Wide Southland Effort Directs Help to Victims of Quake in Armenia

For several evenings, hundreds of local Armenians have lined up at an American Red Cross bloodmobile set up at St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church in Glendale.

Surprisingly, they have earmarked this charitable gift--not for the Armenian earthquake relief effort--but to the Red Cross, which is extremely low on blood supplies.

“It is our way of thanking the Red Cross for what they have done in Armenia, and the American people for their tremendous support on behalf of the victims in Armenia,” explained Varsenig Der Megerdichian, president of the Armenian Relief Society’s western region. “Our hearts cannot say how much we appreciate what has been done. We feel we have many close friends gathered around us.”

Groups Work Together

Since the devastating earthquake hit Soviet Armenia on Dec. 7, killing an estimated 55,000 and leaving more than 500,000 homeless, dozens of local charitable groups and hundreds of volunteers have been working around the clock to provide supplies and money to the earthquake torn region.

While no exact tally has been kept, charity officials estimate that $10 million in pledges, including 70 tons of supplies, have been gathered in Southern California. The donations have ranged from a $500,000 check from Occidental Petroleum Corp. Chairman Armand Hammer to piggy bank dollars from school children to a blanket donated by a penniless old lady.

Armenian relief officials find themselves overcome with emotion in talking about the touching effort. “It brings tears to my eyes,” said Adam Aivazian, West Coast program director of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, which expects to raise $10 million nationally in the relief effort.

“We have had $300,000 in donations locally, we have a warehouse full of medical supplies ready to be shipped. The money has come in in donations of $1 to $10,000. The children, they come in with their pocket change, their birthday money. The American people as well as the rest of the world have shown tremendous compassion.”

Aivazian noted that one woman sent a letter offering to informally “adopt” an Armenian child. The letter stated, “I would be like an aunt, I would send money and remember her progress. I’m not wealthy but would be willing to help as much as I can.”

Dr. Sarkis Brossalian, a Whittier neurosurgeon who has been helping coordinate the donation of medical supplies, was similarly touched by the outpouring of kindness.

“When I saw the response, my heart opened its doors. My hospital, Presbyterian Hospital in Whittier, opened its warehouse, and said take what is needed. Other hospitals in Pasadena and elsewhere have done the same thing. I have names of more than 50 doctors and medical technicians who are to go to Armenia to help.”

Alan Pezeshkian, Boy Scout coordinator for Homenetmen, a family activities organization, noted that more than 500 youngsters have raised $50,000 canvassing local neighborhoods.

“One donation they told me about especially moved me,” he said. “The children told me they approached an old woman near a Glendale market. She was using a blanket worn around her shoulders for a coat. She told them she had no money, but that she wanted to do something to help. So she gave them her blanket.”

Hundreds of others, including many of the 250,000 Armenians living in Southern California, also have responded in many ways.

The Los Angeles school board last week launched a districtwide campaign to raise money in the classrooms, after dozens of schools had already raised several thousand dollars on their own.

The Los Angeles City Council has requested that the Department of Water and Power send out contribution requests in local utility bills, and that city employees also receive requests for contributions in their paychecks.

For the first time in ten years, a Soviet Aeroflot jet was allowed to land at Los Angeles International Airport to load 40 tons of medical supplies for earthquake victims.

Such stories have been repeated worldwide. Relief efforts have been so staggering that workers in the Soviet Union have been unable to cope with the more than 30,000 tons of airlifted supplies and another 29,000 freight cars of materials sent to the devastated region.

Officials with the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have announced that no more supplies can be accepted until the items are sorted and other needs are identified. However, they note when reconstruction of the devastated areas begins, millions more dollars will be needed.

In anticipation of that effort, local organizations are still accepting cash donations. Several Armenian organizations are coordinating one of the larger events, a worldwide telethon to raise cash for the reconstruction. The event will be aired in February not only in North America and Canada, but in Europe and the Soviet Union as well.

Said Parsegh Kartalian, national director of the benevolent union: “I have been amazed and cannot put in words to see the outpouring of love towards the earthquake victims. Seeing how the community has shared our grief, that is the thing that crushes me emotionally. It is good to see that people can come together in times of distress.”

RELIEF EFFORTS

The Armenian Relief Society of the Western U.S. has set up a 976 phone program in California to raise funds to help in the Soviet Armenian earthquake relief effort. Under the program, donors can give pledge money by calling 976-FUND in area codes 415, 213 and 818.

Pacific Bell will bill callers $2 on local phone bills but has agreed to waive its profit on the program. The phone company, instead, will give $1.88 of the phone fee to the earthquake fund, according to Berdj Karapetian, society spokesman.

More than 55,000 people were killed in the Soviet Armenian tragedy earlier this month, and more than a half million were left homeless.