New York, NY- The Armenian National Committee of America, Eastern Region (ANCA ER) has announced plans to hold its second annual banquet on September 13, 2008 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City, with honored guest, Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power.

“We are proud to be honoring Samantha Power,” commented ANCA ER Chairman Dikran Kaligian. “She has been outspoken on human rights issues and genocide awareness and has educated hundreds of thousands throughout the nation and the world on this important issue. In her opening chapter of her first book, she writes about the Armenian Genocide leading to the unfortunate realities of the other genocides that followed.”

The evening will begin with a silent auction, followed by a dinner and program, during which Samantha Power will receive the ANCA ER Freedom Award. This award is given to those who demonstrate extraordinary courage and devotion to freedom and justice. Last year’s honoree was former United States Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, who was dismissed from his position for speaking the truth about the Armenian Genocide.

Power, author of A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide and her most recent book Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World, teaches at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She was a senior adviser to U.S. Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama. A Problem from Hell won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 2003.

Nearly 400 supporters attended the first annual banquet held at the Waldorf Astoria last September, and the ANCA ER is excited to be in the planning phase of what is expected to be another successful event. More details are expected to follow in the coming weeks. For more information and reservations, please contact the ANCA ER at erbanquet@anca.org or call 917-428-1918.

The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working through a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the US and around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on a broad range of issues.

Photo Caption: Pulitzer Prize winner, Samantha Power