Children's Service 3 — Inspirational messages decorate a paper bag filled with essentials. (Jebejian Images)

Community Children's Day Sant’Egidio Community St. Vartan Cathedral Volunteering

Young Volunteers Learn Importance of Community Service at Diocese

February 22, 2024

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The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

92

NEW YORK — St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral rang with the excited voices of children, and was filled with their youthful spirit of compassion, during a special event on Saturday, February 3.

“Children’s Day at St. Vartan Cathedral” was conceived as a way to bring young Armenian faithful together in a meaningful cause, to honor the 125th Anniversary of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America.

The result saw 115 children from throughout the New York Metro region — ranging from the 3rd to 8th grades — converge on the Diocesan cathedral to pray, make new friendships, and lend their eager hands to a special community service project. Diocesan Primate Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan presided over the occasion, and expressed his delight in seeing the cathedral sanctuary filled with young faces. Addressing them during the opening prayer service, he praised the children for their outreach to others in the community and urged them to stay close to the church and embrace their Armenian Christian identity.

“The sight of our cathedral, the very heart of our Diocese, pulsating with the energy, laughter, and joy of so many young attendees is nothing short of inspirational,” said Bishop Mesrop. “Your enthusiastic dedication to serving others is a living testament to the teachings of Christ on love and service.”

A young volunteer addresses the assembled at the Diocese. (Jebejian Images)

Outreach and Kindness

After the service, the children went to the Diocesan Center’s Haik and Alice Kavookjian Auditorium, where they had lunch and undertook their charitable service project.

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Working in association with the Sant’Egidio charitable community — which runs a weekly soup kitchen out of the St. Vartan Cathedral Complex — the children worked together to fill 200 bags with meals for the poor and houseless in the area. Each bag contained a ham and cheese sandwich, a mustard packet, a water bottle, a banana, apple sauce, Purell handwipes, a bag of cookies, a hot beverage cup with a lid and the elements to make tea, a Nestle’s Crunch bar, and a toothbrush with toothpaste.

To cap off their effort, the children also put a sticker on each bag that read: “Made and Packed with Kindness.” Using markers, they also decorated the bags with their personal messages of support and hope. For their efforts, each child was awarded a community service certificate.

The Sant’Egidio Community, which reaches out to around 150 needy individuals in this area of Manhattan, was overjoyed with the result, expressing in a thank-you message how touched and impressed they were by the care that the children put into the assembly of every bag. They thanked the Diocese for its trusted partnership over the years, and noted how important it is to teach young souls to value volunteerism, outreach to the local community, and Christian service.

A teen volunteer finishes making a sandwich. (Jebejian Images)

The Importance of Giving Back

While they were enjoying lunch and working on the project, the children listened to a motivational talk by Chris Sarafian, the chief operating officer of New Jersey’s Hovnanian School. He engaged the children in a friendly, informal style, encouraging their spirit of charity and compassion.

“I was extremely impressed with the students’ enthusiasm and empathy toward helping feed the less fortunate,” Sarafian explained. In my talk, I moved among the tables reading the students’ inspirational notes, often quoting the messages they had written on the meal bags. The words were motivating and inspired hope for the recipients.”

The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

Topics: Children's Day, Sant’Egidio Community, St. Vartan Cathedral, Volunteering

People: Primate Mesrop Parsamyan

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“In talking with the children, I touched on the importance of volunteering, and displaying acts of kindness toward others — not only people we know, but those we don’t know, as well,” he added. “I also tried to instill the importance of giving back to the church by serving on the altar or in the choir. I truly believe that Bishop Mesrop’s sermon energized and inspired the children to become enthusiastic about giving back and engaging in acts of kindness.”

The Children’s Day organizing committee included Yn. Hasmik Ajamian, Maral Beylerian, Talia Jebejian Bouldoukian, Melanie Bourghol, Souzi Kasaryan, Nazig Kirokian, Noushig Ohanian, Lori Saganda and Yn. Alla Terzyan.

Maria and Bryan Stepanian, the enthusiastic and creative chairs of the Diocese’s 125th Anniversary Committee, took a special active interest in the Children’s Day committee — an event that played a key role in their conception of the year-long celebration and its connection to the year’s “125 Acts of Kindness” initiative. As a result, plans are underway to make Children’s Day an ongoing annual event at St. Vartan Cathedral.

“The enthusiasm on February 3 from both parents and children was palpable,” said Children’s Day committee leader Talia Jebejian Bouldoukian. “That was a testament to our organizing committee—which was cohesive, dedicated and hard-working. From our very first meeting, everyone was excited about the Children’s Day idea, and especially about the meal bags project. And they kept that enthusiasm going all the way until we were cleaning up in the kitchen and talking about doing this again next year.”

Primate Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan meets a couple of the young volunteers. (Jebejian Images)

She went on: “We had representation on the committee from the Hovnanian School, Kirikian Saturday School, Holy Martyrs Armenian Day School, and St. Leon Sunday School: a wonderful show of unity among our community.”

The event was also generously supported by the local community, including monetary contributions and donations of food and supplies by Toufayan Bakeries; Dr. Natalie Capan and Dr. Nayat Hacikian; ShopRite (of Fair Lawn, NJ), Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods (of Edgewater, NJ) markets; and several kind anonymous donors.

Afterwards, Bishop Mesrop summed up the hopeful spirit of the occasion with these words: “This extraordinary day stands out as a beacon of hope and goodness, reminding us all of the incredible things that can be achieved when we unite in faith and love. It was a true embodiment of the spirit we aspire to cultivate within our Diocesan community, especially as we commemorate the 125th Anniversary of our Diocese.”

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