Jain Digest 2000 07 Vol 16 No 03

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 33

YOUNG JAINS OF AMERICA.....
YJA Executive Board Meeting
YJA hasn't simply been resting on the success of the Los Angeles Convention. Soon after the convention's end a new executive board was elected, and the members of the new board met on August 11-13 in New York. New member Mansi Shah's account of the meeting follows:
Eventually we arrived in New York. All fifteen of us. Delays were plenty but somehow we managed to all get to Anita Shah's house in Old Westbury Friday night, It started off with a late dinner made by the hostess herself, who was a leaving board member.
We started off the night with some icebreaker type games to get to know the fifteen of us, we will be working together for the rest of the year. It was times of laughter and memories that we should remember for the rest of our lives and the beginning of bonds that will remain through the years.
The next morning we were woken up early to shower and be ready to be transported to New York Institute of Technology, where our previous co-chair Naishadh Shah goes to school. Our meeting was held in a lecture room at NYTT where we spent our whole day from 9 am - 12 midnight learning the ropes of YJA and planning upcoming events.
Naishadh's parents brought us an Indian home cooked meal for lunch. The basic brain food needed for a successful meeting. After lunch we proceeded with learning bylaws and understanding the different positions. Elections on positions were held and board members filled up the slots of the executive board. Afterwhich, we took a short break for dinner and headed to a local pizza place.
Upon returning, plans and goals for the next year were made by each individual in their position as well as the for the board as a whole. The past co-chairs Shubhra Jain and Naishadh had led the meeting leaving each new board member with the foundation to make next year successful. In their leading us, we decided on ideas like the 2600th Mahavir Jayanti celebration and the 101 Universities project. We ended breaking up into sub-committees where each committee was delegated one of the events for the next year and could oversee the project till its execution.
This last night was a continuation of getting to know people. The last day was filled with comments on the meeting, the present and the future. Proposals of new ideas were discussed and goals were finalized. And when it was finally over we went to a Buddhist restaurant for lunch. The meeting ended at Anita's house,
from which everyone went their separate ways.
Mahavir Jayanti
2600
As the 2600th celebration of Tirthankar Mahavir's birth approaches in April 2001, YJA would like to see all the Jain youth involved in a unified celebration of the event. In coordina
tion with JAINA, many activities are being planned for the entire year from 2001-2002. YJA plans to join in with various events for the youth. We plan to provide a complete program for celebration that each local youth group in the continent will carry out. Parts of the plan include events for the day of Mahavir Jayanti, a worldwide event for the upcoming year, and a large-scale celebration, of the grandeur of Jainism that Mahavir Bhagwan preached, at the JAINA Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
We hope that all youth will work to be a part of this celebration. For more information, contact any of the YJA Board members.
UPCOMING EVENTS
YJA and the local Jain youth groups are pleased to announce the 2000 Regional Conferences, which are to be held over the Thanksgiving Weekend from November 23-26, 2000. Jain youth from across each region are invited to join in for a lively weekend of discussions, presentations, and fun. The conferences will be held at the respected Jain Centers below. We expect 75-100 youth to come together at each individual location for these events. Please visit our website at www.yja.org for updated information.
Location: Dallas, Texas (held by the Jain Youth Group of North Texas). Please contact Pavan Zaveri (YJA South Regional Coordinator) at (713) 797-0217 or pavanzaveri@mail.com or Sudeep Shah (Jain Youth Group of North Texas President) at (972) 713-7755 or tweedershah@aol.com if you are interested or need more information.
Location: Milpitas, California (San Francisco Bay Area). Please contact Suken Jain (YJA West Regional Coordinator) at (714) 529-5874 or sukenjain@mail.com if you are interested or need more information.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Please contact Chintan Shah (YJA Midwest Regional Coordinator) at (608) 8644126 or chintan_shah@mail.com if you are interested or need more information.
Location: New Jersey (exact location to be announced). Please contact Rahul Mepani (YJA Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator) at (508) 850-8906 or rahulmepani@mail.com if you are interested or need more information.
Location: Southeast US Region (exact location to be
announced). Please contact Rina Shah (YJA Southeast Regional Coordinator) at (304) 255-1641 or rinashah@mail.com if you
are interested or need more information.
Location: Northeast US/Southeast Canada Region (location to be announced). Please contact Sanjay Raisoni (YJA Northeast Regional Coordinator at (248) 651-1299 or sanjayraisoni@mail.com if you are interested or need more information.
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