BY MELODY SERAYDARIAN
In the wake of the catastrophic fires in Los Angeles, the Armenian Youth Federation Western United States swiftly mobilized to provide aid to affected community members.
Following the beginning of the Eaton Fire in Pasadena on January 7th, the AYF took the necessary steps to immediately serve the community, with a more synchronized action plan promptly emerging soon after.
“When we realized that our community was in need of support, we decided to coordinate with the local [Armenian Revolutionary Federation] chapters to open up the Armenian centers and get members to help out,” Ani Ghazaryan, the vice chairperson of the AYF-WUS, said.
On January 8, the AYF shared on social media that four Armenian centers—South Valley, Burbank, Montebello, and Crescenta Valley—were open for anyone affected.
They also shared an emergency evaluation checklist to ensure community members were prepared in the case of an evacuation notice.
While the initial response provided immediate aid, the next phase required long-term support efforts. That is when the Armenian National Committee of America stepped in.
“The chairperson of the AYF-WUS [Hakop Hajibekyan] reached out to me and [ANCA National Grassroots Director] Gev Iskajyan on Saturday evening—late at night, actually—to coordinate a response,” Garen Jinbachian, the ANCA Western Region Community Coordinator and member of the AYF Pasadena chapter, told Asbarez. “We met up and began brainstorming, discussing what could work and what wouldn’t.”
Within hours, an emergency hotline in both English and Armenian languages was established.
“The hotline served two purposes,” Jinbachian said. “We began receiving incoming calls from community members in need once it was sufficiently advertised through our social media channels and other platforms, as well as through well-known figures like [singer-songwriter] Rosa Linn and the Mayor of Glendale, Elen Asatryan.”
The hotline was also used for outgoing calls. The ANCA compiled a list of Armenians in the impacted Pasadena and Altadena regions and began offering assistance with supplies, shelter information, and donation drives.
Jinbachian said they decided to employ the use of two facilities—the Jivalagian Youth Center in Pasadena and Ferrahian High School in Encino—as community relief centers. The locations were open 24 hours for shelter, food, and donations, as well as served as a rest area for first responders.
“Volunteers stationed themselves at whichever location was closest to them, and as more volunteers joined, they helped manage operations at those locations,” Jinbachian explained.
According to Ghazaryan, with the help of the ANCA, the AYF was able to connect with local senators and assembly members to “get the word out about the drive that was happening.”
She said they remained in “constant contact” with Los Angeles Emergency Operations Response Center to ensure if “anything specific was needed, [the AYF] would get it to them.” In fact, several days later, AYF members visited the Response Center and donated hot food to emergency responders in person.
Now with access to two facilities, Jinbachian said one of the first undertakings was providing hot meals.
“At the time, the Jivalagian Youth Center was not just a relief center but also served as a shelter for those displaced by the fires or affected by the smoke,” he explained. “Once we secured the necessary supplies, we immediately moved forward with meal distributions.”
There were 100 hot meals donated by the Pasadena City Council to the youth center. In addition to the meals, power, clean water, masks, and shelter was being provided.
Jinbachian said the hardest moments come when elderly people share that they don’t have electricity to heat their homes, even if their homes are still standing. He said watching recordings of community members’ houses burning down, “with the sounds of children crying in the background,” was “heartbreaking.”
“The situation is so unprecedented that we often struggle to find the right words to comfort them,” he said. “There’s no time to dwell on the devastation—we just focus on getting things done. It keeps us from spiraling into anxiety about whether the fire will stop or whether we’ll have enough resources. The work keeps us grounded and operational.”
Behind the scenes, volunteers—primarily AYF members—worked tirelessly to manage calls, coordinate resources, and ensure those in need received help as quickly as possible.
With the help of these volunteers and those donating supplies, the AYF was able to deliver the resources people needed.
“We quickly realized that many Armenians were hesitant to accept donations due to the cultural stigma around receiving aid. To address this, we implemented an anonymous request system,” Jinbachian said. “People could text the hotline with their requests without providing names—just an address and a list of what they needed. We then delivered the items, often dropping them off without face-to-face interaction. This method helped maximize efficiency while respecting the community’s sensitivities.”
The greater AYF membership worked constantly to ensure they were able to organize and deliver resources at a moment’s notice. Even members that were not local to the region were able to lend support.
“It was an all hands on deck effort from all chapters,” Ghazaryan said. “We even had phone banking happening from our [members] in Fresno and San Francisco.”
Though January 16th was the last day the Pasadena relief center was open, the AYF is still delivering upon request until resources are exhausted. Ghazaryan shared that there were five tons of donations dropped off, a feat she called “amazing.”
The AYF visited the Emergency Operations Response Center on January 16th and donated hot meals to the emergency responders working since the beginning of the wildfires.
According to Jinbachian, a large portion of the success of this rapid mobilization “comes down to personal relationships.” He said that if he did not have a personal connection with AYF-WUS chairperson Hajibekyan or ANCA National Grassroots Director Iskajyan, these efforts would not have come together “as quickly.”
“This is what makes the AYF—and the broader Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) network—a family,” he explained. “Everyone knows each other in a very familial way, which is why we were able to set everything up overnight. By the next day, we had volunteers, a location, donations, and everything we needed to operate effectively.”
Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-28) and Assemblymember John Harabedian (D-Pasadena) also made the effort to visit the relief center to meet with AYF members and offer their support to the community affected by the Eaton fires.
Their presence is a testament to the importance of local and state-level collaboration in disaster relief efforts. The AYF expressed its gratitude for their leadership on social media, thanking them for their “dedication and continuous support for [the] Armenian community, especially the communities recently hit by the Pasadena fires.”
“This is exactly the kind of work AYF should be doing, and it’s not just here—it’s worldwide. The Armenian Relief Society (ARS) has always been at the forefront of supporting our communities in times of crisis. My parents’ generation did the same during different crises, and now we are doing it in our time,” Jinbachian explained. “The circumstances change—the year, the situation—but the mission remains the same: to support and protect our community. AYF and the broader network of Armenian organizations exist to serve the Armenian people, whether in Armenia or the diaspora itself.”
