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West Texas Hindus Create an HHE Endowment

October-November-December 2010 Newsletter


West Texas Temple The Hindu Association of West Texas temple building in Midland, Texas

We asked Nick Nipan Shroff, MD, a founding member of the Hindu Association of West Texas, to talk about the Hindu community his temple serves. Here are excerpts.

We performed the ceremonial groundbreaking in 2005 and celebrated the formal Prana Pratishtha in a traditional Vedic ceremony in July 2007. Our Hindu community uses our mandir as a place of worship, and our in-house priest conducts puja at least twice a day. This Radha-Krishna Temple's a landmark achievement is the hub of our community. It links the younger generation to their Hindu heritage and helps integrate the Hindu community with American society. We invite our West Texas friends and students from neighboring schools to visit and become familiar with our philosophy and culture. We serve about 250 Hindu families, primarily from Midland (population 110,000) and Odessa. Other families come to the mandir from other neighboring towns.

Our families identify with different Deities, so we have several in our mandir: Radha-Krishna, Rama-Sita, Shiva-Parvati, Ganesh, Venkatesh Balaji, Aiyappa, Durga Mata, Lakshmi and Saraswati. However, we revere these Deities as different aspects of the same Divinity. Our mandir has been blessed by visits of many spiritual leaders, including HDH Pramukh Swami, Swami Jyotirmayananda, Swami Tejomayananda, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Swami Purushotthamananda, Acharya Nanavaty and others.

Why did you establish a fund at Hindu Heritage Endowment (HHE)?

We recognized that we must plan for long-term maintenance of the temple and ongoing support of its activities. Our council of trustees and board of directors wanted to bring the Hindu community in our area together. We want our young people to experience our culture and heritage, not just read about it. We also hope to expand the Bal Vihar youth and yoga programs. It is challenging to develop such long-term initiatives without an endowment fund.

Why did you select HHE to manage your fund? What are the goals?

It made sense to us to establish an endowment with a respected organization that would provide for the temple long term. We felt very comfortable when we spoke to Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami about this, and he encouraged us to look at the HHE website.

The fund provides for the maintenance, repair and improvement of the temple and its associated facilities. Grants may begin when the endowment reaches fifty thousand dollars, or ten years from the establishment of the fund, whichever comes first. Until then, all fund earnings will build principal. When the fund reaches $100,000, grants may be used to cover any line-item in our budget.

Several members of HAWT, including me, subscribe to Hinduism Today and through it learned about HHE and the importance of an endowment for a religious organization. Two of our members, Mrunal and Padmaja Patel, have visited Kauai's Hindu Monastery several times. Upon their invitation, Bodhinatha graciously visited Midland twice, and we learned more about his teachings, the monastery and HHE.

To learn how you can support the temple through a will, life insurance or other planned gifts, contact Shanmuganathaswami at 808-822-3012, extension 244 or hhe@hindu.org. Donate to the HAWT endowment (fund #80) at www.hheonline.org.

April to June Endowment Contributions

Kauai Aadheenam Monastic Endowment
Heather Amison 700.00
Darlene Bolesny 20.00
Tina Desai 300.00
Vasudeva Gokaraju 1,000.00
Roshan Harilela 375.00
Mira Das & R. Mahalingam 250.00
Natraj Narayanswami 33.67
Niraj Thaker 76.50
Michael Zimmermann 22.50
Other Donations 24,922.23
Total 27,699.90
Iraivan Temple Endowment
Joel Ader 50.00
Roger Brown 40.00
Mohit Dhingra 101.00
Latha Kannan 153.00
Nalini Ganapati Kodpadi 44.00
Shiva Shanker Krishna Murthy 51.00
Gaurav Malhotra 50.00
Sankara Skandanatha 80.00
Pregassen Soobramaney 30.00
Niraj Thaker 76.50
Ritesh Varma 20.00
Raja Vishnu 110.33
Other Donations 59,160.66
Total 59,966.49
Kauai Aadheenam Annual Archana Fund
Arumugam Alagan 230.03
Hemakheshaa Naatha Batumallah 14.00
Mekaladeva Batumallah 14.00
Visen Candasamy 14.71
Gunavadee Caremben 2.45
Somasundaram Caremben 2.45
Sukanta Caremben 2.45
Rudiren Carpanen Pillay 204.00
Sharath Chigurupati 369.00
Victoria Lynne Johnson 17.00
Nalini Ganapati Kodpadi 17.00
Saravan Koothan 9.15
Bala Krishna 129.50
Fremont Lawrence 20.00
Selven Maureemootoo 32.81
Tiviapragassen Maureemootoo 173.19
Ananda Mootoocurpen 250.00
Dayavati Murugan 80.00
Natraj Narayanswami 12.50
Toshadevi Nataraja 40.00
Parmeseven Pareatumbee 46.88
Eesan Pasupathi 93.02
Subramaniam Pennathur 49.98
Rudiren Carpanen Pillay 180.00
Devaladevi Sivaceyon 6.18
Hemavalli Sivalingam 2.78
Anonymous 21.00
Total 2,034.08
Hinduism Today Lifetime Subscription Fund
Rudiren Carpanen Pillay 170.00
Achal & Amrith Channarasappa 499.00
Maria S. Dara 160.00
M R Ghanta 499.00
Kamala Guhan 841.00
Lalita Devi Gurumurthi 495.00
Sasha & Sudhanva Hegde 800.00
Vanore Lawrence 338.00
Ananda Mootoocurpen 125.00
Dayavati Murugan 25.00
Kirtideva Peruman 18.66
Niroshnee Peruman 23.33
Sudha Prakash 240.00
Elamurugu Porselvi Ramachandran 240.00
Raghu S. Rao 499.00
Jayasutha Samuthiran 84.22
Anupkumar Shetty 160.00
Egambrum Sinsamy 44.12
Nutanaya Sivaceyon 6.18
Patudeva Sivaceyon 6.18
Lavanadevi Sivam 51.00
Potriyan Sivanathan 12.27
Uma Sivanathan 156.00
Narendra Utukuri 499.00
Siven Veerasamy 47.06
Sharad Wagle 80.00
Total 6,119.02
Hindu Businessmen's Association Trust
Paramaseeven Canagasaby 6.53
Vel Mahalingum 11.76
Manogaran Mardemootoo 29.42
Total 47.71
Hindu of the Year Fund
Valli Alahan 14.00
Boys School for Iraivan Priesthood
Bala Sivaceyon 11.43
Kauai Aadheenam Matavasi Medical Fund
Shyamadeva Dandapani 84.00
Nalini Ganapati Kodpadi 50.00
Kulagan Moonesawmy 22.40
Gowri Nadason 109.04
Vayudeva Varadan 72.00
Other Donations 4,800.00
Total 5,137.44
Sri Subramuniya Kottam Fund
Anonymous 50.00
Rishi Thondunathan 300.00
Total 350.00
Kumbhalavalai Ganesha Temple Endowment
Anonymous 50.00
Mano Navaratnarajah 75.00
Total 125.00
Hinduism Today Production Fund
Vinay Aggarwal 150.00
Tina Desai 300.00
Hiranya Gowda 93.00
Nalini Ganapati Kodpadi 25.00
Devdatta & Swati Mhaiskar 8.00
Subramaniam Pennathur 50.01
Total 626.01
Hindu Orphanage Endowment Fund
Roshan Harilela 375.00
Nalini Ganapati Kodpadi 17.00
Rupali Mohansingh 21.00
Natraj Narayanswami 33.67
Alex Ruberto 75.00
Sivakumar Saravan 50.00
Rodney & Ilene Standen 30.00
Niraj Thaker 51.00
Raja Vishnu 110.34
Himanshu Vyas 108.00
Matthew Wieczork 210.00
Michael Zimmermann 7.50
Total 1,088.51
Hindu Education Endowment
Natraj Narayanswami 12.50
Hasu N. & Hansa H. Patel 100.00
Total 112.50
Suntheram Family Trust Fund
Ramachandran Suntheram 1,500.00
Hindu Press International Endowment Fund
Hiranya Gowda 63.00
Loving Ganesha Distribution Fund
Mano Navaratnarajah 75.00
Gassa Patten 1,350.00
Anonymous 55.00
Total 1,480.00
Saiva Agamas Trust
Ganga Sivanathan 210.00
Positive Discipline Endowment
Vinaya Alahan 100.00
Tirumular Sannidhi Preservation Fund
Shyamadeva Dandapani 84.00
Alaveddy Pasupatheeswarar Temple Fund
Anonymous 50.00
Hindu Heritage Endowment Administrative Fund
Sitara Alahan 108.00
Vinaya Alahan 715.00
Arvind Chandrakantan 501.00
Rama Reddy 101.00
Total 1,425.00
Kauai Aadheenam Religious Art and Artifacts Fund
Rajadeva Alahan 153.00
Thank You Bodhinatha Fund
Anonymous 3,999.50
Hotranatha Ajaya 11.00
Tina Desai 216.00
Amarnath & Latha Devarmanai 324.00
Lalita Eswaran 11.00
Nalini Ganapati Kodpadi 19.00
Rathinappillai Logeswaran 50.00
Rajkumar Manickam 30.00
Lisa Marston 108.00
Natraj Narayanswami 29.50
Mano Navaratnarajah 150.00
Shanta Devi Periasamy 420.00
Alex Ruberto 45.00
Aran Sambandar 54.00
Ramesh Sivanathan 15.32
Kannan Srikanth 2,230.00
Niraj Thaker 51.00
Vayudeva Varadan 84.00
Ritesh Varma 20.00
Raja Vishnu 109.33
Total 7,976.65
Mathavasi Travel Fund
Rajendra Giri 85.00
Udayan Care Endowment Fund
Rajendra Giri 10.00
Srikrishnan Venkataraman 35.00
Total 45.00
Saivite Hindu Scriptural Fund for the Visually Impaired
Rajendra Giri 85.00
Devdatta & Swati Mhaiskar 8.00
Alex Ruberto 60.00
Total 153.00
Sri Chandra Madhab Debnath Endowment
Shyamal Chandra Debnath 150.00
Devdatta & Swati Mhaiskar 8.00
Total 158.00
Manitha Neyam Trust Fund
Bala Sivaceyon 12.36
Taos Hanuman Fund
Devdatta & Swati Mhaiskar 8.00
Kapaleeshwara Temple Orphanage
Rajkumar Alagesan 120.00
Chiranjevi Raparla 55.00
Michael Zimmermann 15.00
Total 190.00
Manjung Hindu Sabha Orphanage Fund
Isani Alahan 54.00
Anonymous 108.00
Devdatta & Swati Mhaiskar 8.00
Poumagal Pillay Mootoosamy 100.00
Sivakumar Saravan 50.00
Thiru Satkunendran 50.00
Marianne Hvidsten Thompson 40.00
Total 410.00
Pazhassi Balamandiram Orphanage Fund
Mohit Dhingra 108.00
Stacy Herr 40.00
Devdatta & Swati Mhaiskar 8.00
Chiranjevi Raparla 85.00
Total 241.00
Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple of Utah Endowment Fund
Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple of Utah Trustees2,500.00
Devdatta & Swati Mhaiskar 8.00
Total 2,508.00
Swami Vipulananta Children's Home Endowment
Anonymous 50.00
Hinduism Today Complimentary Subscription Fund
Hiranya Gowda 153.00
Rajagopal Krishnan 60.00
Devdatta & Swati Mhaiskar 8.00
Michael Zimmermann 22.50
Total 243.50
Himalayan Academy Book Distribution Fund
Arvind Chandrakantan 1,001.00
Shyamadeva Dandapani 84.00
Hitesvara Saravan 51.00
Total 1,136.00
Kauai Aadheenam Yagam Fund
Victoria Lynne Johnson 17.00
Natraj Narayanswami 16.66
Anonymous 10.50
Total 44.16
Yogaswami Hindu Girls' Home of Sittandy Endowment
Isani Alahan 54.00
Vinaya Alahan 100.00
Jeri Arin 300.00
Danie Beaulieu 375.00
Marlene Carter 162.00
Anonymous 174.00
Tina Desai 300.00
Rajendra Giri 10.00
Marion Karimjooy Borhani 90.86
Nalini Ganapati Kodpadi 19.00
Poumagal Pillay Mootoosamy 100.00
Natraj Narayanswami 25.00
Subramaniam Pennathur 50.01
Ananthakumar Renganathan 100.00
Ganga Sivanathan 150.00
Thambyrajah Subramaniam 99.03
Soma Sundaram 20.00
Niraj Thaker 51.00
Total 2,179.90
Siva Poomi School Trust
Devdatta & Swati Mhaiskar 8.00
Yogaswami Hindu Boys' Home Fund
Vinaya Alahan 100.00
Kugendra Canaganayagam 60.00
Anonymous 129.00
Nalini Ganapati Kodpadi 50.00
Poumagal Pillay Mootoosamy 100.00
Natraj Narayanswami 12.50
Ananthakumar Renganathan 100.00
Niraj Thaker 51.00
Total 602.50
India Hindu Tribals Endowment
Niraj Thaker 15.00
Murugan Temple of North America Puja Fund
Vayudeva Varadan 72.00
Ramanathaswamy Temple Cleaning Fund
Vinaya Alahan 100.00
Danyse Crotti 150.00
Hiranya Gowda 99.00
Manogaran Mardemootoo 117.64
Toshadevi Nataraja 20.00
Anonymous 50.00
Ganga Sivanathan 300.00
Niraj Thaker 33.00
Total 869.64
Hindu American Foundation Endowment
Niraj Thaker 33.00
Cows of Kadavul and Iraivan Temples (Kovil Maadu) Endowment
Sitara Alahan 108.00
Rajendra Giri 85.00
Nalini Ganapati Kodpadi 86.00
Niraj Thaker 51.00
Total 330.00
Hindu Association of West Texas Endowment
HAWT Trustees 10,000.00
Pakistan Hindu Empowerment Fund
Arvind Chandrakantan 2,500.00
Insurance Premiums
Mrunal Patel 3,003.00
Kauai Aadheenam Renovation Endowment
Other Donations 600.00
Total Contributions $141,870.80
Funds at Market Value, June 30, 2010
Total Endowment Funds $8,231,487.84
Total Pooled Income Funds $198,556.02
Grand Total $8,430,043.86

MISSION STATEMENT

Hindu Heritage Endowment is a publicly supported, charitable organization recognized as tax exempt by the IRS on April 22, 1994. Employer ID 99-0308924. Founded by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, its philanthropic mission is to provide secure, professionally managed financial support for institutions and religious leaders of all lineages of Sanatana Dharma.

PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS

Halbert/Hargrove, Investment Counsel; Sonoda & Isara, LLP, CPA. HHE is a member of the Council on Foundations, an association of more than 2,000 foundations which interprets relevant law and management and investment principles, and of the National Committee on Planned Giving, the voice and professional resource for the gift planning community.

I want to participate. Where should I Send My Donation?

You may send your gift to an existing fund, create a new Endowment or request information through the address below.

Donations may be made online at www.hheonline.org or use the HHE tear-out card in the HINDUISM TODAY magazine to join our family of benefactors who are Strengthening Hinduism Worldwide. Thank you.

 
Kautiliya Fund

The Kautiliya Endowment

Provides youth scholarships for monastic or priest training at Kauai Aadheenam

Global Human Rights

The Endowment for Global Hindu Rights

Helps support the Hindu American Foundation's Hindu human rights efforts

Bodhinatha Fund

The Thank You Bodhinatha Fund

Helps provide free murthis to temples and gifts of religious books

Taos

The Taos Hanuman Fund

Helps preserve the Hanuman statue and assure that its worship is continued, generation after generation

Planned Giving Guidance

Community Property and Joint Tenancy: Why the Way You Hold Property Matters

Use Giving Assistant to save money and support Hindu Heritage Endowment