On April 6 the Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund announced the dedication of a new Defense Support Unit funded by a gift from St. Illuminator’s Armenian Cathedral in New York City. The unit, which was made in Armenia, will be deployed to a front line position in the South to provide troops there with facilities for proper hygiene through access to hot running water, electricity, heat, and other morale-boosting necessities.
The Defense Support Unit was purchased with funds generously donated by parishioners and friends of St. Illuminator’s at a special fundraising drive sponsored by the Cathedral in October 2020 to support the Wounded Heroes Fund. The fundraiser, called the Here for our Heroes Challenge, raised more than $50,000 including a match by St. Illuminator’s for every dollar donated up to a total of $25,000. The event was held under the auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian, Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America.
The balance of the funds raised by the Cathedral will be used to support other programs of the Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund. St. Illuminator’s has been a proud and dutiful sponsor of the Wounded Heroes Fund since its founding in April 2016.