Armenia Fund, Inc.
111 North Jackson St. Ste. 205
Glendale, CA 91206
Tel: 818-243-6222
Fax: 818-243-7222
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PRESS RELEASE
Contact ~ Sarkis Kotanjian
[email protected]
Armenia Fund Bike Ride Raises $50,000
Cyclists Successfully Reach Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA and Toronto, ON – Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region and
Armenia Fund Canada (Toronto) are pleased to announce the successful end
of their Monterey-Los Angeles Bike Ride campaign. On Sunday, November 2,
2008, after a long journey along the California coast, eight cyclists
reached Los Angeles, ending their ride at the St. James Armenian
Apostolic Church of Los Angeles. As the first ever Bike Ride jointly
organized by two Armenia Fund affiliates, the effort raised $50,000 so
far. Proceeds from this event will benefit the construction of the
Spitakashen Village School in the Martuni Region, Nagorno Karabakh.
On Tuesday, October 28, Calabrina Boyajian of Toronto, the bike ride’s
volunteer director started off the bike ride from Monterey to Los
Angeles, riding her bike alongside John Flaherty. Prior to the start of
the ride, the parish priest of San Jose, Father Datev, along with a
group of well wishers representing the Armenian Community of Monterey
visited the Armenia Fund Bike Ride team and wished them success in their
endeavor.
On the 5th day of the ride, Saturday, November 1, three more cyclists
joined Calabrina and John; Vatche Soghomonian of Fresno and Saro
Haroutiunian of New Jersey in Lompoc, and Adrian Parsegian in Santa
Barbara. On the last day of the ride, from Ventura to Los Angeles, two
more riders joined to complete the bike ride team – Vazgen Mazanians of
Glendale and Raffi Bedrosyan of Toronto. A detailed daily log of the
ride is available at
On Sunday, November 2, 2008, the cyclists embarked on their final leg
from Ventura to Los Angeles (112km) reaching their destination, the St
James Armenian Church in Los Angeles.
At the entrance of the church court, the team received a warm welcome.
Gor Mkhitarian and his band were playing live music in honor of the
cyclists. Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region Executive Director Sarkis
Kotanjian invited Calabrina Boyajian, to present the other riders and
outline the nature and objective of the first ever Bike Ride. The band
then honored the eldest rider, the 75 year old Vatche Soghomonian with a
special song.
Ara Boyajian of Toronto, a member of the board of trustees of Armenia
Fund International, stressed the significance of this first joint
undertaking by the U.S. Western Region and Canadian (Toronto)
affiliates, and on behalf of the Toronto chapter thanked Maria
Mehranian, Chair of Armenia Fund U.S Western Region, Sarkis Kotanjian
and Greg Boyrazian for their contribution to the success of the event.
Boyajian thanked Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian for his support and
personal interest in the event, as well as mobilizing the Armenian
Community of Monterey to farewell the bike ride team, and making the St
James Church available for the reception.
Mehranian praised the event and the commitment of the riders, and
encouraged similar joint ventures among different Armenia Fund
affiliates in support of humanitarian projects in Armenia and Nagorno
Karabakh. She also announced that through the joint efforts of the two
affiliates, $50,000 was raised and that further contributions were being
accepted.
Father Arshag Khatchadourian gave a spirited speech congratulating the
participants and the Armenia Fund in their efforts to help rebuild
Armenia, and as a token of appreciation presented each rider on behalf
of the Primate a book titled, "Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic
Church".
On final count, 591km was traveled in six days during Armenia Fund’s
first ever jointly organized Bike Ride, commencing in Monterey and
ending in Los Angeles. This first initiative was a great success. Thanks
to Armenia Fund’s Bike Ride team, the construction of the Spitakashen
Village School in Martuni will begin in the spring of 2009 delivering
much needed hope to the young children of the village.
Armenia Fund continues receiving donations for the Bike Ride. A video
segment about the event will be featured during the Armenia Fund’s 11th
International Telethon. Telethon 2008 will air live around the world for
12 hours on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 8:00am-8:00pm PST.
Armenia Fund, Inc., is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation
established in 1994 to facilitate large-scale humanitarian and
infrastructure development assistance to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
Since 1991, Armenia Fund has rendered more than $190 million in
development aid to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Armenia Fund, Inc. is
the U.S. Western Region affiliate of `Hayastan’ All-Armenian Fund. Tax
ID# 95-448569
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
