The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s 12th European Phoneathon, the second largest annual fundraising event after the Telethon, will kick off in France on November 17 and run through November 20.

Some 700 volunteers from France, Germany, and Switzerland will work the phones throughout the four-day event, with calls being placed 12 hours a day. Stationed in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, and Toulouse, the volunteers will call close to 60,000 Armenian families, businesses, and organizations across Europe to request financial support for the ongoing development of Armenia and Artsakh. Also participating in the Phoneathon will be the Armenian communities of the Netherlands and Greece.

Funds raised during Phoneathon 2011 will be dedicated to vital water-infrastructure projects in close to ten rural communities throughout Artsakh and the Tavush Region of Armenia.

Proceeds from last year’s Phoneathon, totaling around 1.4 million euros, were used for the construction or renovation of water infrastructures in the Hartashen, Togh, Aknaghbyur, and Ukhtadzor villages of Artsakh’s Hadrut Region as well as the construction of a school in Ashotsk, a rural community in Armenia’s Shirak Region.