LAS VEGAS – Saturday, April 28, 2018 – Community members gathered at the Sunset Park Armenian Memorial Monument to welcome Major Sargis Stepanyan from Armenia, Republic of Artsakh Permanent Representative of Washington D.C., Robert Avetisyan, and Razmig Arzoumanian of the Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund (AWHF) board member from New York.
Andy Armenian, Republic of Armenia Honorary Consul in Las Vegas, welcomed guests and summarized the community’s efforts in building the monument which was completed in 2015 on the centennial commemoration year of the Armenian Genocide. Visitors laid flowers at the monument and later proceeded to St. Geragos Church for a presentation and reception that was cosponsored by all local Armenian churches and organizations, hosted by the Las Vegas AGBU chapter.
Mr. Mikhael Oganesian in his opening remarks welcomed and introduced guests and invited Mr. Robert Avetisyan who provided a testimonial of the important work carried out by Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund (AWHF) in Artsakh. Major Sargis Stepanyan, an active member of the Republic of Armenia’s Army, shared his personal and painful experiences of survival after losing both legs and his right arm in 2014 to a landmine explosion on the Artsakh-Azerbaijan boarder. Major Stepanyan continues his active military duty by mentoring, counseling and motivating other wounded soldiers.
Mr. Razmig Arzoumanian explained that the AWHF mission’s primary focus is to provide military grade lifesaving First-Aid-kits to the front-line soldiers as well as provide medical rehabilitation to the wounded soldiers. Learn more about AWHF activities by visiting their website at: www.ArmenianWoundedHeroes.com.
A question and answer session followed, where the audience was highly appreciative of the explanations provided by Mr. Arzoumanian and the humanitarian initiatives undertaken by AWHF.
During the evening the Las Vegas community raised over $5,000 in support of AWHF efforts.
