Packs On Backs Armenia: Kharpert Home

The Heros Humanitarian Foundation (HHF), a Los Angeles based non-profit organization, supports children in need and their educational advancement. The organization was founded in 2008 by six Armenian Americans with the belief that no child should be deprived of the essential necessities needed for their education regardless of their socioeconomic status. Their mission is to provide backpacks and school supplies to children living in poverty and from low socioeconomic households around the world. Through their Packs on Backs initiative, HHF hopes to motivate children, help them stay and excel in school, and have successful futures.

The Heros Humanitarian Foundation has partnered with The Paros Foundation to bring their Packs on Backs initiative to Armenia. After the successful distribution of 380 backpacks and school supplies to children in Gyumri and Vanadzor this summer, we have decided to continue to work together and impact more children in Armenia. Together we have decided our next distribution will be for the kids living at the Kharpert Home for Special Children.

The Kharpert Home is an orphanage located in the village of Nor Kharpert currently serving 225 children with varying degrees of developmental disabilities. The orphanage is a state run facility that receives governmental support to provide these vulnerable children with their basic care and education. The Paros Foundation has worked with the Kharpert Home several times in the past implementing excursions for the children to amusement parks and/or other appropriate venues in order to provide these children with both valuable community experience and needed recreation. Of the 225 kids living at the center 55 attend local specialized schools, while the remaining 170 attend classes at the orphanage.

Sponsorship of this project will help give 55 children at the Kharpert Home regular backpacks and school supplies in addition to 225 drawstring backpacks filled with custom supplies for their specific needs. Some of the these items will include: arts & crafts supplies -beads, coloring books, crayons, puzzles, yarn, sewing kits and some minor hygienic needs- deodorant, toothpastes and toothbrushes. A donation of $30 will help obtain either backpack filled with supplies for one child. School supplies will be grade appropriate and include a combination of pencils, pens, pencil cases, notebooks, folders, erasers, sharpeners, glue, scissors, rulers, highlighters, and crayons. In-kind donations of the items listed are also welcomed.