Board Report – Elizabeth
Elizabeth announced that members wanting give Dana to honor David can be sent to Linda Lawson to be applied toward David’s memorial service. Such contributions should be by a check made out to Linda Lawson c/o Still Mountain’s post office box. This is appropriate because Still Mountain teachers helped create the memorial service and participated in it.
The focus of today’s meeting was the Giving Project. Still Mountain members submitted candidates for our Dana to the Board which vetted these. The Board submitted 17 final candidates for approval voting at the Community Meeting. This is the culmination of a three-year process stimulated by David Lawson.
Giving Project money is Dana from Still Mountain that will be sent to the four organizations that Sangha voted on today at the Community meeting.
Dana donations can be sent by check or money order by mail to:
Still Mountain Buddhist Meditation
P. O. Box 130094
Ann Arbor, MI 48113
Donations can also be sent via Pay Pal Giving Fund with either a PayPal account or a credit card. There is a link on the Still Mountain Meditation website: https://stillmountainmeditation.org under the Contact menu by clicking the DONATE NOW button under GIVING.
Voting Process – Kenneth
There is an on-line ballot for members to use for voting. The votes will be kept confidential although members must identify themselves on the ballot to avoid double counting any individual’s votes. Members can vote Y or N for each of the 17 candidates. Kenneth will collate the votes and announce results. Those candidates not having a majority Y vote will be discarded. The top four candidates having majority approval will be sent $750 each.
Each of the candidates for the Giving Project were briefly described by members. The candidates considered were:
- Agahoza-Shalom Youth Village
- Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (Lama Rod Owens)
- Saranaloka Foundation (Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery)
- SOS Community Services
- Awakening Truth (Amma Thanasanti)
- Still Point Zen Buddhist Temple
- Alpha House
- Michigan Immigrant Rights Center
- HouseN2Home
- Buddhist Global Relief
- Buddhist Peace Fellowship
- Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration
- Human Rights Watch
- Heifer
- Smile Train
- Partners in Health
- Doctors Without Borders
Post Script Voting Results
There were exactly four organizations that we were unanimous in our decision to give to them (that is, nobody voted “No” for these organizations). Even though almost all the other proposed organizations received significant support, none were unanimous.
Here are the recipients!
- Agahoza-Shalom Youth Village
- Alpha House
- Michigan Immigrant Rights Center
- HouseN2Home
Our Treasurer sent a donation of $750 to each of these organizations, putting our “excess funds” to good use.