 Ram Das Puri  |
Ram Das Puri
Kartar Singh Khalsa
Herndon VA, U.S.A.
More than a year ago, a small group of people began to project for buildings at Ram Das Puri. First they were working separately - Dr. Sham Rang Singh, as solstice medical director, was working for a medical building, Deva Kaur and Ong Kar Kaur as board members of OYA were working for a new toddlers building. Members of the Summer Solstice Gurdwara missal were working to be able to replace the present floor with a marble floor. And Deva Singh and Kaur were fund raising for the first of the cabins for the Khalsa Youth Camp.
When this project began, my primary interest was in a toddler building. It is something we’ve been working for, for 9 years. Everyone seems to agree the present structure is inadequate and an eyesore.
But as this project has evolved, it has become very exciting to me that we’ve reached the point where we can combine our efforts and do four buildings at once. We’re starting - we’re starting on Ram Das Puri - we’re starting on the Temple Of Steel!
Now, through the Fund Development Office, all these efforts have been able to join together into the Ram Das Puri Building Fund.
But coordinating all this effort, and realizing that everything we do now at Ram Das Puri we want to magnify the magic and sacredness of the land, made us realize we also would need a coordinated building plan for Ram Das Puri.
The medical building 1st phase, we figured, might cost almost $40,000, the toddler building $25,000, the Gurdwara floor almost $6,000, and the Khalsa youth cabin $27,000. The architectural and engineering building plan for Ram Das Puri could cost almost $50,000.
In the first year, $23,000 had been raised and Dasvandh had contributed $25,000. We had a solid start.
Then at Summer Solstice, the general sangat was offered a chance to participate. Within five minutes, all the marble for the Gurdwara (as well as 108 truckloads for the Temple Of Steel) was donated by the sangat of Mexico. Within two days, pledges and contributions reached almost $20,000 and all the rest of the labor and materials for the Gurdwara had been donated. Then Jai Singh of Khalsa Designs, an architectural firm in Millis, Mass. offered to do the site plan; an enormous donation. We will cover engineering and office expenses while he does the project. His generosity brings the site plan figures down from $50,000 to under $10,000.
We need to put the contracts out for bid soon. We want to break ground in the Spring so that the buildings will be up by Solstice. We figure we need almost another $34,000 and then we will need to begin to furnish our new medical building. We will need contributions of every sort from carpet to curtains, from refrigerators to examining tables, and from massage tables to receptionist supplies. For all these donations please contact Dr. Sham Rang Singh at (508) 376-8201.
At Solstice, we offered the sangat a new way to give. This is the way it works. We were suggesting a donation spread over nine months time, so you pick the amount you want to give per month - $36, $54, $108 and write a check for the first month’s payment. Then, by signing the authorization form on the next page, and sending both in to the Office of Fund Development, you authorize your bank to automatically withdraw that amount for eight succeeding months. Your contribution is to Sikh Dharma Dasvandh Ram Das Puri Building Fund and it is tax deductible. You will get a receipt each month from your bank. There is no charge by your bank for this service and only a $.50 per transaction charge to Dasvandh. An incredibly Aquarian, simple way of giving.
Now Dasvandh giving is just as simple too. To switch over your Dasvandh giving to this new system, just fill out the other form on the next page, also. All these are ways of giving and giving opens the heart and soul - opens into the Aquarian Age. Think of all the ways you can give. Write a check and mail it. If you have any questions about any part of this project, please contact me, Kartar Singh (703) 471-6935.