Carnival Helps Girls Give Back
Family donates proceeds in gratitude of good fortune
Eti and Chaz Lazarian have always tried to teach their three daughters the importance of doing good for others, from giving all their Halloween candy to patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to donating oversize stuffed animals to homeless shelters and giving their hair to Locks of Love.
Now their girls — Noa, 9, Ella, 7, and Mia, 5 — are giving the entire community a chance to participate in tzedakah.
“It’s nice to give back,” Noa said.
The Lazarians, who are Dunwoody residents and Temple Emanu-El members, are hosting a spring carnival with the nonprofit A Community A-Fair from April 14 to 23 at the Spring Mill Village Mall at 6011 Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain, then doing it again May 3 to 7 at the Gwinnett Prado shopping center at 2300 Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth. A fall fair will follow at Spring Mill from Oct. 20 to 29.
Chaz Lazarian’s Insignia management company owns both centers.
“I’m big on parties,” Eti Lazarian said, and a carnival is a way to give back in gratitude for the family’s good fortune.
A portion of the $20 admission fee at the carnival, which brings unlimited rides, will go to the Packaged Good, the nonprofit organization Emanu-El member Sally Mundell launched last year in Dunwoody as a place where kids can create care packages for people in need.
The family also is organizing do-good stations at the carnival. People are asked to bring small stuffed animals to be donated at Children’s Healthcare and travel-size toiletries for care packages. The Gwinnett Prado carnival will include a petting zoo, and children who donate a small stuffed animal will get $5 off the price of the zoo.
The girls also plan to make special care packages just for other children that may include small stuffed animals and coloring books.
The biggest push, with entertainment and special activities, will be on opening day at each site, although the collections will continue throughout the carnival. During the Gwinnett carnival, the plan is to work with public schools to bring kids in for a free day of fun.
The girls track and share their Be Good-Do Good projects on a Facebook page.
“I’ve been talking to them about philanthropy since they were born,” their mother said, adding that she points out to them that they can give back even though they have no money because they are kids. “What can you do? You can give something else. You can give your talent. You can sing. You can read a book. Entertain in any way you can.”
The fair will be open 4 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4 to 11 Friday, 1 to 11 Saturday and 2 to 10 Sunday. Call 404-514-6631 or email acommunityafair@gmail.com for more information
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