400 Participate in 20th Walkathon for Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry in Glendale

A scene from the ABMDR Walkathon Photo by Aleko Boghoskhanian)

LOS ANGELES — Close to 400 supporters converged on the plaza of the Glendale City building, in Glendale on Saturday, October 4 to participate in the 20th annual Walk of Life, the walkathon of the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry.The ribbon and is cut and participants start the walk (Photos by Aleko Boghoskhanian)

The event drew broad community support. In addition to individual teams of walkers, there were several teams representing local schools and universities, including the USC Armenian Students’ Association (ASA), Glendale City College ASA/Nursing Club, AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School, Ferrahian High School, Providence High School, and Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School. Other teams walking to benefit ABMDR’s life-saving mission represented various community organizations and businesses.

California Senator Sasha Renee Perez presented ABMDR with a special commendation (Photos by Aleko Boghoskhanian)
During the opening ceremony, remarks were delivered by Walkathon Committee co-chairs Medik Aghbalian and Khachig Boghossian. “The mission of our organization is to provide matched donors to those who suffer from life-threatening blood-related illnesses and whose last hope of survival is to have a stem-cell transplant,” Boghossian said. “Toward this goal, we have recruited over 33,500 donors in 32 countries, and facilitated 44 bone marrow transplants to date, all thanks to our communities and dedicated volunteers.”

Boghossian also acknowledged some of the top teams participating in the walkathon, including Team Arpz (Arpine Zohrabyan); Providence High School, led by Sona Ashjian; the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School Cancer Awareness Team, led by Dr. Evelyn Baghdasarian; the Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School Team; and the Ferrahian High School Team, led by Sanahine Chahinian.

In her remarks, Committee co-chair Medik Aghbalian thanked the walkathon’s sponsors, including major sponsors Paulette Malekian, USC Mann School of Pharmacy, Table 22 Films, Friendly Filmworks, and Dr. Vergine Madelian, who had donated her own creations of hand-made Christmas ornaments and cards. Aghbalian also thanked Aleko Boghoskhanian for his volunteer work as the longtime photographer of the walkathon; Porto’s Bakery for providing pastries; and McDonald’s for providing coffee and cookies.

The invocation was performed by Father Yeghia Isayan of the Western Diocese.

Next to address the attendees was ABMDR co-founder and president Dr. Frieda Jordan, who said, “You should be very proud of yourselves for being here today, because every one of you, by participating in this walkathon, are giving hope to all of our cancer patients and their families. We want to let them know that they are not alone in their fight, and we’re here to support them. You are all anti-cancer heroes.”

Dr. Jordan’s comments were followed by an appearance by Gayaneh Sahakian, a young cancer survivor who spoke of the vital importance of having a registry of potential stem cell donors such as ABMDR.

Remarks were also delivered by Jeffrey Balian, an executive director of NextGen, ABMDR’s youth group. “This year, we’ve continued to expand NextGen’s mission to several universities including UCLA and UCSD,” Balian said. “Among our many important events was a standout recruitment drive at UCLA’s Coachellian, one of the most cherished Armenian collegiate functions nationwide. Amid hours of song and dance, our volunteers worked tirelessly to recruit and swab attendees, collecting over 25 new swab samples. I think this drive highlights NextGen’s core mission, which is engagement with the Armenian youth to ultimately help find a match and save a life.”

In one of the great highlights of the walkathon, California Senator Sasha Renee Perez took the stage to address the supporters. She expressed praise for ABMDR’s extraordinary community-outreach and recruitment efforts, she said, and went on to present to Dr. Jordan with a special commendation for the work of ABMDR on behalf of the California Senate.

Prior to the start of the walkathon, awards were presented to Team Arpz (Arpine Zohrabyan) as the team that had raised the most funds; and the Providence High School team as the one that had the most participants.

Following the ribbon-cutting, the 5-K walk-run looped through central Glendale. The walkathon concluded at the plaza of the Glendale City building, where the festivities continued into the day. The event also gave participants the opportunity to join ABMDR as potential bone marrow stem cell donors, while volunteers were on hand to answer questions and welcome new recruits.

Established in 1999, ABMDR, a nonprofit organization, helps Armenians and non-Armenians worldwide survive life-threatening blood-related illnesses by recruiting and matching donors to those requiring bone marrow stem cell transplants. To date, the registry has recruited over 33,500 donors in 32 countries across four continents, identified over 9,000 patients, and facilitated 44 bone marrow transplants.