THOUSAND OAKS : Food, Clothes Drive Aimed at Armenia

The Thousand Oaks Sister City Committee will begin collecting food, clothes and medical supplies this week to ship to the battered, war-torn country of Armenia, a former Soviet republic struggling through the winter with limited heat and electricity.

The local effort is part of Operation Rescue, a nationwide campaign that has already collected enough humanitarian aid to fill two cargo ships bound for Armenia’s starving and freezing population.

Volunteers will collect easily transportable food and medicine each Saturday between noon and 4 p.m., through April 13, at the Moss Group office, 1 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd.

Especially needed supplies include baby formula, powdered milk, rice, beans, flour and pasta. Blankets are also welcome. Monetary donations can be sent to Armenian Church Operation Winter Rescue, 1201 N. Vine St., Hollywood 90038. Funds will be used to purchase bulk supplies.

Thousand Oaks has communicated with an Armenian sister city, Spitak, for almost two years, but the recent fuel and electricity shortages have made faxing messages impossible, said committee member Sark Keochekian. Spitak’s population has dropped by half in the past few years, from 30,000 to 15,000, due to natural disasters, war, hunger and cold, he said.

“What’s most urgently needed there is fuel oil,” Keochekian said. “But we’ll welcome anything we can get.”