ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
Toll Free: (866) 965-TREE
Email: [email protected]
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PRESS RELEASE
January 30, 2008
Armenian Community Exceeds Challenge Issued to ATP by Harry T. Mangurian,
Jr. Foundation
WATERTOWN, MA–Armenia Tree Project (ATP) is proud to announce that its
supporters exceeded the challenge issued by the Harry T. Mangurian, Jr.
Foundation to raise $500,000 between September 15 and December 31, 2007. Mr.
Mangurian agreed to contribute $500,000 if ATP could raise that amount, and
more than 2,000 new and existing donors came forward and donated nearly
$850,000 to ATP in response.
"Our thanks go out to the thousands of old friends and new supporters who
demonstrated their belief in our work with a generous gift this Fall,"
emphasized Executive Director Jeff Masarjian. "Our programs stir people’s
passions and energy, and we were thrilled that the challenge offered by
Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. enabled ATP to begin 2008 on such a strong footing
in preparation for its most ambitious year ever."
"Meeting the challenge is not an endpoint, but rather, it positions us to
begin the next phase. This support will allow us to execute plans to greatly
increase the number of families participating in our backyard nursery
program–providing a much needed source of income for rural families in
Armenia–and expand our environmental education programs in 2008," added
Masarjian.
A second generation Armenian-American, Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. became
familiar with ATP only recently and in a very short period of time began
supporting the organization’s effort to expand the donor base. He helped to
create a unique mail appeal in 2007 with photographs of ATP’s work and a 20
dram Armenian coin–symbolizing ATP’s program to purchase tree seedlings
grown by families in the Getik River Valley. A record number of new donors
responded to that appeal at an introductory level, followed by the strong
response this Fall to "Harry’s Challenge."
"In addition to this great achievement, ATP planted 550,000 trees at 174
sites throughout Armenia in 2007, exceeding our pledge to the Billion Tree
Campaign launched by the United Nations Environment Program and bringing the
total number of trees planted and restored by ATP since 1994 to over two
million," noted Masarjian. "We also began planting the Hrant Dink Memorial
Forest near our Mirak Family Reforestation Nursery in northern Armenia, and
our goal is to plant the remaining trees and dedicate the site in 2008. And
our Community Tree Planting Program continued planting fruit and decorative
trees in rural villages throughout Armenia."
"Finally, we used our environmental education curriculum with more than 500
university and grade school students over the past year in programs at the
Michael and Virginia Ohanian Education Center and in the communities where
we plant trees, in order to promote the concept of stewardship and
sustainability among the next generation of Armenian leaders," concluded
Masarjian. "The success of Mr. Mangurian’s challenge is so vitally important
because we need to reverse the tide of deforestation, and your support has
helped us meet the challenge and secure a sustainable Armenia for the
future."
Since 1994, ATP has planted and restored more than 2,000,000 trees and
created hundreds of jobs for impoverished Armenians in tree-regeneration
programs. The organization’s three tiered initiatives are tree planting,
community development to reduce poverty and promote self-sufficiency, and
environmental education to protect Armenia’s precious natural resources.
PHOTO CAPTION: Hundreds of rural families in the Getik River Valley benefit
>From Armenia Tree Project’s backyard nursery program, where families grow
tree seedlings that are purchased by ATP for planting in the local forests
(Photo by Kathryn Howard)
www.armeniatree.org