Armenian honored for work in homeland

When Lucine Mardirosian Harvey came to America with her mother just before her 18th birthday in 1958, she could not have imagined that she would return to her home country dozens of times on humanitarian missions.

The Dr. Phillips resident, now 77, has helped thousands of orphans — perhaps because she is sensitive to their plight. Her parents were married only six months and her mother was pregnant with her when her father was killed, so she never met the man who gave her life.

Harvey has been back to Armenia 22 times in 25 years, each time taking clothing or food or handmade bedding or school supplies— and sometimes hundreds of pounds of candy.

Last month, Harvey took another trip, this time to New York City to accept one of 96 2017 Ellis Island Medals of Honor, given annually to citizens who exemplify a life dedicated to community service. Astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin was among the recipients.

Five international medals were also awarded, and Malala Yousafzai, the teenage Pakistani activist for female education, was one of the recipients.

ELLIS ISLAND MEDAL OF HONOR

One must be nominated to receive this honor, and Harvey said a friend's sister submitted her name and portfolio.

The two-day trip to New York on May 12 and 13 was a whirlwind of red carpets, military escorts, individual recognition and $2,500-a-plate reception dinners.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime ordeal,” Harvey said of the experience.

Each recipient received a bronze medallion with the Statue of Liberty etched on the front and suspended from a red, white and blue ribbon; a lapel pin; and a small angel pin made of silver from the fallen World Trade Center.

RETURNING TO ARMENIA

After arriving in America, Harvey and her mother lived in Chicago. The elder, a dressmaker in Europe, worked for a men's clothing company, as did Harvey while she practiced her English.

By 1985, Harvey was living in Orlando. Within three years, her mother and her husband died.

With no Armenian church in the vicinity, Harvey helped start one after attending a party hosted by local Armenians. Today, the Soorp Haroutiun Armenian Church, on Winter Garden-Vineland Road in Orlando, has about 40 members.

Her first return to Armenia was in 1992 when her church diocese asked if she could chaperone eight youth on a mission trip.

“I was there five weeks, and I saw all the devastation; it was horrible,” Harvey said. “It was after the earthquake and after the independence, and there was nothing in the stores. And that’s how I got started.”

The second year, she visited an orphanage, and that trip would determine her mission for the next several decades.

In 1995, she took her first solo trip to aid about 65 children, without the financial assistance of the church. She relied instead on the community’s generosity, and each year she took clothing and whatever was deemed important.

“In early years I took rice, laundry soap; anything we needed here, they needed there,” Harvey said. “The most important thing was shoes and clothes for the kids. We bought chickens for them one year, we bought cows, be built a barn. They built a small dam, and we provided a generator. The last time I was there, about three years ago, they needed water purification.”

Harvey's 23rd trip to her homeland is happening this fall. Normally, she sends a huge shipping container and then schedules her arrival after it is there. This time, though, she is going sans the container and staying two weeks instead of her usual five.

She plans to visit a boarding school for children who are “the poorest of the poor,” she said, in addition to an infant orphanage and a kindergarten day school for the mentally challenged. She is taking with her school supplies and clothes, plus several thousand dollars that help fill the unrealized needs once she is in Armenia.

Tax-deductible monetary donations can be made in the name of the church and sent to Soorp Haroutiun Armenian Church, P.O. Box 1242, Windermere 34786.

Previous donations have built duplexes for the older orphans.

Because of Harvey’s dedication to the Armenian children, three families have adopted five orphans and brought them to the United States to live.

When she’s not planning a trip to Armenia, Harvey stays busy with her church; her latest project is crocheting prayer shawls.

ELLIS ISLAND MEDALS OF HONOR

The Ellis Island Medals of Honor are awarded annually to a group of distinguished American citizens who exemplify a life dedicated to community service. These are individuals who preserve and celebrate the history, traditions and values of their ancestry while exemplifying the values of the American way of life and who are dedicated to creating a better world for all.

Past medalists include seven U.S. presidents, several world leaders, two Nobel Prize winners and leaders of industry, education, the arts, sports and government, along with many everyday Americans.

The National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations sponsors the medals.

Contact Amy Quesinberry at [email protected].