The last 4 hours (4:00pm-8:00pm PST) of Armenia Fund’s 14th International Thanksgiving Day Telethon will be broadcast over Los Angeles-based KCAL Channel 9, a subsidiary of CBS Corporation, one of the largest network-owned station groups in the United States. Raising funds for drinking water and irrigation projects in Artsakh, the Telethon will air live from Hollywood on November 24, 2011, 8:00AM-8:00PM PST coast-to-coast and around the world. Airing for 12 hours, Telethon 2011 will reach every continent through satellite, cable and the internet. “Our cause is humanitarian that is close to the heart of every human being regardless of ethnicity, race or nationality,” said Sarkis Kotanjian, Executive Director of Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region. “You don’t have to be Armenian to realize that there can be no life without water and to want to make a difference in the lives of tens of thousands by providing something very basic – water.” Despite being located in a mountainous region abundant with water resources, access to water is a serious problem in the Artsakh region. An estimated 25% of the population does not have access to clean drinking water. On average, each family spends 40% of their daily lives carrying water from a source 2-5 miles away. 88% of all diseases in the region are related to tainted drinking water one way or another. Armenia Fund’s water projects are simple and gravity based, utilizing the natural elevation of mountain springs. Collection reservoirs and filtration stations are built at each mountain water source. Water pipelines bring the water from the source downhill to a second reservoir, filtration and pressure control station in the village. An internal water distribution pipeline system is built bringing water to every household in the village. Last year’s Telethon raised enough funds to provide 27,000 residents in Armenian towns and villages with round-the-clock supply of clean drinking water. This year, with the support of its donors, Armenia Fund has a real chance to make sure that no resident in Artsakh is left without water. In Southern California, the Telethon can be viewed on KSCI Channel 18, KVMD, Shant and USArmenia networks for full 12 hours. In the Glendale/Burbank/Pasadena/La Canada areas in addition to Shant (Charter Channel 388) and USArmenia (Charter Channel 386), the Telethon broadcast will be also shown on AABC (Charter Channel 384), HighVision (Charter Channel 381), ICFN (Charter Channel 382), Horizon (Charter Channel 385), RUSTV (Charter Channel 387) and AMGA (Charter Channel 380) Armenian TV channels for full 12 hours. In Armenia, the Telethon can be viewed for full 12 hours on H1, Armenia, Shant and Yerkir Media networks beginning 20:00. The live 12 hour high-quality webcast can be viewed anywhere in the world atwww.ArmeniaFund.org

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