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15th Biennial JAINA Convention 2009
SEVA PROJECT FIRST AT A JAINA CONVENTION
Smita Doshi smitadoshi@gmail.com
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."
-- Mahatma Gandhi.
It is within this spirit and the spirit of Jiv Daya that a group of dedicated volunteers from the Jain Center of Southern California have set forth to make SEVA activities an important part of the JAINA convention for the first time ever.
The mission was simple. Harness the goodwill of the delegates attending attending the JAINA Convention to improve the quality of life for thousands of people in need. After months of planning and fund raising, plans have been formulated to engage enthusiastic teams of young children, teenagers, and adults in the form of an assembly line to carry out the following activities:
• Prepare thousands of hygiene kits for distribution to the homeless
Make several hundred blankets (out of raw material) for use by the homeless during the winter months
Fill several hundred new backpacks with school supplies and donate them to the
CARE AND SHARE
Malti Maheta mmaheta@aol.com
Inspired by the Jain philosophy of Paropkaraya Punyaya, our two young high school daughters - Mibhali and Meghvi - initiated a Vastra Dan community project in 1988 modeled after a Share and Care Organization of Greater New York. The concept was to collect used clothing and, with the help of their parents and community members, ship them to poor families in India. An effort to collect and ship clothes in one 40-foot container per year began in 1990, and peaked in 2001 when six such containers were shipped in one month to help the victims of the Bhuj earthquake disaster.
children who cannot otherwise afford some of the most basic supplies
Create card quilt and care packages for young cancer patients
Additionally, the volunteers are collecting hundreds of pairs of socks for use by homeless during cold nights; prescription eyeglasses for use in developing countries; and cell phones for use by battered women to call for emergency assistance.
Ecology - The Jain Way
Things
you can donate for Seva Activities
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Finally, we sincerely hope that these activities will inspire the delegates to continue Jiv Daya in their own communities upon return from the convention. Parasparopagraho Jivanam!
Jain Center of Southern California is the collection site for this ongoing effort. The project is supported by many young Jains and several other communities. Monetary help from
the local businesses - MS International, Jewel Corner, and others, and community members is crucial in meeting shipping and handling expenses. Letters of gratitude and blessing from the recipients sometime cite the fact that their sons and daughters got married in the clothes donated from here. Please donate your new and used clean clothes, and monetary funds for this successful and worthwhile Vastra Dan project. For more details, please contact Malti Maheta at (949) 551-4569 or Nayna Vora at (562) 4318145.
