Students. Education. Philanthropy. The AEF mission.
Remember when, as a child, you received a new pen or pencil and were excited to use your new supply to do your homework that evening? What a feeling that was! Chamlian students and volunteers had the opportunity to reinstate that feeling to 350 students in our homeland.
Saturday, March 9, marked the Armenian Educational Foundation’s 11th annual School Supply Project’s packing, and 11th consistent success story. AEF and Chamlian joined forces once again to further the educational advancement of Armenian students in the homeland and social awareness of students in Los Angeles.
“The mission for this project is to help students in schools that are in the most rural and hard to reach areas in Armenia, Javakhk and Artsakh. We pack these backpacks with pride because as Armenian students, whether here in Glendale, Armenia, Artsakh, Javakhk or in the Diaspora, we all have a common dream: to preserve our heritage by staying connected,” Chamlian Student Body President and School Supply Project Co-President John Baghdassarian explained.
The School Supply Project began shortly after the Savadian family visited a village school in Orgov, Armenia. As a family with two students, they were shocked to see the students in the village school did not have the most essential school supplies.
Upon their return, they shared their experience with friends and family and were overwhelmed with all the school supplies that were donated. The family packed the donations in the garage of their home and sent out their first shipment to the village school they visited in Orgov. Soon, thank you letters and appreciation notes poured in from the school with the joy and excitement of the students in Armenia reaching the hearts of donors, volunteers, and students in the United States.
School Supply Project, under the umbrella of AEF, has now expanded to a larger scale. Since its first shipment in 2007, SSP has been able to deliver backpacks and school supplies to 19,680 students in the most rural and hard-to-reach schools in Armenia, Artsakh, and Javakhk. Helping schools with even 7 attending students, SSP maintains its mission in advancing the education of Armenians in the homeland and Javakhk ensuring no student is left behind – because education matters.
AEF’s School Supply Project would not be possible, however, without the generous and dedicated donations of its supporters. This year’s mission was sponsored in part by Rubina Matevosian, dedicated in memory of her mother Siran Matevosian – a woman who believed every child should have the resources to reach academic success. And while backpacks for students have generally included school related supplies, this year, with a donation by Adventist Health Glendale, AEF was able to provide 400 “To Go” First Aid Kits, placed alongside basic school supplies for the student recipients.
AEF’s collaboration with Chamlian students promotes the concept of helping other Armenian student – no matter the age, distance, or circumstance. Through volunteer work, Chamlian students not only understand the dire circumstances students in the most impoverished areas of Armenia, Artsakh, and Javakhk face, but also experience the empowering feeling of positively impacting the lives of those across the globe.
The Armenian Educational Foundation is a non-profit organization, established in 1950, with the goal of advancing and preserving the Armenian heritage through support of education; from kindergarten to college and beyond.