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JAIN DIGEST
PRESIDENTS' MESSAGE
FALL 1997 VOLUME 13, NO. 2
We Have A Response-Ability
In this issue
A Message from the Past President ...
From the Editor in Chief ........ 3
The Executive Committee ..... 3
Headquarters News ....
Regional News...
Affiliate Notes ...
Committee News ..
Happy Occasions .........
For Your Information ...........
Fund & Member Update ..... 13
JAINA Trustees .....
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Acharya Tulsi Tribute ..........
It has been over two months since the uplifting and confidence building JAINA convention in Toronto, where your new executive committee assumed the responsibility for serving the Jain community in North America. Apart from holding the convention every two years the most visible activity of JAINA has been the publication of JAIN DIGEST which is mailed out to nearly 7,500 families free of charge. Every issue costs JAINA nearly $10,000 to publish and distribute. Most of our readers eagerly await the next issue of JAIN DIGEST, whether their interest lies in the activities of YJA, the matrimonial announcements, committee news or the news of other Jain Centers and organizations around the world.
In the last few years it has become almost impossible to think about JAINA's other responsibilities such as education, temple construction funding, YJA and senior citizen housing due to the lack of funds. At the present, JAINA's treasury is completely empty.
Your new executive committee has decided to change all that. At the Toronto convention, I have promised to publish JAIN DIGEST quarterly without fail. It is our firnı belief that a major international organization like ours can not operate without strong financial backing from the constituency it serves. We have to make JAINA financially healthy on a permanent basis. The time has come to address this ongoing problem once and for all.
Therefore, your executive committee has come up with a new project: 'JAINA Patron'. The goal is to identify 200 donors from 54 centers, who would be willing to support JAINA on an ongoing basis. Your executive committee members have already become such donors. The donors will be expected to donare US$251 per year, tax-deductible, as long as they can and they will be designated as a 'JAINA Patron'. The expectation is that each center will have at least four generous families who would be willing to come forward to support this idea. This project will take care of our annual budget of $52,000. Patrons will have special privileges (see the details on page 26). No administration will have to worry about our annual budget.
Then we can embark upon the projects which are very important for our children as well as our senior citizens. We want to make sure that every center has a temple and pathshala so that our children, many of whom are being born and brought up in this country will have a chance to experience the joy, beauty and strength of our cultural and religious heritage. We also need senior citizen housing next to our temple, one in every region of North America, so that our senior citizens can enjoy their golden years in a religious atmosphere. This is our responsibility. Each and every penny you donate is used for JAINA's causes. Not a single penny is wasted on the administration. Dozens of volunteers are putting in hundreds of hours of their valuable time every week at no cost to JAINA.
JAINA relies on people like you and me who understand the need to respect, honor and care for Jainism. Please join me in supporting the work of the only organization dedicated solely to the survival, well being and prosperity of Jains: The Federation of Jain Associations in North America.
I want to thank Harshad Shah and John D'Arcangelo who gave four valuable years of their life for JAIN DIGEST and improved upon it. Lata Champsee of Toronto has agreed to be the next Editor in Chief. Helping her as Publishing Editor is Navin K. Jain of Buffalo. I welcome them both and I'm confident that this team will take JAIN DIGEST to new heights. I wish them all the best.
Jai Jinendra.
Building a Temple?.............
9th Biennial Convention Highlights
President's Speech Delivered at 9th Biennial Convention ....... 21
JAINA Awards
JAINA Patron Appeal............
A Message from YJA.
Young Minds.
Matrimonials ....
MIS Information..............
MIS Registration Form ......... 35
olstah
Dhiraj Shah
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JAIN DIGEST Circulation Federation of JAINA P.O. Box 700 Getzville, NY 14068-0700
JAIN DIGEST FALL 1997/1
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