On a First come, First Served Basis

Own a Golden Brick

A Golden Opportunity of a Lifetime!

“Brick by Brick” was the slogan and the operative word that attracted funds and donations for the completion of the wondrous edifices of our national heritage, Lovamahapaya, Mirisavetiya, Ruwanmali Maha Seya, Abhayagiriya, Jetavanaramaya and Thuparamaya that forever changed the skyline of the Holy City of Anuradhapura 2000 plus years ago!

Activities for the construction of the New Mississauga Temple Project have commenced. That the brick by brick strategy of our ancient kings worked is borne out by ample evidence found in the Mahavamsa! Thus, we’ll be erecting a Golden Brick Wall like the Sigiriya Katapath Paura where the names of Golden Brick donors along with other donors of cash, legacy and bequest donors will be inscribed for posterity…

Devotees may dedicate Golden bricks in remembrance of those deceased and in honor of those living as well!

ONLY A LIMITED NUMBER OF GOLDEN BRICKS AVAILABLE! RESERVE YOURS EARLY!

In order to qualify for the mortgage and commence construction activities, we require to raise $ 500,000. At the request of the devotees, the Golden Brick Wall programme was initiated to raise these funds. Each Golden Brick is priced at $500.00 to achieve the sale of 1000 bricks. We are pleased to inform you that to date over 200 bricks have been pre-sold. To timely achieve our objective, kindly return of your pledge by February 28, 2010.

Please make your reservations at the West End Buddhist Cultural Centre by selecting any of the following methods of payment.

1. By Cash -hand over your pledge with cash at the Temple

2. By Cheque - in favour of "Halton-Peel Buddhist Cultural Society"

3. If you are unable to physically visit the Temple or post the Cheque, you can pay by Credit Card through our Credit Card Processing Partner "Canada Helps" http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s70731 (please make sure that you select immediate Payment and add a comment about the name(s) that the Brick(s) are dedicated to i.e. In Memory of .................. or Dedicated to ......................................).

If you are unable to visit the Temple to physically hand over your form within the reservation period, you can make the reservation by sending an email to Bhante Saranapala on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or by calling/fax on (905) 891-8412.

Halton-Peel Buddhist Cultural Society will issue Tax Receipts for all the paid reservations. The Halton-Peel Buddhist Cultural Society reserves the right to limit the number of Golden Bricks in order to give opportunity to a wider audience.

Ven. K. Dhammawasa Nayaka Thera - Viharadhipathi

Bhante (Bhikkhu) Saranapala - Chairperson, Fund-raising New Initiative

Udi Subasinghe & Harsha Caldera - Co-Secretaries, Fund Raising Committee

Attachments:

Golden Brick Reservation Form.pdf	[ ]	94 Kb
Memorial Brick.doc	[ ]	142 Kb

New Temple Initiative Fund Raising Committee Progress

Since its inception in August 2008, the new Fund Raising Committee for the New Temple Premises headed by Bhante Saranapala Thero has made significant progress.

The Fund Raising Committee set few objectives to achieve when it was initially set-up,

· Streamline the Donation Process and secure a steady flow of funds

· Assess fund requirement and set targets to achieve

· Create wider awareness of the new temple projects and requirements of funds

· Establish and pursue ways to increase flow of funds beyond the regular (recurring) donations

During the past few months, we have met over 22 occasions in large as well as small groups and organised or took part in number of initiatives aimed at achieving the above objectives.

In order to facilitate the new initiative, we have established following key infrastructure among other things,

· We created a Mission and Vision for the Fund Raising Committee

· We created a Marketing Plan for fund raising

· We created Committees, Sub Committees, and nominated Subject Matter Experts to carry out various tasks of the mission

· We set up the “Privacy Policy” that governs devotee information and fund-raising

· We set-up a “Non-Disclosure” agreement for those who handle private information of the general public

· Fully computerised Accounting Process, Donor List, and the Communications process

· Revamped the temple website

· Set-up a Donor Drive Desk and a Progress Chart at the temple premises

In order to streamline the donation process,

· We revamped the Donor Form and encouraged every contributor to be a regularly contributing donor

· Introduced Web Based contributions through Credit cards using “Canada Helps”

· Introduced recurring Direct Debit through EFT Canada

In order to create wider awareness of the new initiative,

· We have taken the news of the New Temple related Fund Raising Initiative using many mediums to our devotee base. These include,

o Temple’s News Letter

o Temple’s Website

o Regular email based communication

o Our monks outlining about the initiative in occasions of devotee gathering

· We made many local, provincial, and federal politicians aware of the new initiative by inviting them to meet with the Fund Raising Committee team, as well as inviting them to many initiatives conducted by the temple.

· We created multimedia presentations and made them available to number of audiences as appropriate

Up to now, our focus has been on the above items. From now onwards, we are going to give more emphasis on activities focusing increasing the fund-flow beyond regular recurring donations,

· Establish and pursue Special Events to increase the fund-flow

· Pursue Local, Provincial, Federal, and Institutional grants/funds available under various schemes

· Pursue any other opportunities that would increase our fund situation

All the above achievements were made through voluntary participation of our Devotee Community. At every stage, people rose individually and collectively to help us come this far. Our mission is not yet over. We are committed to our mission, and carry out our duties for the betterment of our future generation by establishing a facility with more space and utility where merit-oriented deeds of the West End Buddhist Centre can by carried out without hindrances.

We seek every devotee of this temple to volunteer to achieve our Mission. You can contribute in many ways and we kindly request you to contact a member of the Fund Raising Committee to learn more.

With much Metta!

Udi Subasinghe –Co Secretary of the Fund Raising Committee 26^th July 2009

Dear Devotees and Well-wishers,

We are making great strides since we launched our fund-raising efforts, thanks to all of your contributions.

The following update will allow you to know what is happening regarding the new premises.

Donor Drive:

With your constant support, we have reached 55% of the desired number of regularly-contributing donors. We understand that there is still a large devotee base that has yet to be reached, and thus seek your help in increasing the number of regularly-contributing donors. This is crucial to making this whole project a reality.

Selling of Existing Premises:

As you may already be aware, after many months of discussion, follow-ups, and constant effort, we have sold the existing premises on favourable terms.

Search For a New Premises:

We are seeking to acquire new premises within a short time-frame. This may mean the acquisition of an existing building and changing it's layout to suit our needs, or purchasing land and building to suit our requirements.

Financial Statements:

A review of the Financial Statements for 2007 & 2008 has been made by a professional accounting firm. The Financial Statements are available for inspection by anyone who wishes to do so.

Annual General Meeting:

The Halton Peel Buddhist Cultural Society is planning to hold the Annual General Meeting soon. The date for this will be announced in the coming weeks.

All and all, we are making constant progress, thanks to your efforts and contributions.

However, since we have already sold the existing premises, there is more pressure on us to accelerate our efforts.

So please let us know how you can further contribute to this noble effort, and kindly share any ideas or suggestions that may help us to accomplish our mission quicker. We look forward to hearing from you.

May you all be well and happy ! Theruwan Saranai !

Rev. K. Dhammawasa - Viharadhipathi

Rev. Bhikkhu Saranapala - Chairperson – New Initiative

Be a pillar of strength in this noble task!

As you may be aware, one of the major issues that we face today is the inadequate nature of our current facility to host various activities conducted by the Vihara. The resident Monks and the Organisers face immense difficulties owing to lack of adequate space when planning and hosting Vihara activities.

With lot of encouragement and enthusiasm from the devotee community of the Vihara, the Halton Peel Buddhist Cultural Society is laying the foundation of acquiring a larger facility in order to address the core issue of lack of space.

A new larger facility means a higher mortgage, and a bigger commitment on our part. In order to secure the mortgage of the new facility, it is of paramount importance to have a regular contributor base to demonstrate steady financial support over the long term.

If you have not already done so, be a pillar of strength of this epochal assignment that benefits everyone as a whole, by being a Regularly Contributing Donor.

You can fill in the Application Form and fax, mail or personally hand over to the Vihara or visit www.WestEndBuddhist.com and sign up through the Vihara’s website to be a Regularly Contributing Donor.

The Resident Monks, The Trustees of the Halton Peel Buddhist Cultural Society, and the Fund-Raising Committee of the Building Project very much value your contribution in making this great endeavour a success!