Glendale telethon to fund Armenian highway

Glendale telethon to fund Armenian highway
By Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer

Los Angeles Daily News
November 19, 2004

Friday, November 19, 2004 - GLENDALE -- Rush-hour traffic on the
freeway, blaring horns, rude drivers -- those are the stuff of dreams
for people in Armenia, who have 52 miles remaining to complete a
major north-south "backbone" highway in the country.

To that end, Armenians living outside that country are gearing up
for the Armenia Fund's 12-hour telethon on Thursday.

More than 600 volunteers -- 200 of which will answer telephones --
will help conduct the event live from Glendale. It will feature
popular Armenian singers and government officials and will air in
45 million homes throughout the United States, Europe, South America
and the Middle East.

The goal of the 10th annual telethon: To raise the $12.5 million
needed to complete the $25 million, 105-mile highway that will link
150 towns and villages and help spur the country's struggling economy.

"The importance of the road, half of which has already been built,
is that it created 1,000 jobs in very small villages in most need
of development," said Maria Mehranian, chairperson of Armenia Fund
Western United States. "And strategically, the road still remains
the single most important project in the country."

Currently, the transportation of goods from one part of the country
to another is clumsy at best.

Small trucks carry goods back and forth, without any expressways
or mass transit of any sort, making for a very slow and inefficient
exchange of goods.

"We have seen firsthand here what impacts a freeway has not only on the
community but on the economy," said George L. Pla, chief executive
officer of Cordoba Corp., a civil engineering and construction
management company. He traveled to Armenia and surveyed the country
to explore the potential of infrastructure development.

"I think it's even more crucial in Armenia because they don't have
too many access points to moving goods and services, so in short,
this highway is just going to stimulate the economy and create jobs,"
he said.

Over the last 10 years, the nonprofit Armenia Fund has raised about
$90 million for projects in Armenia. Last year's telethon generated
$6.5 million, but organizers are hoping that with a larger audience
this year, they will hit their target goal of $12.5 million.

"Armenia Fund started in Glendale, and because of the large community
of Armenians that live in the city of Glendale, this has become
a very successful event, a very worthwhile event, and it does help
build infrastructure for the country that needs the help from its
community," said Mayor Bob Yousefian.

Each year, the international organization that's headquartered in
the Armenian capital of Yerevan identifies a cause in Armenia it will
support, causes that in the past have included building roads, schools,
hospitals, water-related facilities and creating training programs.

When Armenia became an independent country in 1991, Armenia Fund raised
money for social programs, but when the country began to stabilize,
it started to exclusively dedicate money to the infrastructure and
economic development.

Mehranian said Armenian people -- many of whom have never been to
Armenia -- feel compelled to send money to a country with which they
feel an undeniable bond.

"There is a strong bond between Armenia and Armenians in the diaspora,"
Mehranian said. "After years of living in other countries, for the
first time there is an idea of homeland ... and as more Armenians go
back to Armenia, these bonds become stronger, people want to do more
and to give more."

Naush Boghossian, (818) 546-3306 naush.boghossian@dailynews.com

HOW TO HELP

Armenia Fund's 2004 Telethon will air in Los Angeles from 8 a.m. to
8 p.m. Thursday on KSCI (Channel 18). It will also be Webcast at
www.armeniafund.org