A Fundraiser for Vancouver Buddhist Centre

Vancouver Buddhist Centre has been dependent on the generosity of its pledgers for many years. I, along with others, have donated and continue to do so. During the pandemic, we lost many of our pledgers and income from classes and retreats.

We had to fulfill our two-year lease, paying $2100 monthly for space we could not use.

Sadly, it was financially impossible to keep our doors open. We had to put our stuff in storage and let go of our centre.

For my oh-so 6th decade birthday, I want to raise $1000 for every year I have completed on this planet. This amount will enable us to return to the rental market and have a physical presence for a community that has the highest addiction casualties in North America. More people die from drug overdoses in Vancouver than anywhere else in North America. And during the last two years of the Pandemic, more people have died from drug overdoses than from Covid.

We hope the funds raised will allow us to reestablish our physical presence and regain the momentum we need to become self-sustaining again. Providing a

spiritual and health wellness space alongside other service providers in the field of addiction and trauma.

The Vancouver Buddhist Centre has two structured events weekly (held virtually during and after the pandemic):

Recovery Monday is a meditation evening for people in all forms of recovery. The sessions are an opportunity to explore Buddhist meditation as a tool to help cultivate sobriety of mind. Meditation for people with addiction issues or compulsive behaviors can help calm the mind and heal the heart.

Eight Step Recovery Sundays use Vimalasara’s book, Eight Step Recovery: Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction as the basis for the discussion (similar to the format of AA meetings).

A physical presence is vital to the recovery community and the greater Vancouver sangha. It will provide a place to resume our in-person

Sangha nights and our Sunday meditation sits, as well as other Buddhist centre activities.

I ask you to consider donating to this GoFundMe. The Vancouver Buddhist

Centre is near and dear to my heart and is an essential resource to many in the greater Vancouver area.

Warmly,

Vimalasara