COAF TO HOST FIFTH ANNUAL "SAVE A GENERATION" AWARDS DINNER OCTOBER 24
Armenian Reporter
October 22, 2008
Armenia
A history of improving the lives of Armenian children
Nicholas Kristof, who will be honored on Friday.
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.