The Diocese
Posted: 10/26/2018
Under the auspices of the Diocesan Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, the Agape Circle of the Western Diocese hosted its 5th Anniversary Luncheon at the Chevy Chase Country Club on Thursday, October, 18, 2018. Graciously hosted by Mrs. Nilay Celik, the sold-out event was attended by friends, supporters, and donors.
Following a silent auction, welcoming remarks were delivered by Mrs. Eileen Keusseyan. In her remarks, Mrs. Alice Chakrian, Chairlady, reflected on the history of the Agape Circle and its noble mission of to reaching out to the community of Los Angeles by supporting such venerable institutions as Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) of Glendale, and the Starkey Hearing Foundation.
The keynote speaker at the function was the world-renowned Thomas C. Lee, M.D., Director of the Vision Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. Dr. Lee reflected on his collaboration with the Armenian Eye Care Project, which he joined in 2009, on a mission to Yerevan to help diagnose and treat an alarmingly high rate of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), a complex and aggressive blinding disease that was affecting one third of Armenian premature infants.
In recognition of her outstanding contribution to provide hearing aids to the hard of hearing in the Republic of Armenia, Mrs. Haikouhi Kavoukjian was honored by the women of the Agape Circle. For their humanitarian mission in Armenia, the Starkey Hearing Foundation was recognized at the event.
STARKEY HEARING FOUNDATION
A decade ago, the Kavoukjian family had a desire to bring the Starkey Foundation to Armenia. That desire was realized in July of 2017 with the arrival of the Starkey team in Yerevan. The team supplied over 3,500 hearing aids to more than 1,800 patients with the help of 44 Starkey professional including audiologists, hearing aid dispensers, ENT doctors and volunteers from the UK, US and India.
HAIKOUHI KAVOUKJIAN AND THE KAVOUKJIAN FAMILY
Through collaborations with the Starkey Hearing Foundation, over the last year alone, over 5,600 hearing aid units have been distributed to over 2800 needy Armenian men, women and children. This was Haikouhi’s vision and she was delighted to announce that this project will continue as aftercare services have been established and more patients with hearing loss are being identified in Armenia for future missions.
The Kavoukjian Family: Armen, Haikouhi, Arthur, Greg and Vahan have been serving during these missions with their generous support from their Los Angeles based business ComfortCare Audiology/Hearing Aid Centers and the support of their family and friends through their charity; the Armenia Hearing Aid Project. Along with volunteers from the United Kingdom, during the 3 day mission, the team was able to serve over an additional 1000 patients (1900+ hearing aids).   Â
Remarks of gratitude were made by Mrs. Isabell Bogosian (The Sasha Project), Mr. Trevor Turner, International Programs Manager of the Starkey Hearing Foundation.
In his remarks, Archbishop Derderian reflected on the noble mission of the Agape Circle. “The women of the Agape Circle have been loyal to its mission since our establishment. As the highest form of love, namely sacrificial and unconditional love, the Agape Circle has been an advocate of all that is pure and pristine in society. Through God’s love, your selfless dedication and collective efforts, the mission of the Agape Circle has continued to expand its outreach. In search of new horizons you have reached out to CHLA, the YWCA, the STARKEY Hearing Foundation. In my prayers, I ask for God’s heavenly blessings to accompany you in your God-pleasing mission.”
“…whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
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