Berkeley, CA— With stay-at-home orders in place for communities throughout Armenia, The Paros Foundation has risen to the challenge of helping feed Armenia’s elderly, at-risk and impoverished populations.

In the Berd Consolidated Communities, which is comprised of 17 towns and villages in Armenia’s North Eastern border with Azerbaijan, The Paros Foundation responded to an urgent need for food packets to be distributed to 800 elderly and disabled residents in these communities. With financial support from the Armenian diaspora, Paros staff quickly contracted with food suppliers to get the food staples delivered to the Berd municipality where staff and volunteers coordinated this massive distribution effort. This process has been repeated twice to date.

When the spread of Covid-19 closed schools throughout Armenia, the staff at the Debi Arach Children’s Center took similar safety precautions and closed its doors temporarily. This, however, created another problem. Many of the children that attend this academically focused after school program count on the nutrition they receive as their main meal of the day. The Paros Staff worked closely with leadership at the Debi Arach Children’s Center to prepare and distribute food packets based on the number of children in each household to all the Debi Arach families. This process has been repeated twice to date.

“We launched the #FeedingArmenia campaign to immediately respond to this important need,” said Peter Abajian, Executive Director of The Paros Foundation. “Our next challenge is how to reopen and operate centers like Debi Arach in a safe and effective manner, while staying true to its core mission. While this challenge presents itself to every organizations, I am proud of the fact that our team is already engaged in these discussions and planning.”

In the town of Nor Geghi, the mayor led an effort to provide food support for his town’s elderly and at risk population. With support from the Nor Keghi Association and its Detroit-based leadership and members, 25 families in need received a large food pack to support them for approximately one month.

Armenia’s current stay-at-home order is slowly being lifted, and the hope is that the virus will not spread, but it is unclear when the need for #FeedingArmenia will cease. While much still remains uncertain, one thing is becoming clearer—Armenia will reopen to a new reality. Masks, greater personal space and distancing and enhanced personal hygiene will all become part of Armenia’s future. To support #FeedingArmenia, or other projects of The Paros Foundation, please visit www.parosfoundation.org.

As stimulus checks start going out and new tax law is in place, we have received a few questions on how this affects your charitable giving in 2020. With the help of The Paros Foundation friend and donor, Eric Nikssarian, CFP® a wealth advisor with EP Wealth Advisors, we were able to understand some of these changes.

• One of the rules that can directly affect your charitable giving is that you can now donate up to $300 ($600 for joint filers) to The Paros Foundation or any bona fide 501(c)3 organization and deduct it above-the-line on your tax return in 2020 directly lowering your taxable income. This new rule is available for taxpayers who do not itemize deductions in 2020. *Please note this rule change is only in effect for 2020 and donations to a Donor Advised Fund do not count for this deduction.
• For those that are itemizing, charitable deduction limits have increased from 60% of adjusted gross income to 100% of adjusted gross income for 2020 only. Charitable deduction limits for corporations have also increased to 25% of their taxable income, up from 10% for 2020 only.  *Please note donations made to Donor Advised Funds again do not count for this incentive. Be advised if you plan to donate property, securities, and other non-cash assets that they may not qualify.
• Lastly, required minimum distributions have been waived for 2020 in most cases. However, individuals who want to donate from their IRA can still make qualified charitable distributions to 501(c)3 organizations, even though there is no incentive to do so.

The silver lining to these trying times is that we can still make a positive impact. If you have any questions about donations feel free to direct your questions to Peter Abajian, Executive Director of The Paros Foundation. If you’d like to contact Paros friend Eric Nikssarian, CFP®, a Wealth Advisor at EP Wealth Advisors, you can email him at enikssarian@epwealth.com.