My Fellow Armenians and Friends, Our Country Needs You.
By: Arman Semerjian
Tags: Armenia, War, Covid 19, Charity, Artsakh

In a year where global headlines have focused on Covid-19, media outlets have neglected the war that erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan on September 27th in conflict over the land known as Nagorno-Karabakh.

Although the region falls within the boundaries of Azerbaijan, it is occupied by ethnic Armenians whose lives have been overturned by the fighting.

The two countries have been at odds over this territory since the Soviet Union broke apart in the early 1990s, but the most recent break of violence began when Azerbaijan military attempted to retake land in the region.

Fighting lasted until November 9th when Armenian President Nikol Pashinyan announced that an agreement has been reached. As part of the deal, a Russian peacekeeping force has been deployed to the area.

Despite the war being over, thousands of Armenian families have been permanently displaced with hundreds of civilians murdered, and over 5000 casualties reported by the military with thousands more injured.

It fills me with deep sorrow to think that someone I may have walked by when visiting the country may no longer with us.

To make matters worse, hospitals and medical staff were already stretched thin due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now that so many soldiers and citizens are wounded, this has truly become a humanitarian crisis that not I nor SONO can ignore.

That’s why we here at SONO have partnered with The Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund (AWHF), which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that devotes 100% of its donations to helping wounded Armenian soldiers. The great thing about the AWHF is that the AWHF founders cover all administrative costs, so that 100% of every dollar donated has an IMPACT, and reaches its intended recipient through a rigorous monitoring mechanism.

In addition to providing a full range of medical assistance that spans funding, facilities and supplies for wounded soldiers, they provide combat medic training for soldiers and supply them with military-grade first-aid kits, thereby reducing the net rate of mortality on the field.

Soldiers such as Major Sargis Stepanyan, a triple-amputee and two-time world champion of the Paralympics Arm-Wrestling Competition, are a shining example of the success of AWHF. If you would like to learn more about AWHF and see how they have helped many other heroes, please visit armenianwoundedheroes.com.

To support the AWHF’s noble efforts to care for soldiers and their families, SONO is donating $150,000. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic requiring so many financial and medical resources from world governments, corporate and individual donations are needed more than ever for non-pandemic emergencies.

My partner Chris Froian and I are partnering with our customers to join the aid effort. We’ve assembled 5000 “care packages” designed for travel that include:

- 5 packs of SONO disinfecting wipes

- 5 SONO hand sanitizing wipes

- 5 SONO foaming hand sanitizers

Every dollar will go to the AWHF.

For those of you unfamiliar with what we do, I’ll share some background. Since 2012, we here at SONO have been domestically manufacturing disinfecting and sanitizing products for the healthcare industry that are registered with both the EPA and FDA respectively. All of the ingredients we have chosen to incorporate into our products have been proven to kill SARS-CoV-2 so, in this case, you can protect yourself with confidence whilst also protecting and supporting those who need it most in Armenia.

We do our best to ensure that our operations are aligned with our core mission, vision, and values, which includes providing the best products for those who need it most and lending support to communities in need around the world along the way.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read thus far.

This matter is very close to my heart and anything you can do to support our mission is greatly appreciated both by SONO and the AWHF. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to team@sonohealthcare.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible!

Earnestly,

Arman Semerjian