Leo, 10 and Mike, 7 Najarian donate from personal funds
BY SAREEN KASPARIAN
Like a normal teenager, I woke up later-than-usual and grabbed my phone to scroll through TikTok and Instagram. Instead of seeing the typical music videos and do-it-yourself hacks, my feed was flooded with disturbing videos of an explosion.
The videos were blurry and unsteady but the chaos and destruction was clear alarming. Videos from around the world tagged #prayforLebanon bared people trapped beneath rubble, balconies and windows shattered to pieces and a dark, mushroom like cloud looming over Lebanon’s port and surrounding cities.
The paralyzing explosion on August 4th in Lebanon has been categorized as the third most powerful explosion to date. This destruction sits heavy on a country already burdened with economic and civil unrest. To raise awareness and support for one of the regions cruelly destroyed by the explosion, I took immediate responsibly to start an online portal to raise money for the Lebanese Armenian community.
Launching the page was step one. Activating the community required the support and help of my family and friends.
“The call to action was launched with the creation of a GoFundMe page which allows supporters to donate anytime from anywhere,” said Nicholas Andriassian. “We educated ourselves and in turn educated others through social media,” said Dylan Ordubegian. “With a rising death toll and more than 300,000 people displaced from their homes, I took to social media to raise support and money for Lebanon,” said Natalie Shabazian.
“Sadly, it will only get worst before it gets better,” said Andrew Tchakmakjian. “Every dollar raised provides more stability and hope for Lebanon and its people,” said Alex Kizirian. “We urge you to join us and donate” said Matthew Partikian.
“No amount is too big or too small,” said Leo and Mike Najarian as they emptied out their piggy banks and wallets for the cause. Donate today.
To date, we have raised close to $6,000 and a portion of funds have been cleared for electronic processing. We humbly thank all our donors and look forward to reaching and exceeding our goal. All donations are pledged for distribution to aid the food, shelter and medical needs of the Lebanese Armenian community.
With the launch of the Pan Armenian Council of Western USA donation campaign, we will work with local community leaders to direct funds from this campaign to the united body under the high auspices of His Holiness Aram I.
As a Chamlian Armenian School graduate, Armenian Youth Federation Juniors member, Homenetmen athlete and ANCA-WR advocate, I am confident, that together, we will prevail.