When we launched Hearts Tied Together two short weeks ago, we had no idea the overwhelming response we’d soon witness from family members, friends, acquaintances and total strangers within such a short window of time. Our first international shipment of fleece blankets was leaving Utah for Armenian refugee camps in 16 days. With such a close deadline, we set a “realistic” goal to send at least 30 blankets to the many Syrian refugees encamped there, realizing our contribution would be minimal, but appreciated nonetheless. A few days later, we had 30 blankets piled in our living rooms so we increased our goal to 40 instead…

277 Blankets, 31 Hats, and 1 Burp Rag Later.

Hearts Tied Together representative (Julie) with our Armenian refugee representative (Ohannes)

Thank you for providing 237 more refugees with a warmer, hopefully more peaceful, night ahead. We are appreciative, amazed, and humbled by the contributions and generosity of so many. On behalf of Hearts Tied Together and the many refugees receiving these blankets in the next few weeks… THANK YOU.

We have an amazing opportunity to partner with Ohannes Megerdichian, a Syrian-born Armenian, to send a shipment of blankets to Syrian refugees located in Armenia. The following is an excerpt from his recent request for supplies from community members:

“When I heard Elder Patrick Kearon say “their story is our story; not that many years ago” I thought to myself… “their story is my personal story, not that many years ago.” Except, I received lots of help while attending Ricks College and BYU.

I am Armenian, born in Syria. I ended up in Sandy (Utah) traveling through Cyprus, Lebanon, Rexburg (Idaho) and Provo (Utah).

Even though I was lucky enough to get out of Syria in time to receive excellent education and career in the US, most of my fellow Armenians weren’t as fortunate. They stayed in Syria minding their own business until the civil war started almost 5 years ago. And then, ISIS took over most of the country and after destroying most of the Armenian churches and schools, they started killing Christians (99.9% of Armenians are Christians). To escape the massacre, about 20,000 Armenians ends up in the Republic of Armenia as refugees. We don’t hear much about them because most of the world is concentrating on the refugees in Turkey or Greece. While Turkey and Greece receive billions in aid, Armenia receives hardly any.

During my career, I helped hundreds of dental offices with dental products when they ventured into foreign countries to do humanitarian work and Boy Scouts with their Eagle projects… to mention a few. Now, I am asking you to help me collect supplies to send to the Armenian refugees, who traveled from Syria to Armenia fleeing atrocities. The refugees have been a huge burden to the Armenia’s economy… and that’s why I am getting involved.

We desperately need… blankets… as many as we can get. Winters in Armenia are even colder than winters in Utah.”

THAT’S WHERE WE BECOME INVOLVED!!!

Ohannes will be driving the blankets we collect and other various supplies from community members to California where they will be shipped directly to Armenia.

The deadline for this first international shipment will be APRIL 27, 2016. We need as many blankets as possible within the next two weeks!!! Please share this information with friends and family and help us send AT LEAST 40 blankets to these Armenian Refugees.  We know it’s short notice, but 40 is a very reasonable number to achieve.

We will post future donation opportunities and deadlines as they come up!