July
21, 2010
Dear Devotees,
This message has five announcements
from the Bharatiya Temple of Lansing.
1) Jain Puja
on Sunday July 25 at 11:00 AM:
The Jain group of Lansing performs Jain puja on the fourth Sunday
of each month from 11 AM to 12.30 PM. This
month's puja will be on July
25.
2) Fourth Sunday Program on Sunday
July 25 at 11:30 AM:
The monthly Fourth Sunday Puja
will be on July 25. The puja
will begin with a short prayer to Lord Ganesha at
11:30 AM, followed by the chanting of Vishnu Sahasranama
and singing of bhajans, and ending with Aarati.
3) Bhutanese Refugee Empowerment
Project Meeting on Sunday July 25 at 2:00 PM:
A group of volunteers from all over Michigan are meeting at our temple this
Sunday, July 25th at 2PM. Their objective is to develop a focus group in
Michigan to help Bhutanese families thrive in the mid-Michigan region while
maintaining their Bhutanese and Hindu heritage. The web site http://btvolunteer.miseva.org/?q=node/82
elucidates the efforts of this group. It also facilitates people to register
for attendance and/or volunteering for this cause.
4) Fun, Fitness, and Fundraising Walk on
Sunday August 8:
With a great participation from you last year and with a popular demand, a
committee of volunteers met once again to coordinate "Fun, Fitness and Fundraising walk 2010" to
raise donations for our Temple. This is a 5K (about 3 miles) walk right
in Okemos (all details at the bottom of this email) and it has been scheduled
for the morning of Sunday, August 8, 2010. The event is free for
the participants/walkers. The main idea is to get all of us out there for fun
and fitness with a great cause of raising much-needed funds for our Temple.
This year's focus is on your participation as walkers as well as donors.
The walk last year raised over $30,000 with a large
participation from walkers but a small number of donors and pledges.
Instead of $20 and $5 pledges for every walker last year, we want more pledges
in a smaller amount such as 25 cents, 50 cents or one dollar. You can
also put a dollar limit on your donation such as (50 cents per each walker with
a dollar limit of $250). This means, if we have 400 walkers, you will
donate $200 tax deductible donation to the Temple and if we have 600 walkers,
you will donate $250 tax deductible donation to the Temple instead of $300 (600
walker x 50 cents). This will help us in getting a larger number of
smaller pledges with a greater participation from all devotees of our Temple.
The committee needs your help as sponsors, participants and volunteers to make
this event successful. The goal of the committee is to raise at least
last year's amount of $30,000 if not more, and without your participation, this
would not be possible. If you like to pledge or have a sponsor, please
contact Manasi Upadhye at
517-347-6154. Your help is greatly needed. Details are posted at http://lansingtemple.org/misc/walk2.pdf.
5) UPDATE - Temple appoints Mr.
Chandu Patel (PAID) and Pardeep Kumar(VOLUNTEER)
as part time Managers:
Mr. Chandu Patel will be responsible
for day-to-day operations of the temple and facility operations, working
closely with the board of trustees. He will also be able to provide
assistance with scheduling of personal and community events at the temple based
on rental policies. He will be at temple on Monday (AM), Wednesday (AM
and PM)and Thursday (AM). We request all
devotees who need poojas and priest services outside
the temple to contact Mr Chandu Patel for such
bookings. The preferred method of communication is via email (ctempleh@gmail.com); the temple
phone number 517-339-6337 can also be used.
Mr. Pardeep Kumar,
well known to all of you as a member of community and a former member of board
of trustees, has accepted the position of manager in a volunteer capacity with
a limited responsibility of helping with the temple maintenance.
The board welcomes both our managers.
Sincerely,
Bharatiya Temple of Lansing
955 Haslett Rd
Haslett, Michigan 48840.
Phone: (517) 339-6337