Sponsors Can Brighten An Armenian Child's Life

For Only 36 Cents A Day

Through ARS’s 10-Year-Old Sponsor-A-Child Program

Thirteen-year-old Zinayita Shahnazarian of Artsakh dreams of becoming a dancer. Zinayita is a seventh grader at The Art School of Artsakh and has won many prizes not only for her dancing but also for her singing talent. Zinayita’s father, a soldier in the Karabagh movement, was killed in 1994. In a letter Zinayita recently wrote to her sponsor, she notes proudly, “My father, Alexandre Mikael Shahnazarian was a victim in 1994 when he was protecting his homeland.”

Zinayita is one of nearly 400 children aided by community members living in the jurisdiction of the ARS Eastern United States through the Armenian Relief Society Inc.’s Sponsor-A-Child program. For a mere 36 cents a day, Zinayita’s sponsor is helping this Artsakh child live a better life and focus on her artistic dreams. “I am so happy to have your support,” Zinayita writes. “That helps us a lot.”

Helping the children of Armenia and Artsakh “a lot” is the goal of the ARS’s Sponsor-A-Child program. Started 10 years ago by the ARS, Inc., the Sponsor-A-Child program is open to children who have lost one or both parents in the Armenian earthquake of December 7, 1988 or the Artsakh liberation struggle. The successful program has bettered the lives of thousands of children since its inception and has helped relieve the significant financial stresses faced by the surviving parent or other relatives responsible for the child’s well-being and care.

Janna Gharamian of Artsakh is one such parent. Janna is the widow of Karabagh fighter Vachagan Markarian, a founder of the Artsakh Army and recipient of the first Warrior Cross for valor. He was killed in 1990.

For Janna and her two sponsored children, Demitri and Vachagan, the annual Sponsor-A-Child stipend “helps me a lot in caring for my kids and fulfilling their needs. I promise to raise them to be Armenia’s and Artsakh’s dedicated citizens,” she writes in a recent letter to the sponsor of her children.

“It’s so easy to help a child through the ARS Sponsor-A-Child program,” says ARS Eastern United States Chairwoman Ungh. Georgi-Ann Oshagan. “We pay more for a daily cup of fancy Starbucks coffee than it costs per day to sponsor a child. It’s a tragedy that there are still children in Armenia and Artsakh waiting for someone to sponsor them. We’re hoping that during this Christmas and New Year season, our community members will reach out and make the commitment to pay $130 a year until their sponsored child reaches the age of 18.”

Individuals interested in sponsoring a child must fill out a simple contract which requires a name, address, and telephone number, along with a signature and date with a promise that the signer will sponsor a child until that child’s 18^th birthday for an annual $130 contribution. The sponsor sends the signed contract to the ARS Eastern United States office for the assignment of the child. Soon after, the sponsor receives information about their child and a photograph. The child often sends letters to the sponsor through the ARS and all letters are appropriately forwarded to the intended recipient.

“At this point, the community members living in the Eastern United States sponsor nearly 400 children through the Sponsor-A-Child program,” noted Ungh. Oshagan. “We would like to add the sponsorship of 100 children this year. I hope the community responds in a positive way. It’s a great lesson to teach our children also, and a great way for our children here, who live in general comfort, to have a tie with a child their age living in Armenia or Artsakh.”