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26.11.2009 11:02
 Hayastan All Armenian Fund’s International Fundraising Telethon will air on Shant, Armenia and H1-Armenian Public Television on November 26, 8 pm -8am. Airing live from Los Angeles, Telethon 2009 will reach every continent, entering Armenian homes through satellite, cable and internet means. The telethon will be web-cast on http://www.armeniafund.org.
More than 20,000 residents of Armenia have already made their contributions to Hayastan All Armenian Fund. The post offices of HayPost have already received more than 13 000 cash donations. More than 500 organizations and individuals have made bank transfers. Some people prefer to make their donations in the Fund’s Executive Board office. More than 7 thousand subscribers of VivaCell-MTS used the new donation tool - one of the innovations of this year’s fundraising effort, and donated funds via their mobile phones. Only for the subscribers of VivaCell-MTS, three short numbers are introduced from the beginning of October till the end of November. Interested individuals can have their input in the all Armenian fundraising effort by sending a blank SMS message to the following numbers: 5555 (which stands for 200 AMD donation), 5556 (600 AMD donation) and 5557 (1000 AMD donation, all including VAT). Even at this point, it can be stated that never before, in its more than 17 year history, has the Fund registered such massive grassroots participation throughout Armenia.
The motto of this year’s fundraising effort is Our Shishi. The logo of the Telethon is the Angel of Artsakh. Mr. Edik Balaian, the artist of the 2009 Telethon logo offered his brief remarks regarding the concept of the logo and the choice of colors. He mentioned that the idea of the logo is distinctly from the prominent symbol depicted on the bell tower of the St. Savior Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi.
“Hayastan All Armenian Fund is not a political organization, our mission is to serve as a uniting bridge between Armenians around the world and combine their efforts to reconstruct and strengthen Armenia and Artsakh. If you think about it, this is the most practical way of fulfilling our “azgayin tourk” – national giving, a concept that is at the heart of “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund. According to my modest calculations, there are currently around 10 million Armenians living around the world. If every single person gives a dollar a month, that makes it close to $120 million a year. Think about it when you watch the Telethon this Thanksgiving Day, November 26”, said Ara Vardanyan, Executive Director of Hayastan All Armenian Fund.
The Telethon will feature an impressive line up of Armenian music and dance, as well as video segments telling about the Fund’s projects and the life of people of Armenia and Karabakh. The Telethon 2009 song “We and our Mountains” /Menq Enq Mer Sarery/ will be performed by Anush and Inga Arshakyans. The song has already become popular among young Armenians and will hopefully motivate people to bring their input and help make a difference in the lives of people of Shushi.
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