Yegparian: A Good Century

It seems to be a time of centennials. 2011 is the 100th of the city I live in, Burbank, and the chapter of the Sierra Club I belong to, the Angeles. Plus, four years ago, I had the pleasure to attend one of my grand-aunts’ 100^th. Then, on the far gloomier side, we have 2015 looming…

But this piece is about a century of good works by an organization from which countless Armenians, and non-Armenians, have benefitted, directly and indirectly, including me, my siblings, and probably most of those who are reading these lines. Sometimes, you might not have even known it! Guilt also contributes to my writing this article since this organization had asked me for a piece by May for a centennial event’s booklet, and I failed to deliver…

Founded in New York (of all places; remember, this was pre-genocide) and bringing together various local service groups, this almost exclusively women’s organization has been tireless. Not only that, but these ladies have been incredibly good at stretching the dollar, drachma, or dinar to maximum effect. And, they’ve been good at saving money, too. They’ve probably done far more with far less than other, much better financially endowed philanthropic organizations.

By now, you no doubt know it’s that “ARS” name you saw on a plaque at the Armenian center you grew up in. Or perhaps you had the pleasure of attending AYF Camp Big Pines or Camp Haiastan. What about that Saturday School that taught your grandparents, parents, and you rudimentary Armenian? Or maybe you were shut in during shelling in Lebanon but got food from ARS members risking their own lives to distribute it. Or, your relatives in Armenia are benefitting from ARS-funded services. As to me and mine, we’ve benefitted from the ARS Summer Studies and Camp Haiastan. In fact, you owe reading this piece and anything else I’ve done in the Armenian community to my participation in the 1979 ARS Summer Studies, which I went to grudgingly, just to shut my father up. The environment and people I experienced during those four weeks are what sparked my Armenian activism.

Simply, “Thank you Armenian Relief Society.”

And when those ladies come a’knocking, looking for money, don’t just settle for giving a few bucks. Join up and hitch your energies to making the next ARS century as good as the last one one.

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Garen Yegparian

Asbarez Columnist

Garen Yegparian is a fat, bald guy who has too much to say and do for his own good. So, you know he loves mouthing off weekly about anything he damn well pleases to write about that he can remotely tie in to things Armenian. He's got a checkered past: principal of an Armenian school, project manager on a housing development, ANC-WR Executive Director, AYF Field worker (again on the left coast), Operations Director for a telecom startup, and a City of LA employee most recently (in three different departments so far). Plus, he's got delusions of breaking into electoral politics, meanwhile participating in other aspects of it and making sure to stay in trouble. His is a weekly column that appears originally in Asbarez, but has been republished to the Armenian Weekly for many years.

Latest posts by Garen Yegparian (see all)

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