Book Title: Jain Center Los Angeles CA 2008 09 Pratishta Souvenior
Author(s): Jain Center So CA Los Angeles
Publisher: USA Jain Center Southern California
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JAIN SENIOR ASSOCIATION
Kantilal Shah
Is the population of Jain Seniors was increasing, it was felt necessary to organize some programs for these seniors. Thus in August 1996, the Jain Senior Association was formed with the main objective of promoting and organizing cultural, educational, social, and religious activities, as well as providing entertainment and an opportunity to develop friendly relations with the other senior members. Another objective was to ensure that our senior members participated in the celebration of all the auspicious Jain festivals and to help them to better understand Jain religion philosophy.
Lhe executive committee was elected under the chairmanship of Kantibhai Shah and the by-laws of the Association were approved. Since then, many events have been organized which included musical programs, singing competitions, bhakti bhavna, rangoli competition, Chaitya Paripati (visiting Ghar Derasar, which is the most
popular one), picnics, garbas, and the health care programs. The Jain Senior Association also organized tours to many other Temples, museums, trips to flower shows and other places of interest. Bus trips to San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, San Diego, Arizona and other places were also arranged. It is very encouraging to note that during the last twelve years all the senior members have thoroughly enjoyed these various programs and have eagerly participated in them.
The membership of the Association has grown to more then 150 families. Any person who is 50 years old, or any spouse turning fifty, can become a member of the senior association. It is important to note that many seniors in our community do not have social outings and they do not drive. Therefore, they look forward and eagerly wait to participate in the next program organized by the senior association.
The Jain Senior Association works under the umbrella of Jain Center of Southern California. The executive committee of the Jain Senior Association organizes the various programs and informs the Jain Center of its activities. All the financial transactions are passed through the Jain Center. The association does not keep any cash as all funds received are deposited with the Jain Center,
In the future, the association is planning to provide some transportation to bring the seniors from their residences to the Jain Center to participate in the various programs, as many seniors have this transportation problem. The Jain Senior Association will continue to organize various types of programs to entertain the seniors n hopes of fulfilling the various requirements of its members.
Kantilal Shah is the President of Jain Senior Association and ex-President of Jain Center of Southern California. He can be contacted at ktshah32@hotmail.com.
If we are kind and compassionate, we feel better about ourselves and others.
Sanskruti Kakaria, 12
