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Unique fundraising event for Nor Jraberd, a major success

Montreal, February 2, 2007 – The NKR Nor Jraberd Project Team announced today that the special “514 Poker Series” major fundraising tournament held on November 18, 2006 was a major success and enough net funds were raised to finance two building blocks in the new village (about $30,000 US). “I am very proud of this achievement”, said Mego Malkhassian, the pan-Canadian project manager of the Nor Jraberd Team, appointed by the AGBU Central Board; “I am particularly thrilled that this was a youth run initiative; they completed all the details and crowned their work with success.”

Capitalizing on the recent public popularity of Texas Hold’Em style poker games, the “514 Poker Series” tournament had over 250 participants, from all walks of life. It was held in the Armina hall in Laval, a suburb of Montreal, and was “breathtaking to the end” as described by Line Abrahamian, the main organizer of the event. Ms. Abrahamian, an ardent supporter of the Nor Jraberd project is no unknown to the community.  She is an assistant editor of Reader’s Digest Canada, the English publication with the largest circulation in the country.  This past October, she published in the Reader’s Digest, an important article on the Armenian genocide.

“While I am not a poker player myself, I know many people who are ardent players and fans of such tournaments” added Abrahamian. “So I thought that it would be a great idea to pair up this passion for the game with a worthy cause and that’s how the idea was born”. The top 10 players of the tournament were winners of various prizes.  The winner of the grand prize was Mr. Benoit Morin, a native Montrealer, who walked away with a cash prize of $10,000.  The top-ranked Armenian  player was Mr. Ohannes Salbzian, who came in second after Mr. Morin.

For further information, please contact the email address info@norjraberd.org. Information can also be found at the NKR Nor Jraberd website http://www.norjraberd.org/ .