Hairenik Media Center nearing completion

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WATERTOWN, Mass.—While supply chain disruptions and the pandemic have led to some unpredictable delays, the renovation work is nearing completion in what will soon be the state-of-the-art Hairenik Media Center. In the next few weeks, the lighting grid will be installed and thereafter the new flooring. At that point, all that will remain will be the installation of the equipment. Thus far, over $100,000 has been invested in the construction of the media center. It is anticipated another $50,000 will be required to finish the project.

The Hairenik Media Center has been an initiative of the Armenian Cultural Association of America, Inc. (ACAA). The ACAA is a non-profit, 501c3 tax-deductible corporation based in Massachusetts. It is the major funder of the Armenian Weekly and Hairenik Weekly publications, among others, including A Place Called Gyumri: Life in the Armenian Mountains and Letter to Yerevan. A grant from the ACAA also funds the publication of The Armenian Review, a multidisciplinary, peer reviewed journal published since 1948 and dedicated to exploring issues related to Armenia and Armenians.

Through the ACAA Artsakh Fund, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been invested in Artsakh and the Armenians who live there. The ACAA has funded the construction of new homes, reconstruction of community centers and schools, legal initiative to free POWs and defend against human rights violations, the Verelk program for start-up businesses and financial assistance to the families of those killed and wounded during the 2020 war as well as those returning to live in Artsakh.

The ACAA has also provided grants to the Armenian Relief Society for humanitarian efforts in Lebanon, Armenia and Javakhk. Other projects being funded by the ACAA include a new film about the Armenian community of Lviv, Ukraine, the digital remastering of a silent movie from 1930 about the burning of Smyrna, and the digitization of a Mardiros Kheranian map. The ACAA also helps maintain the archives of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the Hairenik Digital Archives. Over the past five years alone, the ACAA has supplied grants of over $1 million.

Tax deductible donations to support these and many more projects can be made through the ACAA website.

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George Aghjayan

George Aghjayan is the Director of the ARF Archives and a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Central Committee of the Eastern United States. Aghjayan graduated with honors from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Mathematics. He achieved Fellowship in the Society of Actuaries in 1996. After a career in both insurance and structured finance, Aghjayan retired in 2014 to concentrate on Armenian related research and projects. His primary area of focus is the demographics and geography of western Armenia as well as a keen interest in the hidden Armenians living there today. Other topics he has written and lectured on include Armenian genealogy and genocide denial. He is a frequent contributor to the Armenian Weekly and Houshamadyan.org, and the creator and curator westernarmenia.weebly.com, a website dedicated to the preservation of Armenian culture in Western Armenia.