The SHORT, SHORT version -- Your Local Health Care and Hospice

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

 

It has been brought to my attention that there were too many words

(1500) in our presentation about Your Local Devotee Health Care and

Hospice at your temple location. Some felt that more of you would be

interested in reading it and helping, if we made it shorter and easier

to read. Therefore, I have given you two (2) shorter versions, below

and attached (300 words and 600 words respectively).

 

*Please read this*, and if you yourself are not able to volunteer, then

please speak with others in your temple area and ask them to please

volunteer. This is not difficult and anyone (even a child) can do it,

even if you are already doing other service---only an hour or two per

month is required.

 

Please send this letter to your Indian and householder congregation,

that maybe they will volunteer.

 

– ys Yadunandana Pada Dasa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Your Local Temple Health Care and Hospice

 

 

The little, SHORT, SHORT Version

(300 words)

 

Service to the devotees is *the* highest service.

 

 

Just an hour of your time each month can establish and maintain a health

care and hospice program for the devotees of your local temple, to whom

each of us are indebted for their services to the Lord and to this

movement.

 

THE GOOD NEWS: A GBC-established committee for addressing the health

care needs of temple devotees has created a non-profit clinic for the

devotees in Miami, with another soon to follow in Atlanta, and beyond.

(Progress can be seen at: HYPERLINK

"http://www.spiritualstrategicplanningteam.com/in/healthcare.html"

\nhttp://www.spiritualstrategicplanningteam.com/in/healthcare.html)

 

THE BAD NEWS: Until those programs reach your city, there is no

established health care program for the devotees. Although temples may

afford doctor visits, catastrophic care is still non-existent!

 

WE HAVE A PRACTICAL SOLUTION exemplified by the existing and successful

Temporary Vrindavan Hospice program (HYPERLINK

"http://www.buddhiyoga.org/Hospice'>http://www.buddhiyoga.org/Hospice" \nwww.buddhiyoga.org/Hospice). The

Hospice program collects small donations from many donors on a *monthly*

basis and has, in the last year, been able to assist seven (7) devotees

in need of hospice, funerary, and medical services.

 

YOU CAN NOW DO THIS FOR YOUR TEMPLE (very easily): 1-3 volunteers from

each temple community will learn our simple, easy program, which is

carried out primarily over the internet and is mostly automated by

HYPERLINK "http://www.paypal.com/"www.PayPal.com. We will help you set

up everything, and we will be available for support or advice.

 

WHAT YOU WILL DO: [between one (1) hour to three (3) hours *per month*

(tops) for one person]

1. You will approach potential donors in your congregation via

email, phone, announcements, in person, letters, etc., and ask them to

sign up for a small monthly subscription donation, of $5, $12, $27,

etc., through HYPERLINK "http://www.paypal.com/"www.PayPal.com with

their credit or debit card.

2. You handle all funds which remain in the PayPal account until

you give PayPal instructions to distribute the funds. You record each

incoming donation from your email unto the online spreadsheet, which we

provide for you.

3. Finally, you will need to find a local insurance broker for a

premium health plan that covers catastrophic hospitalization as well as

some general care, and then sign up those who qualify as full time

temple devotees. I can help you with this action item as well.

 

Please contact me and I will get you started

 

Sincerely and with a twig between my teeth,

 

Your friend and servant,

Yadunandana Pada Dasa

HYPERLINK "yadu (AT) yadu (DOT) org"yadu (AT) yadu (DOT) org

HYPERLINK "http://www.buddhiyoga.org/" \nhttp://www.buddhiyoga.org/

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Your Local Temple Health Care and Hospice

 

The Regular SHORT Version

(600 words)

 

Service to the devotees is *the* highest service.

 

Just an hour of your time each month can establish and maintain a health

care and hospice program for the devotees of your local temple, to whom

each of us are indebted for their services to the Lord.

 

THE GOOD NEWS:

A GBC-established committee for addressing the health care needs of

temple devotees has created a non-profit clinic for the devotees in

Miami, with another soon to follow in Atlanta, and beyond. This

committee is researching other health care strategies as well, and plans

to later expand such programs to temples outside the U.S. (HYPERLINK

"http://www.spiritualstrategicplanningteam.com/in/healthcare.html"

\nhttp://www.spiritualstrategicplanningteam.com/in/healthcare.html).

 

THE BAD NEWS:

However, these plans do take time to research, plan, and implement, and

meanwhile, there are no health insurance plans to cover at least

catastrophic hospitalization for most temples, what to speak of general

medical care. Many temples can barely cover an occasional doctor’s

visit or small emergency, and devotees must often resort to using the

low-quality public health care programs designed to serve the homeless

and impoverished, or fall back on the financial support of their

families.

 

WE HAVE A PRACTICAL SOLUTION to this problem, which is already proven in

the form of the Temporary Vrindavan Hospice program (HYPERLINK

"http://www.buddhiyoga.org/Hospice'>http://www.buddhiyoga.org/Hospice" \nwww.buddhiyoga.org/Hospice). The

Hospice program collects small donations from many donors on a monthly

basis and has, in the last year, been able to assist seven (7) devotees

in need of hospice, funerary, and medical services. This program has

been successful for two reasons: 1) the generous hearts of our donors,

and 2) that we ask only a very small amount from each individual per

month [$5, $12, $27, etc.]. This approach allows many to participate

whom may otherwise feel themselves financially unable to assist. We

even have individuals on public assistance who manage to donate

regularly to the Hospice. Our ongoing program has been a huge success

and a sobering reality.

 

YOU CAN NOW DO THIS FOR YOUR TEMPLE. We would now like to help

implement similar programs for the resident devotees of each temple.

Such programs will naturally be dependent upon the Indian congregation,

life members, and independent householders living around each temple for

their establishment and maintenance, so we are looking for *1-3

volunteers from each temple community* who would like to do this

service. Our simple, easy program is carried out primarily over the

internet and is mostly *automated* by PayPal.com. We will help you set

up the PayPal account and online spreadsheets, we will teach you how to

use these easy tools, and we will be available for any needed support or

advice.

 

WHAT YOU WILL DO: [between one (1) hour to three (3) hours *per month*

for one person]

1. You will approach potential donors in your congregation via

email, phone, announcements, in person, letters, etc., and ask them to

sign up for a small monthly subscription donation, of $5, $12, $27,

etc., through HYPERLINK "http://www.paypal.com/"www.PayPal.com with

their credit or debit card. (this is a one-time action. The small

donations get debited monthly from the donors’ bank account)

2. You handle all funds, which remain in the PayPal account until

you give PayPal instructions to distribute the funds. You record each

incoming donation from your email unto the online spreadsheet, which we

provide for you.

3. Finally, you will need to find a local insurance broker for a

premium health plan that covers catastrophic hospitalization as well as

some general care, and then sign up those who qualify as full-time

temple devotees. I can help you with this action item as well

 

If you are interested in volunteering to help your local temple devotees

in this manner, please contact me and I will get you started. This is a

very rewarding service, and also one that is much needed. Our formula

does in fact work, but not without you! Please volunteer and contact me

as soon as possible. I am more than happy to assist you and answer any

questions you may have.

 

Sincerely and with a twig between my teeth,

 

Your friend and servant,

Yadunandana Pada Dasa

HYPERLINK "yadu (AT) yadu (DOT) org"yadu (AT) yadu (DOT) org

HYPERLINK "http://www.buddhiyoga.org/" \nhttp://www.buddhiyoga.org/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The (original) Long and detailed Version

(1500 words)

 

Your Local Temple Health Care an Hospice

 

We Need a Volunteer from Every Temple...

..to Serve Your Local Ashram Devotees with Health Care. We say that

‘service to the devotees is the highest service;’ perhaps this is your

opportunity to spend an hour each week on performing the highest

yajña-sacrifice and offering to the Lord.

The Good news is that the GBC, headed by Badrinarayana Prabhu and Murari

Gupta Prabhu from Miami, have indeed begun researching very practical

strategies for the long-term procurement of health care for the asrama

devotees and temple householders in the United States, with the plan of

later expanding to other non socialized nations. These contingencies

are, in my opinion, very realistic for the long-term and we ask everyone

to encourage and support the leaders to continue such development.

There are a dozen mature, qualified and professional devotees

researching options and developing practical models. An excellent

example is a model already working in Miami, where a non-profit clinic

run by Murari Gupta Prabhu is already providing all the health care

needs for the local temple, exclusively from their non-profit proceeds

at the clinic itself. This same model is in the process of being

cloned at Alachua in the not too distant future and then to other cities

in the USA. This particular prospect is truly very exciting and Murari

Gupta Prabhu has already proven his capability and success in the Miami

working model.

Other such strategies are being researched and you will be able to read

about them as they develop, on HYPERLINK

"http://www.spiritualstrategicplanningteam.com/in/healthcare.html."http:

//www.spiritualstrategicplanningteam.com/in/healthcare.html.

However, the bad news is that for the ‘short-term’, here and now, there

are no health insurance plans to cover at least catastrophic

hospitalization for most temples, what to speak of general medical care.

True, in a lot of cases, if one is in good standing with the local

temple and is part of the core ashram, the temple president will pay for

regular doctor office visits and small emergencies, *if* the money is

available. Although, we know that many times those funds are just not

available or earmarked for these needs, because ‘festivals need to go on

and buildings need to be maintained.’ Moreover, there is no

catastrophic hospitalization plan and devotees are fated to lower

quality care that is set aside for the homeless and impoverished, with

longer waiting periods and less qualified health care professionals,

sometimes in bad facilities. In some extreme cases devotees who are

seriously injured just have to go back home to their parents or families

who then brunt the cost of their care.

There *are* insurance policies out there that would cost the temples

literally pennies out of each incoming dollar to maintain the health

care of the devotees. The problem is having to “Rob Peter to pay Paul.”

Most temples are already under-budgeted and it is difficult for some to

justify downgrading festivals or preaching programs for the sake of such

new programs, which we are so accustomed to doing without for so long,

and which are yet to be proven.

So, I have a practical solution. This solution has already proven

itself in the form of the Temporary Vrndavan Hospice (HYPERLINK

"http://www.buddhiyoga.org/Hospice'>http://www.buddhiyoga.org/Hospice"www.buddhiyoga.org/Hospice). We have

succeeded in collecting very small amounts from a number of devotees

each month globally ($5 or $12, $27) to secure larger amount of funds

for the hospice of dying devotees in Vrndavan. For the last five

months, we have been able to collect and distribute funds to help six

(6) devotees in need of hospice, funerals, and even medical care and

operations. The program has been quite successful because the hearts of

the donors are tremendous and the amounts collected from each person

monthly are extremely minimal. We even have donors on public

assistance who are still able to give a few dollars each month. At the

end of the month, we have a substantial resource of funds to help

devotees in need. This is a huge success and a sobering reality.

I would like to offer the congregations of each temple the opportunity

to take this service into their own hands and drive a donation fund for

their city or locale that will be exclusively used for the health care

and hospice needs of their local temple and asrama devotees. After

careful consideration, I and those who advise me, have concluded that

the Indian community, life members, and independent householder

disciples of each temple location would be best suited to effectively

and successfully perform this very important Seva for the devotees of

Lord Krsna.

We hereby ask you, the reader, to help us find a member or a small group

of members from your community to please volunteer one hour a month to

run and maintain a very similar monthly donation fund as we have done

with the Temporary Vrndavan Hospice. It is quite simple and incredibly,

incredibly easy. It is all done on-line over the internet and it is

mostly all automated by PayPal.com. There is very little for you to do

after asking your friends and congregation to to a monthly

donation of around $12 from their debit or credit cards each month. The

biggest reward is in watching the hearts of the congregation open up

with compassion and their will to render this important and valuable

service to help those devotees in need. This experience builds

incredible family bonds among those involved and those whom we are

helping. We have seen this and are experiencing great love and

affection among our donors and with those families whom we are helping

with the Vrndavan Hospice Fund.

I will personally help you set up a PayPal account and help you, if

needed, to write promotional letters and assurances to your

congregations of your intentions and of our transparency and

accountability. Our existing model will testify to that. The PayPal

account will act as a transparent escrow account where the funds will be

kept until properly distributed each month to pay for the health care

insurance policies and hospice needs of your local devotees. You will

handle all the funds and I will always be there, if needed for support

or advice.

Ideally, we are asking for one or two volunteers, from each temple

congregation around the United States, either from your local Indian

community, life members, or independent grhastas who have some social

access to the rest your local congregation. One task is to approach

people via email, phone, in person, letters, etc. to kindly give around

$12 each month by going to your new Paypal.com account and subscribing a

monthly donation. Another task is to post the donations on a very

simple and user-friendly online spreadsheet (which I will provide for

you), identical to the one we use for the Hospice fund. A third, but

one-time, task will be to find a local insurance broker and a premium

health plan that covers catastrophic hospitalization as well as some

general care, and then sign up those devotees who qualify as full time

temple devotees. I can help you with this action item as well. The

monthly premium payment will go directly from the donation fund to the

Insurance Company. All this could be handled by one person, very

part-time; but, it would be ideal to have a small 2-3 person team-effort

to minimize the work and help watch over the entire operation. It is

actually quite fun; those who are helping me with the Vrndavan Hospice

Fund are genuinely happy with this service, knowing that they are

touching a lot of hearts and making others feel appreciated and safe.

This is a very rewarding Seva for all.

If you are interested in volunteering to help your local temple devotees

in this manner, please contact me and I can show you how and where to

begin. I will even personally assist in setting up each temple’s fund

online as we have done with ours. Our formula works, please volunteer

and contact me as soon as possible.

You can contact me at HYPERLINK "yadu (AT) yadu (DOT) org"yadu (AT) yadu (DOT) org and

visit our web site at HYPERLINK

"http://www.buddhiyoga.org/"http://www.buddhiyoga.org/. I am sure I can

answer all your questions and that you will find a place in your heart

for this very personal Seva to the Lord.

All glories to Krsna’s devotees, they are very few and very delicate,

and they always need our help.

Sincerely and with a twig between my teeth,

 

Your friend and servant,

Yadunandana Pada Dasa

HYPERLINK "yadu (AT) yadu (DOT) org"yadu (AT) yadu (DOT) org

HYPERLINK "http://www.buddhiyoga.org/" \nhttp://www.buddhiyoga.org/

 

 

 

 

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