[Kurukulla] Weekend (10/24 & 10/25) - Offerings of Service Opportunities Galore!

Dear Kurukulla Community,

We have so much going on, and we couldn't do it without your help. Thank you for all that you do and for your generous offerings of service and support to the Center! We all need to create much merit in this lifetime, and we're so fortunate to have Kurukulla Center to help us do it together as a community!

Saturday – weather permitting

• Gardening will start at 8:30am, and painting will start around 10 am. Please contact Nick directly (if you haven't already done so) to coordinate, or if you have any questions.
• We've had some questions about what the painting job is all about. You may have noticed paint peeling off the Center outside walls. We're sanding down the peeled areas and touching up the paint to improve the general look of the Center before the relics arrive. We plan to have the entire house painted professionally in the Spring.

Sunday – after class (around noon)

• Stupa Build Out & Filling – The stupa build out has been rescheduled to Sunday afternoon due to the expected bad weather on Saturday. Please come to help Geshe Tsulga, Geshe Tenley and Damchoe put it all together!
• Gompa cleaning – We have seven volunteers signed up already; normally we need 8-10 volunteers. Because the stupa work has been rescheduled to Sunday, Geshe Tenley will be unable to participate in the Gompa cleaning as usual, leaving to Ani Yeshe to coordinate. Thus, it would be ideal if we could have another four volunteers to help Ani Yeshe tackle this big task! As Ani Yeshe mentioned, this cleaning will be both for the Relics Tour and Geshe-la's upcoming Life Long Puja, so double the merit!
• Center cleaning / organizing – To prepare for the Relics Tour we'll need to do some tidying up and rearranging of furniture to make it all fit. We'll need a couple of able-bodied volunteers to help us tackle the heavier pieces. Maybe two people to handle the heavier tasks and two to help Debra, Nick and me with the rest, so four total. The tasks:
  • Move the sofa in the bookstore into the guest room. (heavy task)
  • Move the fridge in the bookstore into the guest room. (heavy task)
  • Move the LYWA books into the bookstore. This task can be done by a couple of people, moving the books first and then the table (which isn't very heavy).
  • Move the tea station out to the corner where the LYWA books are now. (heavy task)
  • Move the stupa donation box down to the basement. This will require carefully dismantling the stupa setup and then moving the donation box downstairs.
  • General tidying up in the living room. The living room will be the first room that people see as they come through the Relics Tour. Therefore, this room needs to be tidy and thoroughly cleaned to give a good first impression into the Center.
• As Nick already mentioned, we'll have pizzas available; or bring your own lunch if you prefer.

Week (10/26 – 10/29)

• During the week we'll need some extra hands to help us prepare the rooms for the Relics Tour. We have a large shipment of things to sell in our bookstore, and Debra could use a hand. This will involve helping her move tables in/out of the room, set up each table, unpack and label/price items, etc.. If you're available during the week (normal daytime hours), please let me know (RelicsTour@Kurukulla.org).
• Depending on how the painting work goes during the weekend, we may need additional help to finish during the week. We'll let you know how things go.
• On Wednesday/Thursday we'd like to have the leaves raked. Please let me know if you can help. The Relics Tour van arrives on Thursday evening.

Relics Tour Setup (Friday, 10/30)

• Starting on Friday at 10 am, we'll need 4-6 able-bodied volunteers to help unload the Relics Tour van and assist in setting up the Relic Tour display. We already have two people signed up to help, so four more volunteers would be great. Please let me know (RelicsTour@Kurukulla.org) if you can help.
  • Total estimated elapsed time to complete the setup is around four hours.
  • If you can only stop by an hour or two (it is a work day after all), please do so!
  • The more hands we have, the faster and easier it will be go tackle the setup; and the more merit to go around!
• The opening ceremony will start at 7pm – I've posted the details about the opening ceremony and overall weekend event details and schedule in our blog. From 7pm Friday forward we'll need all Relics Tour volunteers available. We're looking to have 10-15 volunteers on-site at all times. You don't have to sign up for the entire day/weekend/event; an hour-at-a-time volunteering is a wonderful offering of service! But, I do need a lot of people to help us have sufficient coverage at all times. I'll send a separate notice with details. In the meantime, please read our blog entry for a description of the event volunteer duties involved.

So, no question that we're very busy! And no question of the enormous value of your kind offerings of service and support! Please let me know if I can answer any questions or if I can help you in any way (RelicsTour@Kurukulla.org, or call me). For all that you do, thank you!

Much love,

Sean González,

Assistant Director,

Kurukulla Center