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The Center is located at 1021 Briggs Chaney Road, Silver Spring, Maryland.
The JSMW keeps members informed of its activities by regular mailings to all its members and other Jain Centers. The monthly Jain Instructional News published by our Society containing Jain articles and information items. It was praised by Pravin Shah, the organizer of JAINA's Bulletin Board Service (BBS) and was put into the BBS. The Members' Directories published every 3-4 years provides a detailed listing of all members, and also contains information on various Jain organizations in North America and plus directions to Jain temples. The JSMW has kept contact with other Jain centers by keeping them on the mailing list.
The JSMW has taken a leading role in the formation of JAINA. After its establishment in May, 1983, Manoj Dharamsi, the President of the JSMW was unanimously elected as the first president of JAINA. The JSMW continues to play a very active role in JAINA.
Recently we begun a unique new program called "Adopt Jain Center for a Day." This program, encourages member families to adopt the Jain Center for one or more days each year to celebrate a happy occasion or to commemorate a special event, and pledge a donation of $101 or more per year for that day. On the adoption day, the family is encouraged to visit the Center and carry out religious activities, clean or do maintenance work at the Center. The annual donations received are used as operating expenses.
During Acharya Chandanaji's visit in 1993, the JSMW was successful in raising over $28,000 for the charitable hospital at Veerayatan Ashram in Bihar, India. It also produced a professional
audio cassette of devotional songs by Kumari Mangalam from Veerayatan, so that the hospital can generate revenue by selling it in India. The JSMW, with other local Indian associations has taken an active part in the "Food for Homeless" program and other community outreach community activities.
The JSMW has taken a leading role in forming an "Association of Hindu and Jain Temples of Washington Metropolitan" which comprises the JSMW and 11 Hindu temple organizations. This association is a member of the local interfaith organization and plays an active role in these types activities. In addition, the association celebrates Diwali on a grand scale with participation of some 10,000 people.
The JSMW has established a Home Page on the World Wide Web, the address for this page is,
http://www.gl.umbc.edu/-ashah3 Available on this page is general information about the Society's activities, directions to the temple, and pertinent phone numbers and e-mail addresses of the committee members. In addition, are the links to other Jainism related home pages across the world. All committee members are currently using the e-mail to effectively communicate with each other. This is helping members carry out the Society's work more efficiently.
Our goal is to preserve and promote deeper understanding of our rich Indian Jain heritage by passing it on to the younger generation. We provide a sense of belonging to a community that is close with a rich heritage and culture. For more information, please call 301/236-4466 for a recorded message or contact the Manoj Dharamsi at 703/620-9837, Ashok Shah at 301/598-3049, or Manu Shah at 410/551-8324.
With Best Wishes
to the Jain Digest from
Pankaj and Jayshree Dalal
Dallas, Texas
November 1996 Jain Education Intemational
JAIN DIGEST For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
