Vol. XLV No. 185 Winter 2006
This special issue of Ararat is dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian General Benevolent Union. Naturally, all AGBU publications this year are devoting at least one issue to this anniversary, and ararat is not an exception.
Most Armenians are familiar with at least some of the AGBU's manifold educational, cultural, and humanitarian programs. There are over seventy-five AGBU districts and chapters, forty-eight community centers and offices, and fourteen Young Professional Groups worldwide. AGBU administers thirty-three day and Saturday schools; and supports a wide range of programs, including the American University of Armenia, the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Karabakh Repopulation Project, soup kitchens, children's centers, student scholarships, summer camps, athletics and scouts, internship programs, the performing arts, and fourteen publications in six languages. The scope of the activities and accomplishments of the AGBU is too great to allow for a comprehensive examination of its one hundred years in one issue. Instead, ararat presents here an assortment of articles on different themes, regions, and activities.
