April 2009 newsletter

							                     VISHVA SHAKTI DURGA MANDIR ASSOCIATION
                          55 Clarey Av. Ottawa Ontario K1S 2R6 Tel. (613) 321-0675

                                                NEWS LETTER – April 2009
                                              President’s Message

                                Dear Durga Temple Devotees and Friends,
     Board of Directors

Mr. Pramod Sood 837-5167        We had our Annual General Meeting and elections on 15 March 2009. The 2009-2010
President                       Board now comprises of the people listed on the left side of this page.
Mrs. Leena Shukla 825-9448      My report as delivered at the AGM is as follows:
Vice President 1, Operation
Mrs. Rashmi Dheer 825-0538
Vice President 2, Finance                        VSDMA PRESIDENT’S REPORT FOR THE 2008-2009 TERM
Mrs. Archna Abrol 830-7512      It is already a year since I volunteered to serve on the Board of Vishva Shakti Durga
Secretary                       Mandir. It has been an eventful year.
Mrs. Savita Parbhakar 224-
9970                            Our special programs have been a resounding success. These programs include:
Asst. Secretary                 1. Many “Mata ki Cohwkis” performed at the Mandir and at people’s homes. The credit
Mr. Raj Sharma       440-0041         for their success goes to the very dedicated Bhajan Mandli and of course our
Treasurer
Mr. Rohit Chadha 841-9893             respected Panditji. My sincere thanks to them for their hard work and dedication.
Asst. Treasurer
Mrs. Avi Vasistha 739-6419      2. Bhagwat Katha recitals by:
Public Relations Officer
Mrs. Mamta Dixit 260-7174
Member-at Large                          a. Shree Akhil ji Maharaj from Vrindavan, in May 2008.
Mrs. Srishta Khosla 224-5279
Member- at Large                         b. Shree Govind ji Maharaj from Guyana, in August 2008.
Mrs. Usha Ahuja 738 2992
Member-at Large
Mr. Nityanand Verma 726                  c.    Acharya Mridul Krishna ji Goswami and accompanying musicians in
1686       Past-President                      September 2008
Contacts:
Pt. R. N. Pandey     228-1305   3. Shiv Puran Katha by Swami Sarvanand ji Maharaj at the end of June 2008.
Priest
Temple Line         321-0675                                          st
                                4. 108 Kundelya Maha Yagya on 1 July 2008, presided BY SWAMI Sarvanand ji
E-mail:VSDMA@hotmail.com
           Website:                Maharaj.
http://www.durgatemple.ca
                                5. November 2008 Dinner and Entertainment.

             6. New Year day celebration at the Mandir.

             Our regular weekly and Sunday programs have maintained status quo. In my OPINION maintaining
             status quo is not good enough. We need to do more. We need to supplement these programs. Some
             suggestions are:
                     a. Provide activities and education for small children

                      b. Provide Lectures that would be of interest and benefit to our youth.

                           Our religion is vast resource that even western cultures are turning to, to bring stability and
                           sanity into their lives.

                           Our lectures must find a way of showing our youth how the teachings of our religion can help
                           them to become confident and stable individuals, able to meet the challenges presented by the
                           western culture that surrounds us all.


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We have moved forward on some of the objectives we set for ourselves but still have a lot of work to do.
The objectives and related progress or lack of progress is as follows:
   1. OBJECTIVE #1: Improve accounting and receipt issuing procedures:
       A Finance Committee was set up for this purpose. It is not clear as to just how successful we have
       been. We hope to keep on working and trying to improve. WE STILL STRUGGLED IN THIS
       REGARD.

    2. OBJECTIVE #2: Improve Communications:
       We started off OK. We issued newsletters in April, May and June 2008, but could not sustain this
       effort any further. We hope to do better this year.

    3. OBJECTIVE #3: PREPARE VSDMA Policies and Operating Procedures DOCUMENT:
       I put together a Policy Manual and updated it with comments and input received from Board
       members. This is an ongoing PROCESS. THERE IS STILL A LOT OF WORK TO DO.

    4. OBJECTIVE #4: Increase membership:
       Very little effort was made in this regard. We hope to do better this year.

    5. OBJECTIVE #5: INCREASE Social Activity:
       The intention was to do more Social events, in addition to our regular November DINNER.
       A Social Committee was appointed RIGHT AWAY. However we did not manage to do any more
       than the regular November social event. Hopefully we can do better in the 2009 -2010 year.

    6. OBJECTIVE #6: Pay off mortgage:
       The intention was to conduct fund raising drives with the objective of paying off the mortgage. We
       did payoff a small part of the mortgage, but there was not much dedicated fund raising activity. The
       outstanding mortgage amount is APPROXIMATELY $112319. In addition there are personal loans
       to VSDMA by members to the sum of $25000. SO THAT THE TOTAL DEBT IS $137319.

    7. OBJECTIVE #7: Building improvements:
       A Building Committee was set up for this purpose. Some improvements have been made but there
       is still a lot of work to do. Briefly, the improvements that we made are:

            a. Exterior paving and creation of parking spaces at the rear of the building.

            b. Exterior lighting

            c.   Lighting in the store at the rear exit stair

            d. Creation of an office in the basement

    8. OBJECTIVE #8: Collaboration with similar organisations:
       We need to have more dialogue. Collaboration and cooperation with other similar organizations that
       have similarities to our own organization.
       We just could not find the time to explore this avenue. We hope to work on this, this year.

Tasks that needed the 2008-2009 Board members’ immediate attention upon being elected were:
   1. Moorties were expected to arrive soon after the April 2008 election.
       As such it was important to review and make a decision on the options for the installation of these
       Moorties.

           Option 1 was to extend the building. The AGM had agreed to the extension subject to the cost
            not exceeding $35000 for:

                 o   Extending the building on the North side and building the necessary platforms for the
                     Moorties.

                 o   Creating Parking at the rear (North side) of the building

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            o   BUILDING A clothes closet/room by extending the building Eastward at the front
                entrance vestibule.

       Option 2: Build the platforms for the Moorties inside the building.

    The Board reviewed both options and unanimously decided to drop the option to extend the
    building. The reasons for dropping this option were:
         Inspection of the building was carried out by two well respected practicing professional
             structural engineers. They both indicated that opening up the North wall would be
             problematic and costly to fix. Also no action should be taken before a detailed structural
             study and design is undertaken. This meant significant additional costs as well as delays in
             getting the necessary work done.

           If upon opening the existing wall, it became necessary to implement “asbestos
            containment” the cost would certainly be prohibitive.

           Earlier I had a meeting with a practicing professional architect, who also indicated that
            opening up any of the walls on such an old building would be highly risky and could not be
            recommended.

    The platform and supports for the Moorties were built to the SPECIFIC requirements of Panditji, but
    because of complaints about the heights of the Moorties, the platform and supports were lowered.
    The Moorties are now installed and Panditji will be deciding upon the Pran Pratishta dates very
    soon.
    In closing, I would like to thank my fellow Board members, Panditji, the volunteers and all the
    members of the association for their support. THANK YOU.
    Pramod Sood – President

    Please contact me or any of the Board members with your suggestions, questions or for that
    matter constructive criticism. Also do let us know if you can help us in any way whatsoever.
    There is a lot to do and extra hands can only help.

                                        Community Events
Seniors Club:

“Every Wednesday from 10.30am to 2.00pm, seniors get together at our Mandir for social, recreational
and physical exercise type of activities. Pot luck lunch is always served. There is no charge and all
seniors are welcome. For more information, please contact Mrs. Srishta Khosla at 613 224 5271.


        Upcoming Events – Please Mark your Calendar
                                 Ram Janm Celebration
                           108 Ramayan Manka Path)
                            (
                         Friday, April 3rd, 2009 - 6 pm to 8pm

                                    Sundar Kand Path
                    (First Tuesday of Every Month)
            Next Path- Tuesday April 7th, 2009 - 6 pm to 8pm
                                Satya Narayan Vrat Katha
                         Every full Moon Day (Pooranmasi)
                        Thursday April 9th, 2009, 6 pm to 8pm
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