Community Unites Globally, Acts Locally to Aid Syrians

SARF partnered with the Suryahayutyan Shdab Oknutyan Ojantag Marmin (the Syrian-Armenian Emergency Relief Organization) a pan-Armenian coalition, which also facilitates the transfer of aid and funds through the Catholicosate of the Holy See of Cilicia. According to Khanjian, they have already transferred $100,000 of the funds raised overseas and are preparing for the transfer of another $250,000 to take place imminently. Overall, about $500,000 in contributions and pledges have been raised by this body in the last three months alone.

Prior to coordination with SARF, the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) efforts had primarily focused on aiding Armenian schools in Syria with financial assistance to needy students to relieve financial burdens placed on schools. Through these efforts, they have raised more than $100,000 globally to aid Syrian-Armenian schools and students, and the funds were transferred through religious headquarters in Lebanon. “In the global diaspora, whenever one of the communities is in distress, the other communities have an obligation to lend a supporting hand,” said Vice Chair of ARS Central Executive Board Nairy Shahinian on the importance of aiding Syrian communities.

Currently, the ARS is also acting as part of a pan-Armenian effort “made up of the global communities coming together to create a vivid awareness amongst all the Armenian communities,” said Shahinian. The ARS provides weekly hot meal plans to the needy, as well as medications, in addition to raising funds. From large-scale efforts to weekly church collections for Syria in local communities, the ARS hopes to continue its aid efforts and encourages readers to contact their local ARS chapters for more ways to help.

Another sponsoring organization of SARF, is ARFD’s “Help Your Brother” initiative, which has transported nearly two tons of plane cargo carrying medicine, food and goods.

“Help Your Brother” also oversaw donations to the “Kashatagh Fund” for the housing of 20 Syrian-Armenian families settling in Kashatagh in Artsakh (Karabagh).

Elsewhere, Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has publicly committed to donating at least 10 percent of the funds raised at its annual Thanksgiving Day telethon this year, to aid Syria. The organization raised $21 million in pledges, which will primarily benefit construction projects in Armenia and Artsakh.

At the local level, members of the Boston chapter of the AGBU Young Professionals recently hosted a fundraising dinner at the Armenian American Social Club (Agoump) in Watertown. According to Laura Michael, YP Boston chairperson, more than 50 people attended the event and/or donated, with further donations still being accepted at http://agbuypboston.webs.com.

YP member and attendee Nicole Meregian said, “The AGBU YP fundraiser was a huge success[…] both Armenians and non-Armenians attended, and raised over $1,000. I think it’s important to help Armenians, not just locally, but also globally and especially in times of need such as now in Syria. The Armenian community in Syria is relying on local efforts to address their basic needs. The local community in Boston needs to be aware of the magnitude of devastation to the Syrian Armenians.”

Meanwhile in Aleppo, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent has started distributing the aid presented by the Armenian people to the Syrians in order to help them cope with damages, losses and economic sanctions, after a third aid plane arrived at Aleppo International airport on November 9. Director of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in Aleppo, Hael Assi, has coordinated with the Armenian Embassy and the Armenian Orthodox Archdiocese in Aleppo to facilitate the distribution of supplies and aid. Secretary of the Baath Party branch in Aleppo, Hilal Hilal, said that the Syrian people “highly appreciate this humanitarian stance of the Armenian people and government, underling the strong Syrian-Armenian cooperation.

Religious sects across the Armenian Diaspora have also united in relief efforts.

The Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, the Armenian Prelacy and the Armenian Catholic Church have all coordinated efforts. The Prelacy and members of local Catholic and Protestant churches have participated in fundraisers in Boston, Detroit, New York and Chicago, respectively.

According to the Eastern Diocese Communications Director Christopher H. Zakian, “At the directive of Archbishop [Khajag] Barsamian, the Diocese instituted a fundraising drive last August, which has included plate collections at the parish level, periodic promotion in our weekly e-newsletter and on social media platforms, as well as an ongoing donor opportunity on our website. All the proceeds will go to the relief effort, to be distributed through the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin, which is working with and through the Armenian Church Diocese of Syria.”

The Diocese has been working with the Primate of Syria, Bishop Armash Nalbandian, to keep the public informed of the situation and promote communication in order to coordinate humanitarian efforts. “The Primate has urged all our people to keep our countrymen in Syria in their prayers and to pray that the historic and long-lived Armenian community there, once a place of refuge for so many of our ancestors, will endure through this period and eventually enter a new period of wellbeing and peace,” added Zakian.

Members of Congress React

The US political community has also drawn attention to the crisis, with Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) who serves as co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Congressional Human Rights Caucus, voicing his strong support for US humanitarian efforts to Syria, including an ANCA-backed provision in the House Appropriations Committee’s version of the FY13 State-Foreign Operations Bill calling on the State Department to prioritize humanitarian and resettlement assistance for minority communities, including Armenians and other populations in Syria.

Linking the crisis in Syria to the American-Armenian community, McGovern wrote, “As you are very much aware, the Armenian community of Syria, particularly those in and around the Aleppo region, includes a great many descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide and the forced death marches through the Syrian desert. These Armenians, along with other Christian and minority populations, are, today, increasingly the victims of violence — in the form of bombings, sniper attacks, murders, kidnapping, and acts of destruction and desecration of holy sites.”

These are only a few of the organizations working internationally to aid Syrian communities.

Further global communication and cooperation will be necessary as the conflict continues. Government agencies and larger organizations “must coordinate on the ground and abroad in order to ensure the even, efficient distribution of resources, so that no one gets left behind,” explained Sanjian.