________________
A Message from the Past President
It was indeed a pleasure and a privilege to serve you for the last two years as JAINA President. I want to thank the entire Jain Community of North America for providing me this opportunity.
In the pat two years, we have made JAINA a prominent organization, both nationally and internationally. This would have not been possible without the hard work of past administrations.
We have set so many new milestones that it is difficult to enumerate them. A few examples are Patron Program, first ever teacher's convention, first ever Jain Sangh of 64 pilgrims to Sametshikhar, regular publication of JAIN DIGEST and JAINA Focus, helping small sanghs to build Jain temples, sending audited financial statements to all the Directors, the teacher's workshops, working with US AID and United Nations, meeting Dalai Lama, the Presidents, Prime Ministers, Governors, Cabinet Ministers, Ambassadors and Consulate Generals and briefing them about JAINA.
This would not have been possible without the wholehearted support of the Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Chairmen of various Committees, JAIN DIGEST and JAINA Focus Editorial Board, trustees, patrons, donors and last but not least, hundreds of volunteers across North America. I deeply appreciate and thank all of you for making JAINA a financially stable, transparent, united and vibrant organization.
JAINA needs your continued support and input to continue its progress under the guidance of our new president, Dr. Mahendra Pandya and his team. I will continue to work for JAINA and do my best for the progress of JAINA and try to fulfill our mission statement 'From Cradle to Cremation, JAINA is There.'
Lastly, none of this would have been possible without the support of my wife, Pratima and my sons, Nealesh and Mitul. I can't thank them enough.
Jai Jinendra! Distat
Dhiraj Shah
Past Presidents of JAINA - Federation of Jain Associations in North America
1981-83
1983-85 Manoj Dharamsi
1985-87 Tansukh Salgia
1987-93 Sulekh Jain
1993-95 Jawat Jain
1995-97 Manihhai Mehta
1997-99 Dhiraj Shah
Lalit Shah
Meet your Executing Committee for the 1999-2001 term
President Mahendica K Pandya
First Vice President
Bipin D. Parikh
Regional Vice Presidents:
Canada Tasvant Met
Midwest US Ilat G. Mehra
Northeast US Hansraj C. Mari
Secretary Vinay K Vakani
Treasurer Anop R. Vore
Immediate Past President
Dhiran H. Shah
Southeast US Deepika Dal
Southwest US Kirit
C atary
West US Girish P. Shah
Jain Education Intemational
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.janetary.org
