Submitted by Philip Lindstrom, Chair, Subud CA at Palo Alto
Subud Palo Alto and Susila Dharma USA sponsored a fundraising event for Susila Dharma humanitarian projects on September 23. The idea started with Palo Alto’s desire to hold an event which would engage the group with a better understanding of the causes that Susila Dharma supports, rather than simply writing a check.
As it was our first venture into “fundraising”, we had second thoughts about how it would come together, but managed to pull through because we had already sent out the invitations! We were very pleased when we had 36 in attendance and participation from several other centers.
The event started with latihan, where the women tested the meaning of charity. This was followed by social time and a delicious Indonesian buffet.
After dinner, we enjoyed brief presentations on several initiatives including:
- Aminah Herrman, Chair of SD USA, highlighted “Kitchen Gardens,” a project being managed through a group of schools in India in which students learn to grow food to supplement their families’ diet.
- Mardiah Tarantino encouraged people to connect with the Elderberry project to visit and support our ageing Subud community
- Henrietta Haines gave an update on Walnut Creek’s Venezuela Relief project.
We raised $2,700 during the evening for Susila Dharma. To top it off, that amount is being matched by both the Palo Alto and Portland.
The muscle behind the fundraising came from Benedict Herrman who led the Chinese auction. Many thanks to all who helped pull this off and special thanks to the Palo Alto organizing team including Alexandra Boyer, Doug and Lianne Card, Lalia Helmer, Irena Olender, Dennis and Manuel Oliver, Rifka Several, Elizabeth Trudell, and Humphrey Williams.
SDUSA would welcome an invitation from centers to come visit and give a similar presentation. We hope that this type of grassroots fundraiser social may inspire events in other Subud communities.
