was not the first time Dr. Vollman worked with FAR. He had
sent medical equipment to Armenia through FAR immediately after the 1988
earthquake.
New York Presbyterian Hospital sent 800 epidural anesthesia kits, amounting
to close to $10,000, to Armenia's public hospitals thanks to the efforts of
FAR Board member Dr. Edgar Hovsepian.
Harry Minoian persuaded the Niagara Falls Board of Education to donate
approximately $300,000 worth of brand-new textbooks to Armenia through FAR.
The subjects of these books cover history, literature, U.S. government and
foreign languages, including English as a second language, French and
Spanish. FAR will distribute these much-needed textbooks to its Ounjian
School, Catholicos Vasken I School, Mathevosian School, as well as other
public schools with foreign language specializations.
Florida's Lucine Harvey secured enough children's goods, ranging from basic
necessities, like clothes, shoes, mattresses, pillows, towels, soaps, and
toothpaste, to school supplies to fun items, like toys and bicycles, to fill
three 40-foot containers. These diverse goods, valued at more than $145,000,
will benefit FAR's Siranoosh summer camp in Yeghegnadzor, the Yeghegnadzor
college, the Dilijan Children's Health Center, and the Yerevan Children's
Reception and Orientation Center for homeless children.
Hagop Vartevarian of New Jersey contributed new bath towels and bed sheets,
worth more than $3,000, for FAR's Vanadzor Old Age Home and the State
University Guest House in Yerevan.
Gregory Manuelian of New York donated a professional digital camera having a
$1,000 market value for FAR's Press Office in Armenia and Karabakh.
Mike Hovsepian, through Pennsylvania's Global Rubber, Inc., gave 1,600
square feet of rubber mats worth $12,450, for a new playground built by FAR
at the Nork Orphanage in Yerevan.
AmeriCares has donated 171,600 8-ounce bottles of Ensure, the nutritional
beverage, to FAR via UAF. A 40-foot container filled with 62,400 bottles (20
pallets) is currently on its way to Armenia to help beneficiaries at FAR's
soup kitchens, the Old Age Homes in Vanadzor and Gyumri as well as the Hagop
S. Touloukian Senior Center in Gyumri. Two more containers (packed with the
remaining 35 pallets) will be sent to Armenia shortly.
AmeriCares also gave more than 9,200 bottles of children's vitamins (four
pallets) to FAR via UAF. These essential supplements were distributed to
needy children through hospitals, polyclinics and youth institutes.
Since its founding in response to the 1988 earthquake, FAR has served 10
million people through 130+ relief and development programs in Armenia and
Karabakh. It has channeled more than $250 million in humanitarian assistance
by implementing a wide range of projects including emergency relief,
construction, education, medical aid, and economic development. FAR is
dedicated to realizing the dream of a free, democratic, prosperous, and
culturally rich Armenia.
For more information about in-kind donations or to send contributions,
contact the Fund for Armenian Relief at 630 Second Avenue, New York, NY
10016; telephone (212) 889-5150, fax (212) 889-4849; www.farusa.org,
[email protected].
Dr. Roberto Rodriguez of Boston, MA (right) observed an operation performed
by Dr. Gevorg Yaghjyan (left) in University Hospital #1 in Yerevan. That
experience inspired him and his wife, Nadia, to fundraise for gifts in-kind
with the goal of having a continuous flow, in bulk, of updated medical
supplies to Armenia.
FAR Executive Director Garnik Nanagoulian (far left) was impressed with the
collection of medical gifts in-kind that Dr. Raffi Avitisian (far right) and
Serop Demirjian (second from left) of Cleveland, OH were able to amass to
send to Armenia for FAR's CME Program. They began looking for ways to help
Armenia's medical professionals after mentoring Dr. Mushegh Israelyan
(second from right) from Karabakh.
By Fund for Armenian Relief
From: Baghdasarian
Aid
'DOING OUR PART TO HELP'
IN-KIND DONATIONS AID ARMENIA'S DEVELOPMENT
"After observing an operation at the University Hospital #1 in Yerevan, my
husband Roberto, who is a surgeon, was awed by the great lack of medical
supplies, the extremely outdated equipment, and the huge difference in
conditions under which Armenia's doctors operate," explained Nadia
Rodriguez. "For example, we were told that surgeons are instructed not to
use sterile gloves on patients who cannot afford the extra $5 fee. By
American standards, this is unbelievable! We wanted to help improve the
conditions in Armenia's public hospitals for the sake of both the patients
and the doctors."
Since February 2005, Mrs. Rodriguez, working with the Fund for Armenian
Relief (FAR), has coordinated with hospitals in the northeast to donate
supplies and equipment to Armenia. These range from such basics as sterile
gloves, blood tubes, and wound closure kits to more complicated machinery
such as fetal heart rate monitors, defibrillators, critical care monitors
and x-ray equipment. Mrs. Rodriguez has secured more than $170,000 worth of
gifts in-kind. "I hope this is only the beginning," she states.
"Since we had the contacts, my husband and I wanted to do our part to help.
Jeffrey Welsh, Vice President of resources and materials management at
Meridian Health, has been extremely helpful in offering equipment for our
cause. Through him and others we have been able to secure equipment that is
more modern than the equipment currently in use by many U.S. hospitals! If
only we knew more people that hold similar positions in other hospitals
throughout the US. Our goal is to have a continuous flow, in bulk, of
updated medical supplies to Armenia."
The gifts in-kind identified by Mrs. Rodriguez complement FAR's Continuing
Medical Education (CME) program. This program offers post-graduate training
opportunities to Armenia's doctors in order to enhance their skills and
knowledge in their chosen fields of medicine. The medical equipment and
supplies will be distributed to the hospitals and clinics where FAR trainees
and their mentors practice.
IN-KIND DONATIONS
Gifts in-kind are contributions of material items made by a donor to help
support the operations or services provided by a nonprofit organization.
FAR, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in New York, accepts
all in-kind donations, with the exception of medicine, that would be needed,
useful, and helpful to the people of Armenia and Karabakh by the
container-load.
Gifts in-kind have been particularly bountiful for FAR in 2005.
Continuing a long tradition, New York's Jack Torosian donated valuable
science and reference books to FAR for specialized schools and universities
in Armenia.
More than $100,000 worth of medical equipment and supplies has been
collected by Dr. Raffi Avitisian and Serop Demirjian of Cleveland, OH to be
sent to Armenia for FAR's CME Program.
Dr. Dennis Vollman, of the Southgate Radiology & CT, Nuclear Medicine and
Ultrasound in Michigan, donated a CT scanner and an ultrasound unit, valued
at $85,000. This was not the first time Dr. Vollman worked with FAR. He had
sent medical equipment to Armenia through FAR immediately after the 1988
earthquake.
New York Presbyterian Hospital sent 800 epidural anesthesia kits, amounting
to close to $10,000, to Armenia's public hospitals thanks to the efforts of
FAR Board member Dr. Edgar Hovsepian.
Harry Minoian persuaded the Niagara Falls Board of Education to donate
approximately $300,000 worth of brand-new textbooks to Armenia through FAR.
The subjects of these books cover history, literature, U.S. government and
foreign languages, including English as a second language, French and
Spanish. FAR will distribute these much-needed textbooks to its Ounjian
School, Catholicos Vasken I School, Mathevosian School, as well as other
public schools with foreign language specializations.
Florida's Lucine Harvey secured enough children's goods, ranging from basic
necessities, like clothes, shoes, mattresses, pillows, towels, soaps, and
toothpaste, to school supplies to fun items, like toys and bicycles, to fill
three 40-foot containers. These diverse goods, valued at more than $145,000,
will benefit FAR's Siranoosh summer camp in Yeghegnadzor, the Yeghegnadzor
college, the Dilijan Children's Health Center, and the Yerevan Children's
Reception and Orientation Center for homeless children.
Hagop Vartevarian of New Jersey contributed new bath towels and bed sheets,
worth more than $3,000, for FAR's Vanadzor Old Age Home and the State
University Guest House in Yerevan.
Gregory Manuelian of New York donated a professional digital camera having a
$1,000 market value for FAR's Press Office in Armenia and Karabakh.
Mike Hovsepian, through Pennsylvania's Global Rubber, Inc., gave 1,600
square feet of rubber mats worth $12,450, for a new playground built by FAR
at the Nork Orphanage in Yerevan.
AmeriCares has donated 171,600 8-ounce bottles of Ensure, the nutritional
beverage, to FAR via UAF. A 40-foot container filled with 62,400 bottles (20
pallets) is currently on its way to Armenia to help beneficiaries at FAR's
soup kitchens, the Old Age Homes in Vanadzor and Gyumri as well as the Hagop
S. Touloukian Senior Center in Gyumri. Two more containers (packed with the
remaining 35 pallets) will be sent to Armenia shortly.
AmeriCares also gave more than 9,200 bottles of children's vitamins (four
pallets) to FAR via UAF. These essential supplements were distributed to
needy children through hospitals, polyclinics and youth institutes.
Since its founding in response to the 1988 earthquake, FAR has served 10
million people through 130+ relief and development programs in Armenia and
Karabakh. It has channeled more than $250 million in humanitarian assistance
by implementing a wide range of projects including emergency relief,
construction, education, medical aid, and economic development. FAR is
dedicated to realizing the dream of a free, democratic, prosperous, and
culturally rich Armenia.
For more information about in-kind donations or to send contributions,
contact the Fund for Armenian Relief at 630 Second Avenue, New York, NY
10016; telephone (212) 889-5150, fax (212) 889-4849; www.farusa.org,
[email protected].
Dr. Roberto Rodriguez of Boston, MA (right) observed an operation performed
by Dr. Gevorg Yaghjyan (left) in University Hospital #1 in Yerevan. That
experience inspired him and his wife, Nadia, to fundraise for gifts in-kind
with the goal of having a continuous flow, in bulk, of updated medical
supplies to Armenia.
FAR Executive Director Garnik Nanagoulian (far left) was impressed with the
collection of medical gifts in-kind that Dr. Raffi Avitisian (far right) and
Serop Demirjian (second from left) of Cleveland, OH were able to amass to
send to Armenia for FAR's CME Program. They began looking for ways to help
Armenia's medical professionals after mentoring Dr. Mushegh Israelyan
(second from right) from Karabakh.
By Fund for Armenian Relief
From: Baghdasarian