OUTREACH: Events of Interest

At the Heart of Compassion, Lies the Gift of Action!

Dear Kadampa Center Community, You listened to your heart and took action – thank you! Due to the generous response to the appeal for personal care items and gently-used backpacks, we are ready to assemble the donated items, to create 25 WeCare Kits.

You’re invited to join us for Outreach’s WeCare Kit Assembly Party, to be held FRIDAY, June 24th from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Kadampa Center Lobby. Join the fun as we assemble and “kit” the donated items, and complete the kits.

WeCare Kits will be distributed by Oak City Cares, a public-private partnership in Raleigh that exists to support the self-determination of our neighbors experiencing homelessness.

Join us to do good, feel good, and benefit others!

SIGN UP NOW

For many, this time of year awakens our hearts to the joys of generosity and compassion towards all sentient beings. It’s been another hard year for everyone, including our little feathered and furry friends in the woods. Join us on Saturday, December 18 from 10:00a-noon at Kadampa Center to make pinecone feeder offerings for the birds and squirrels. Your generosity of heart and hand is sure to kindle the spirit of the season. Let’s do it together and multiply the merriment and merit!!

 

Chase away the troublesome clouds that hover over us these days! The Holiday Season reminds us to put worries aside and to open our minds, hearts and hands to joy and generosity.

Let’s come together safely to generate holiday Magic and offer the Merit of joy to all sentient beings! Let’s shine our lights of love together on Saturday, December 12 at Kadampa Center, outdoors under the pergola. All ages welcome anytime between 10:00a-2:00p to make an ornament to brighten your life and benefit others.

 You can make a pine cone/bird seed ornament to hang on an outdoor tree to feed hungry and grateful birds and squirrels…

…or decorate your own wooden disc ornament to brighten up your home - or do both!

 We look forward to seeing you!

2019 Interfaith Annual Dinner theme is "Making a Difference."

[posted 1/28/2019]

Kadampa Center's Adopt-a-Stream at Lake Johnson

The Family Program and Outreach have teamed up to offer a new service project! All ages are welcome to participate in the Adopt-a-Stream biannual cleaning of the shoreline of Lake Johnson. In order to participate in the program volunteers MUST sign up in advance. 

In order to participate all volunteers have to register HERE!

To keep a count of who is coming, please email Elise Strevel after your register.

Adopt A Stream Project (AAS)

Do you enjoy nature and doing something to help the environment? Lake Johnson accumulates trash along the shore lines and wildlife become entangled, or ingest the trash that is toxic to them. The Family Program and Outreach have teamed up to offer this opportunity to do service work and protect the local wildlife of Lake Johnson. All ages are welcome to participate in the Adopt-a-Stream biannual cleaning of the shoreline. There are areas for all ages to clean and remove debris from the shorelines.  

In order to participate all volunteers have to register. REGISTER HERE

• When: Sat, March 23, 8:45 am-noon (next one: Sat, August 10, 8:45 am-noon)
• Where: Volunteers will park and check-in between  8:45-9:15 am at GPS location:  35.770101, -78.717564. Parking is at the Williams Stadium Parking Lot closest to the trail head. Address to stadium is 5611 Jaguar Park Dr, Raleigh, NC 27606.
• Who:  All ages! 

Questions? Email Dorothy Robson or Elise Strevel

Thank you from Outreach and the Family Program

[posted on behalf of Outreach Coordinator, Elise Strevel]

Dear Kadampa Center Family,

Geshe-la is encouraging anyone who can provide hands-on help to victims of Hurricane Florence to do so. Our friends at the Mormon Community are well organized to respond to crises, and are happy to let us join forces with them. 

We have 2 types of opportunities to help but...
YOU MUST SIGN UP FOR SOLID COMMITMENT NO LATER THAN WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3. 

We have to know how many people we can count on!! 

1. ON-SITE CLEAN UP - GESHE-LA IS COMING!!!
   Where: (probably in Wilmington or Fayetteville, but will depend on victims’ requests)
   When: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13. (Time not yet determined)
   Who: Ages 16-adult. Ages 16-18 with parent only. This is potenial bio-hazard site. 
   Action: Email Elise Strevel with subject line: FLORENCE ON-SITE VOLUNTEER (Please provide your full name and phone number in your note.)

Typically, volunteers bring chain saws (only if you REALLY know how to use it!), gloves and boots while the other supplies are provided by the Mormon Church (we had 23 truckloads of food, personal hygiene, cleaning supplies and equipment delivered to Wilmington and Fayetteville this weekend, with more to come as needs are assessed) such as shovels, plastic gloves, roofing materials, tarps, etc.  

We will later get an email with a brief survey regarding the supplies we can bring with us and what we'll need to pick up from a command center or bring from our congregation. That will allow us to organize work crews better. If everyone wants to be in a single work crew, we could accommodate that. I'm trying to get a few other denominations to join us on the 13th and think it might be great to have people from multiple faith communities all working together in work crews. 

         2. CRISIS CLEANUP CALL CENTER

Takes calls from victims requesting service. This can be done from your home at any time after receiving a brief training, but SOMEONE MUST BE WILLING TO BE THE COORDINATOR FOR KADAMPA VOLUNTEERS!

         Action: Email Elise Strevel with subject line: FLORENCE CALL CENTER COORDINATOR (Please provide your full name and phone number in your note.)

The leaders at Crisis Cleanup are willing to train volunteers from the Kadampa Center. However, you'll need to first have a leader, emergency specialist or a designee whose job it will be to sign up the Kadampa Center through Crisis Cleanup and be their coordinator.  

All volunteers have to be vetted and associated with an approved organization. Crisis Cleanup will vet the organization and then send follow-up emails to each individual to register. Once registered, Crisis Cleanup will conduct the training. I have done this and the training takes about an hour. The sign up takes minutes by the designee. Once trained, volunteers can sign in and take calls from survivors to enter their work orders into a database that supplies work to local aid agencies. It's really rewarding and a great way to render service on your own time, from your own home.  

Together, we can make a difference for many of those in need.

love from,

Outreach

Kadampa Center's Adopt-a-Stream at Lake Johnson/Walnut Creek Trail

The Family Program and Outreach have teamed up to offer a new service project! All ages are welcome to participate in the Adopt-a-Stream biannual cleaning of the shoreline of Lake Johnson. In order to participate in the program volunteers MUST sign up in advance. 

In order to participate all volunteers have to register HERE!

To keep a count of who is coming, please email Elise Strevel after your register.

Guest Speaker Som Paneru

Join us on June 13, 7 - 8 pm, for an informative presentation about Nepal problems and living conditions of the gentle Nepalis. Mr. Paneru will also describe what Nepal Youth Foundation is doing to address the suffering of the girls sold into the “indentured servitude" KAMARI system.

The evening promises to be a moving presentation.

Som Paneru's bio

Som Paneru is from Nepal and is a Social Entrepreneur. Som is serving as the President of Nepal Youth Foundation, a 501 ( c ) (3) public charity registered in California (www.nepalyouthfoundation.org), founded by Olga Murray. The NYF has programs only in Nepal as Olga is solely dedicated to improve the lives of Nepalese children and youth. Som joined this organization in 1995 and climbed the ladder all the way from Social Worker to the President in 2012. The NYF works for the welfare of underprivileged children and youth in Nepal, predominantly in giving access to good education and healthcare. The organization has transformed the lives of over 50,000 Nepalese youngsters. He led the very successful anti-slavery movement in Nepal against a practice of enslaving young girls, named Kamlari Practice, and liberated over 12,000 young girls from slavery and played an instrumental role in its abolition. Som firmly believes in sustainable solution to any social problems. Setting up Nutritional Rehabilitations Homes at every referral hospitals to treat malnourished children, establishment of Sunaula Chowa School in Dhading district, creation of Olgapuri Children’s Village together with a Vocational School are some of the notable social enterprises that he established.

Som has a vast experience in charity management as well as in developing educational institution. He is the founding President (pro-bono) of Ullens Education Foundation in Kathmandu that established Ullens School in 2006 (www.ullens.edu.np). The Ullens School is well known for its unique financial model, an extraordinary social enterprise and philosophy of inclusiveness. Ullens School is now considered as one of the best independent schools in Nepal in terms of education quality as it offers truly a world class education. It is the first and still the only IB World School in Nepal that runs International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP). The school runs from K-12 and has 1200 students, 150 academic faculties and 200 non-teaching staff. Som's vision and imaginative leadership has made Ullens School an iconic academic institution in Nepal in a very short period of time.

Som is a graduate of University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK where he earned his M.A. in International Child Welfare. Born and raised in a humble farming family in rural Gorkha District of Nepal, Som is one of the nine siblings in the family. He always received education through the help of others which has left within him a huge sense of ‘giving back’ to his own society. He is a father of two children and lives a very happy life with his wife Sajani Amatya, a passionate social worker.