Some initiatives earn especial attention because of the idea behind them, their goal, and the symbolic nature of their implementation. This initiative had humanitarian purposes; it constituted bearing witness to a historical tragedy; it let memory survive; and it spread messages to civilized society.
In Rhodes, so close to Turkey, the Hamazkayin Dikran Yergat chapter set an Armenian table for the institutionalized special-needs children of the island—and their educators and caregivers—on the occasion of the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The meals were provided by the Armenian Relief Society Regional Executive Board, which agreed to participate in the initiative even though it was in the middle of preparations for its annual bazaar.
During the meal, Armenian music was playing and every table had an Armenian tricolor on it. The Hamazkayin logo was in the center of the hall. The newly elected chairperson of the chapter executive board, Vasili Bardizbanian, opened the meal, speaking about the organization, Armenian history, and the first genocide of the twentieth century, committed by the Ottoman Empire.