Kansas Air National Guard Airlifts $1.4 Million of UAF Aid to Armenia

GLENDALE — The Kansas Air National Guard, in cooperation with the United Armenian Fund (UAF), airlifted $1.4 million of medicines to Armenia on Aug. 14.

The National Guard provided the free air transport as part of its Humanitarian Assistance Airlift on board a KC-135 aircraft. Kansas is a partner state with the Republic of Armenia.

The U.S. Embassy in Armenia posted the following announcement regarding this airlift on its Facebook page: “A partnership that started in 2014, continues to deliver in 2015. The Kansas National Guard and the United Armenian Fund of Glendale, California, once again, teamed together to deliver humanitarian assistance to the Republic of Armenia. Direct Relief International [DRI], a major partner with the United Armenian Fund, donated more than 1.4 million [dollars] in medical supplies. The Kansas Air National Gaurd flew the medicines from Topeka, Kansas to Yerevan, Armenia. The cooperation and partnership between these parties continues to deliver a better quality life to the Republic of Armenia.”

This is the second year in a row that the UAF and the Kansas Air National Guard cooperate to airlift large quantities of life-saving medicines to the people of Armenia. Last year they delivered $4.1 million of vital medicines to Armenia.

“We appreciate highly the kind assistance of the Kansas Air National Guard to the people of Armenia,” said Harut Sassounian, president of the United Armenian Fund. “We also thank Direct Relief International for its valuable contribution for this airlift. Ever since the 1988 earthquake in Armenia, the DRI has donated tens of millions of dollars of aid to the UAF for Armenia.”

In the past 26 years, the UAF has delivered to Armenia and Artsakh a total of $712 million worth of relief supplies on board 159 airlifts and 2,252 sea containers.