Press Conference Launches National Grassroots Fundraising Campaign
GLENDALE, Calif.—Armenian-American leaders from across the U.S. gathered in Southern California last Friday to launch “ANCA Telethon 2014,” a community-wide fundraising campaign to empower Armenian Americans, protect Armenia, and promote the Armenian Cause.
This grassroots campaign, featuring community events and broad-based social media, will lead up to the June 1 six-hour nationwide broadcast—from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. EDT—in support of the ANCA Endowment Fund. The telethon will be available on a variety of broadcast, cable, and digital channels, and streamed online at www.ancatelethon.org.
ANCA Endowment President Ken Hachikian was joined by Telethon 2014 Chairman Steve Artinian, Eastern U.S. Board Member Joshua Tevekelian, and ANCA Western Region Chairwoman Nora Hovsepian, Esq., in sharing his vision for the ANCA Telethon at the kick-off reception, held at the Krikor and Mariam Karamanoukian Glendale Youth Center. Speakers discussed details about its reach and programming, and insights into innovative new ways to engage an unprecedented level of community participation in this fundraising and community-building drive. Images from the kick-off are available on the ANCA Facebook page.
“With Ankara ramping up its denials during the approach to 2015 and Baku escalating its attacks on Artsakh and Armenia, it’s more vital than ever for Armenian Americans to stand in solidarity with the people of our homeland. We are, as I’ve said before, the second army of the Armenian nation, and, in many ways, our homeland’s first line of defense against increasingly aggressive Turkish and Azerbaijani governments,” explained Hachikian.
“It has been said, ‘Together we can move mountains.’ Today, I say, ‘Let’s let the mountain, Mt. Ararat, move us,’” said Artinian. “We’re encouraged by the energetic turnout for today’s ANCA Telethon 2014 launch by so many Armenians from across our community, united in a common commitment to our homeland and heritage, and devoted to the strengthening of the ANCA as the voice of our community and cause.”
The ANCA Endowment Fund supports a broad range of educational, youth, and civic programs that give voice to the views and values of the Armenian-American community, strengthening our presence in the American civic arena, and empowering pro-Armenian stakeholders with the information and resources they need to take on the powerful forces aligned against the Armenian nation.
Reminiscing about his days as an ANCA “Leo Sarkisian” intern some 20 years ago, and his community involvement thereafter, Tevekelian explained, “Today, I can think of no other activity that I would like to be involved in than ANCA Telethon 2014 because it is an honor to be involved in an effort where we—all of us in this room and activists across the U.S., me included—can spread the word of the work that the ANCA does every day for our nation and our people.”
“Everything that we do, like Steve said earlier, is a David and Goliath struggle,” said Hovsepian in her remarks. “This is part of that struggle, and the more successful the Telethon is, the more successful our Cause will be.”
To view the video from the ANCA Telethon 2014, visit the ANCA Grassroots YouTube channel at http://youtu.be/gySfPshA6eU.
The first three ANCA Endowment Fund telethons, held in 2006, 2009 and 2012, raised over $6.5 million for Armenian American educational, youth, and civic programs. Each program touched a common emotional chord, speaking directly to the devotion to the Armenian Cause in the hearts of Armenians from across the U.S., regardless of organizational or political affiliations.
Countless organizations, volunteers, churches, community leaders, local ANCAs, performing artists, Members of Congress, and state legislators from across the nation participated in these telethons, contributing to their enormous success. All the telethons featured several documentaries that highlighted various ANCA programs and numerous results the ANCA Endowment has achieved over the years, largely through its volunteer and grassroots network.
Video from the ANCA Telethon event is located at: http://youtu.be/gySfPshA6eU
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