Bari Galust yev Hajo Majo

I know that both ladies will be a welcomed addition to the amazing teams they are joining. As follows are a few lines of thanks. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Wayne Burt (A-16, Secretary/Treasurer) who nominated me last year and who was the voice of reason to balance out my eccentricities, Hedley Bond (A-17, Membership) whose optimism, tenacity and accent never fail, David Coe (A-17, Technology) is a man who can solve any problem without breaking a sweat, and Kevin Crookshanks (A18, Communications) whose thoughtfulness makes every newsletter memorable.

Finally, I thank you as members of the Friends of Armenia for continuing to fund projects that enhance the lives of our extended Hy family. I truly believe that Friends of Armenia works as an NGO because; we help support the goals of Peace Corps volunteers that cannot be met by other means.

Elections

Dear Friends of Armenia,

Let me take a moment to thank you for not only serving in Peace Corps, but also for continuing with the Third Goal by being a member of the Friends of Armenia online.

We are holding our annual elections and are accepting nominations for the following positions:

President:  lead the organization, providing strategic direction and serving as an ambassador to external/internal groups to fulfill the mandate of FOA.  Facilitate the successful execution of all FOA program initiatives and endeavors.

Secretary-Treasurer:  Take notes from board meetings, maintain documents in shared document folders, report on the financial situation of FOA at all board meetings, maintaining all financial accounts and agreements with grant recipients.

Technology Officer:  maintain all digital and technology properties of FOA, including all areas of email, website, and social media properties.

Membership Officer:  work with the active and lapsed membership base to grow our footprint in early and recent groups of RPCV and PCV classes/groups.  Lead strategic initiatives that grow our membership base, and inspire a sense of community amongst members.

Communication Officer:  administer all strategic and ongoing communication activities, including the FOA newsletter, social media properties, communication with Post and front-end website publishing working in conjunction with the Technology Officer.

Email nominations to president@friendsofarmeniaonline.org

Nominations due: December 15th

Announcement of candidates: December 17th

Receiving input on candidates from membership: December 22

Announcement of new board members: January 1st.

“Serving with FOA is a great experience and with a motivated group of colleagues, or even friends, I know personally that you'll have an amazing time bringing assistance to the people of Armenia, continuing our collective legacies of service, as well as serving as a positive force for building community with RPCVs and other vested stakeholders.  Submit yourself today for a position to take the organization to the next level”.  -Robert Dietrich, former President FOA

Board members are unpaid, and commit to a minimum one-year term not to exceed a five-year duration.

Sincerely,

Vanessa Bowie Rankin (A16)

500 People Giving 5000 Dram Campaign

In the last newsletter I explained that we were assisting Centaur, one of our community partners, with their "500 People Giving 5000 dram " campaign. It was brought to my attention that our site and my article was not clear on exactly how a donation of this type should be made. I apologize for not recognizing the potential for difficulty in making this donation.

We will extend the time for donations to this campaign for another month. If you use Paypal, the way to donate would be as you read this look to your left and just under our vision statement is a yellow donate button. Click that and the rest is self explanatory. If you do not use PayPal, then a check made payable to Friends of Armenia with a notation that it is for 500/5000 should be sent to the treasurer:

As a reminder the campaign is an effort to raise money to get drinking water to the new hippotherapy center and to place fencing around the property. The suggested donation is $12.00 for each 5000 dram you wish to contribute. To learn more about Centaur and this campaign visit www.centaur.am.

Summertime in the Pink City

Is there anything more wonderful than enjoying a glass of tan on a hot day in one of the numerous outdoor café’s of Yerevan? Or using a mixture of Armenian, Russian and English to discuss the newest art exhibit at the Cascade? Or enjoying an impromptu hortovatz down by lake Sevan?  I’m sure you can identify with my experience that not a day goes by that I don’t have a vivid memory of my time in Armenia. As an RPCV, I choose to serve on the FOA board because it gives me an opportunity to thank the Armenian people by approving small grants for innovative projects that enhance their quality of life. We are the Friends of Armenia, because our time in that far off little country has changed us, and I encourage you to continue to say thank you to the people of Armenia, by submitting innovative mini-grant ideas and by renewing your membership.

2013 promises to be great, as funds were submitted to assist with an Art camp in Gyumri, GLOW camp, and with the generosity of Sean Reynolds (A16), BRO camp. This month we welcome Kevin Crookshank (A18) as our Communications Officer, and Peter Weems (A18) as the Chair of the Grants Committee, which includes Terri Pohl (A16), Patrick Findler (A16), and returning members Lindee Johnson (A15) and Maggie Woznicki (A18).

As always we welcome input as to the direction of the Friends of Armenia and I greatly, thank the board; Wayne Burt (A16), Hedley Bond (A18), David Coe (A17) and now, Kevin Crookshank(A18) for their wisdom and hard work.

Sincerely,

Vanessa Bowie Rankin (A16)

President

Full Board has its First Meeting

Friends of Armenia held its first meeting as a full board on May 6th.  Since the election of new officers in March, two prior meetings were used to appoint a new president and a new technology officer as those positions remained unfilled after the election.  I'm thankful that my time as interim president was so short lived.  Vanessa Bowie Rankin (A16)has accepted the appointment as president, and David Coe A17) will take on the role of technology officer.  When I complete the minutes from this meeting and they are approved, you will be able to view them on our website.  I can say in general that we approved some funding for our ongoing community support programs and reviewed the success of our first try at an annual membership renewal period.   Though there were many that did not renew their membership in April, we can now focus our efforts  on obtaining new members.  Those whose membership has lapsed may change that status at any time by sending in the $15.00 membership fee. Additionally there is a commitment to keep our website updated and a newsletter is in the works.

I'm excited about the enthusiasm of the new board and look forward to working with them and you during the remainder of the year.  Your ideas and comments are always welcome.

Wayne Burt  A16
Secretary Treasurer

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