July 17, 2015
On Wednesday night July 8th, 2015, a team of 37 Rovers and leaders from the AGBU Montreal Chapter left Trudeau International Airport on their way to Armenia, to carry out a humanitarian project they have been working on for the last 3 years.
This is by far the largest group the Montreal Scouts have sent since the Humanitarian Projects started with the first small group back in 2003. That mission and each successive one since then (2006, 2010 and 2012) have seen their achievements crowned with scouting honors from the provincial and national scouting bodies: the Inukshuk badges for the 2003 and 2006 groups (we’re one of only a few groups to have been awarded it twice), the Annapurna Badge for the 2010 team and the Omega for 2012. The value of the works our scouts carry out in Armenia, always receive validation and recognition from provincial and national bodies.
As on the last two missions, the group is led by project leader K. Lenya Kalepdjian, assisted by Y. Karl Guiragossian, Y. Anthony Hudaverdi, Y. Mgo Khalafaghian, K. Kami Temisjian and K. Karine Topalian. Y.Karl and K. Karine are on their third consecutive mission (their first as leader), while K. Kami and Y. Mgo are participating in their second missions (their first as leaders).
Fundraising was a major concern for the group, given its size. Though initially estimated to cost around $50,000 the budget had to be upped substantially to $80,000 with the large number of promotions last September. The team succeeded in finally raising a little over $86,000 through a variety of events mostly organized by the Rovers and a small contribution by the members.
On this occasion, project leader K. Lenya Kalepdjian said.- “The Rovers and leaders of the Armenia 2015 Humanitarian Project would like to thank all those who helped raise the funds with their participation, their help and their support. Without you, our project would not have been realised. In particular, we would like to thank the AGBU Montreal Chapter’s Executive, which supported and helped us unreservedly; Mrs. Rahel Ourfalian Dertadian, executive secretary of the AGBU Montreal Chapter, who always went out of her way to help us; the administration of Montreal’s Alex Manoogian School, who again opened up the school for our activities; the Scouts du Montréal Métropolitain (SMM), which oversees our scouting movement and which facilitated in so many ways our preparations for the project, particularly in the later stages; the AGBU Montreal Chapter’s Scouts’ Council who supported us and saw us through our most difficult moments; the Golden Age and Social Committees of the Montreal Chapter, who always sought ways to help us along in our fundraising; the parents, not only of the Rovers but also parents of younger children in the movement, who came to help with some of the major events; the parents of the Harvest Fair Committee of the Montreal Chapter, who were constantly dreaming up fun new ways of raising important sums for our project; and the many businesses, not all of them Armenian-owned, who supported and helped us in so many ways, like donating items or helping us out financially”.