Fund-Raiser Planned for Sister-City Schoolchildren

Many Thousand Oaks residents wouldn’t be able to find Spitak, Armenia, on a map, much less know its connection to their city.

But officials for the Thousand Oaks Sister City Committee hope to change that by sponsoring an event Saturday to raise awareness and funds for Spitak, which is still struggling to recover from a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that hit Dec. 7, 1988.

Spitak, a small city with a population of 18,000 to 20,000, was one of several major cities devastated in what was then the Soviet Union. More than 4,000 Spitak residents died as a result of the earthquake, hundreds were injured, and thousands were left homeless.

Thousand Oaks is one of the cities that aided Armenia, especially Spitak, which was named a sister city in 1991.

Since the earthquake, the Sister City Committee has raised $70,000 through barbecues, fashion shows and concerts. The proceeds have helped to restore apartment buildings and sponsor a student exchange and a scholarship program.

But that’s still not enough, said Alan Roubik, chairman of the committee.

That’s why the committee is sponsoring a dinner and silent auction at 6 p.m. Saturday at Los Robles Inn, 229 Moorpark Road. Proceeds from the event will benefit the committee’s Adopt-a-School Program, which partners local schools with schools in Spitak, where many students don’t have more than pencils and paper.

The program would encourage students to donate school supplies and pack them in a backpack. For more information on the dinner and auction, call (818) 707-8815.