By Mary O’KEEFE

In its continuing effort to serve the community, the Crescenta Valley Armenian Community and Youth Center, with St. Luke’s of the Mountains Episcopal Church and the Crescenta Valley Lions Club, is serving a free turkey dinner on Jan. 5, the day before the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates Christmas.

The Center members are no strangers to helping others. They recently donated boxes of toys to Glendale Fire Station 29, supporting the fire department’s Spark of Love program. At that same donation presentation last year, Sarkas Garabetian, a member of the Armenian Center, said the members were looking for other ways to help. Throughout the years they have found a variety of ways to support the community they call home.

“We went to the Salvation Army and [donated],” Garabetian said of how the Armenian Center’s philanthropic outreach began.

One of the most important parts of giving, Garabetian added, is that donations come from the efforts of kids who are part of the youth center including the Homenetmen Boy Scouts.

“That is what we teach the young,” he said. “To give back to their community … It is not a one way street; you [are] to give [not just receive].”

This year the Center is adding a new outreach by hosting a dinner for those in need. Jeero Habeshian is the president of the Lions Club and a member of the Armenian Community Center. The dinner seemed like a perfect fit for all three organizations, which have active philanthropic members.

“We went to Father Antonio [Gallardo] to see if we could do this,” Garabetian said.

Father Antonio opened the doors of Sadler Hall at St. Luke’s and the event was set to go. St. Luke’s offers services in English and Spanish and both congregations are supporting the dinner.

Garabetian added that Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 are significant in the Spanish Church, too. Dia de los Reyes Magos, the Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day, is on Jan. 6.

In addition to sharing a meal with those less fortunate in the community, the Jan. 5 dinner is a way for the organizations to work together in support of a cross-cultural event.

Members of the Lions Club and the Armenian Center have been reaching out to let families know of the dinner, and to invite them to attend. The Center’s outreach committee has gone beyond the immediate community in finding families in need.

“The dinner is for us [in our community] and anyone who is hungry,” Habeshian said.

The Center’s philanthropic outreach is not just focused on the holidays; as its members look toward next year they will be collecting food to support Glendale Community College’s Food for Thought Pantry. The pantry supports GCC students in need.

The Center, Lions Club and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church members are preparing to serve 100 meals on Jan. 5. The dinner is from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Luke’s of the Mountains Sadler Hall, 2563 Foothill Blvd. in La Crescenta. Donations for the meal, and future events, and volunteers are being received through the Armenian Center. For more information contact the CV Armenian Center at  (818) 248-1100 or (818) 527-6361, or email cvarmeniancenter@gmail.com.

  Mary Okeefe