Thursday 12 May 2011

Surp Giragos Dikranagerd Church Reconstruction fundraising banquet, May 21, 2011, Toronto, Canada

Dear friends,

We are forwarding info about the reconstruction of the biggest Armenian church in the Middle East and the May 21 Toronto benefit banquet. This project is not merely the construction of a historic church, but the first reconstruction of an Armenian church in Turkey as an Armenian church after being destroyed in 1915 (not as a state museum like in Van, Akhtamar), and it is the first Armenian church in Turkey to re-claim its lands and properties, after losing them in 1915.

If you are in or near Toronto, we hope you can attend the May 21 event with excellent food, music and entertainment, but even if you cannot, we request that you consider supporting this project, which has significant historic and political implications. When this project is completed, the church will become a historic monument and evidence to past Armenian presence, as well as a future Armenian pilgrimage centre. The reconstruction is almost 65% complete, and more than half of the funding already secured, with one third of the funding from non-Armenian sources.

You can make your tax deductible donation to the Toronto Holy Trinity Armenian Church (Surp Giragos Project), which will transfer the funds to the Surp Giragos Foundation Board of the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate for the reconstruction project. If you wish to be a sponsor, we will include the names of personal or corporate sponsors in the banquet program for $500 or more donations. The Board has also decided to place the names of all donors, without exception and regardless of the amount, on a plaque on one of the church walls, as a $50 donation from a youth or pensioner is equally significant and meaningful as a $50,000 donation from an affluent individual. You can send your cheques to the address below.

Thanks so much, and please call us anytime if you need more details.

Raffi Bedrosyan

Surp Giragos Church Reconstruction Committee

40 Strathearn Blvd.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5P 1T1

tel: 416 587 5083

email: jbedrosyan@rogers.com

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