Western U.S. edition - Armenian Reporter

The Armenian Reporter | May 30, 2009 3
National
Ralph Yirikian to be honored at abmdr gala, July 12
“Embodies corporate
social responsibility”
LOS ANGELES – The Armenian
Bone Marrow Donor Registry announced
that Ralph Yirikian will
be honored as its Man of the Year
during “Match for Life 2009,” the
registry’s upcoming annual gala.
The event will also honor a number
of volunteers for their outstanding
service to the registry, and celebrate
the launch of the registry’s
Stem Cell Harvesting Center in
Yerevan.
“Match for Life 2009” will be held
on Sunday, July 12, beginning at 7
p.m., at the Glendale Hilton, 100
West Glenoaks Blvd., Glendale,
California.
“Ralph Yirikian is someone who
embodies the concept of corporate
social responsibility,” said Dr. Frieda
Jordan, president of the abmdr
Board of Directors. “With his
unflinching support of our work,
Mr. Yirikian has shown once again
that community giveback can be
an integral aspect of a corporation,
making a wonderful and far-reaching
impact on people’s lives. This is
why we’re so proud of his generous
assistance, and privileged to name
him the abmdr Man of the Year.”
As general manager of VivaCellmts,
a telecommunications leader
in Armenia, Mr. Yirikian facilitated
a $350,000 contribution by
his company toward the purchase
of state-of-the-art medical equipment
for the Stem Cell Harvesting
Center. Moreover, Mr. Yirikian
recently helped save a young life
through the abmdr. When the
family of Meline, a child who suffered
from a life-threatening bloodrelated
disease, turned to him for
help, Mr. Yirikian did not hesitate
to provide VivaCell funding for a
stem-cell transplant, in keeping
with his company’s commitment
to supporting a variety of social
and cultural causes. Meline’s costly
operation, which had to be performed
outside Armenia, was her
only chance of survival.
“Being a devoted father of two,
and also the husband of a nurse
who worked at the cancer ward of
the American University of Beirut,
Mr. Yirikian understands the
anguish and sometimes sense of
helplessness which parents of critically
ill children feel,” Dr. Jordan
said. “With his timely support, Mr.
Yirikian became a veritable angel to
Meline and her family.”
The abmdr’s Stem Cell Harvesting
Center opened officially on
April 28. The only one of its kind
in the region, the facility can store
and harvest stem cells provided by
healthy bone marrow donors. The
stem cells subsequently can be utilized
in transplants for patients afflicted
by life-threatening diseases
such as leukemia and other cancers.
Recently the Stem Cell Harvesting
Center passed the second phase
of inspections by the European
Dr. Frieda Jordan, president of the abmdr Board of Directors, and Ralph
Yirikian of VivaCell-mts during the opening of the Stem Cell Harvesting Center
in Yerevan, April 28, 2009. Photo courtesy of the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor
Registry.
Federation of Immunogenetics,
the agency that regulates and licenses
such facilities in the region.
Given the superlative credentials of
the Stem Cell Harvesting Center’s
staff and services, Dr. Jordan said,
she expects that the facility will be
granted full licensing in the near
future.
“Our next major goal is to establish
a dedicated stem cell transplantation
center in Armenia,” Dr.
Jordan added. “Since 80 percent of
the abmdr’s donors are from Armenia,
it was imperative to have
a Stem Cell Harvesting Center in
the country. Now that this dream
has become reality, we’re working
hard toward the next logical step,
a full-fledged transplantation center,
which would give thousands of
Armenian patients access to affordable,
life-saving stem cell transplants.”
Armenian Evangelical Center in Yerevan opened
Hosted by attorney Mark Geragos,
chairperson of the abmdr,
“Match for Life 2009” will recognize
and honor the work of volunteers
Steve Artinian, vice president of
advertising at Closet World and
chairperson of Homenetmen Western
U.S.; Susanna Avagyan of
Glendale Memorial Hospital; and
Taleen Khatchadourian, owner
of Sylvan Learning Centers. In addition,
The Comedy Store will be
honored as the abmdr’s Business
of the Year.
The gala will feature a video presentation
of the abmdr’s accomplishments
during the past year,
including the opening of the Stem
Cell Harvesting Center and numerous
stem cell donor registration
drives across the United States. “All
of these achievements were made
possible through honest-to-goodness
grassroots support and critically
important funding from our
lead benefactors,” Dr. Jordan said.
“Our upcoming gala will be a great
opportunity to express our heartfelt
thanks to everyone, to publicly
acknowledge their selfless dedication
and abiding faith in the mission
of the abmdr.”
For reserving tickets to the
“Match for Life 2009” gala, call the
abmdr office at 1-323-663-3609,
Nectar Kalajian at 1-626-705-2565,
or Ani Azar at 1-818-606-6000.
connect:
1-323-663-3609
abmdr.am
PARAMUS – The Armenian
Missionary Association of America
held an opening ceremony for its
Evangelical Center on Baghramian
Avenue in Yerevan on April 19.
Numerous government officials,
leaders of various churches, other
nonprofit organizations, and ambassadors
were present to share in
the joy of this event. The festivities
continued into the evening where
young musicians of the Armenian
Evangelical Church amazed the
guests with their heartfelt and professional
performances.
Celebrating another achievement
of the “Together, we can build
miracles” campaign, the amaa regarded
the grand opening of the
Evangelical Center as a demonstration
of the exemplary support from
devoted donors.
“For many years we have been
dreaming of coming to our historical
Motherland, and after our
beloved Armenia gained independence
in 1991 our dream has
come true,” said Andrew Torigian,
executive director of the
amaa. Since the devastating 1988
earthquake, the association has
helped thousands of Armenian
children and impoverished people
through various charitable, social,
educational-cultural, and medical
programs.
The Armenian Evangelical Church
has existed for over 160 years, and
the amaa is over 90 years old.
Rev. Dr. Rene Leonian, president
of the Evangelical Church of
Armenia and representative in Armenia
of amaa and Hope for Armenia,
said: “Our aim is, together
with various institutions acting in
Armenia today, to support in the
best possible way upbringing in
Armenia new, worthy generations,
full of hope, and creation of conditions
for all of us to be good citizens
of our Motherland, to live in
freedom, realizing the happiness
- in spite of all our hardships - of
being an Armenian.” Rev. Leonian
especially thanked the Armenian
government for their support of
their many programs.
“The opening of a place of worship
in this particular building is
quite remarkable,” said Marie L.
Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador,
in her congratulatory speech. Ms.
Yovanovitch noted that the U.S.
Embassy in Armenia was located in
this building from 1992 to 2005.
The ambassador said: “The history
of this building really reflects
the positive development of Armenia
itself, which in 18 short years
has evolved from a Soviet republic
to a newly independent state that
today is working to consolidate the
fruits of democracy and economic
development.
“This building will always occupy
a special place in the view of the
U.S. government because, while the
American people and the Armenian
people have had a long relationship
with each other, it’s here that the
USA and Armenia started their diplomatic
relations that continue to
evolve and strengthen.
“As you know, one of the key
democratic principles the United
States espouses, and which the U.S.
government promotes around the
world is freedom of religion,” she
said. Mentioning the early adoption
of Christianity by Armenia,
Ms. Yovanovitch continued, “Armenia
occupies a special place in the
history of world religions; it’s also
known as a nation of tolerance that
respects the faith of other peoples,
and we hope the Armenian government
continues to do its utmost
to promote Armenia as a place of
tolerance and respect toward other
peoples’ cultures, beliefs, and
faiths.”
Ms. Yovanovitch expressed
hope that this center “will do
its own work to strengthen the
dialogue, mutual understanding,
and respect between all the faiths
that today peacefully co-exist in
Armenia.”
Significant renovations to the
60-year-old buildings in the complex
commenced in June 2006
and continue at a rapid pace,
amaa Executive
Director Andy
Torigian gave
plaques to
architects and
contractors on
the opening of
the Armenian
Evangelical
Center in
Yerevan, April
19, 2009. From
left, Armand
P. Avakian,
Gagik Galstyan,
Antranig M.
Ouzoonian, Mr.
Torigian, Hrach
Sargsyan, and
Norayr Avagyan.
thanks to the efforts of prominent
local and American-Armenian
specialists such as Gagik
Galstyan, Ph.D., president of
the Union of Builders of Armenia
and president of the Horizon-95
construction company, Hrach
Sargsyan, president of the mko
ojs air-conditioning firm, Antranig
M. Ouzoonian, chief structural
engineer, Norayr Avagyan,
Ph.D., member of the Union of
Architects of Armenia, and Armand
P. Avakian, aia, chief architect
of the amaa and Armenia
construction projects manager.
All of these men were awarded
special plaques by Mr. Torigian
on behalf of the amaa.