Here is the update from Vicki Ruben regarding some recent holiday donations to support the “Adopt a Family” effort from Saint John’s Program for Real Change.

Although this project was launched on short notice and not “officially” organized by SIM, thanks to the donations of this giving community we were able to jointly raise about $420. With Barbara Colton single handedly taking on the wish list for the youngest child we were able to most of the wishes for this family. Funds that came in after the shopping was completed, as well as an extra pair of rain boots, were funneled to other families in need at St. John’s. Thank you for trusting me to run with this project; it was truly an honor and a joy.

If you’re curious, or if you gave a donation through Vicki, here are some details on the shopping distribution:

• Brenda, a 9 year old girl Brenda received a dress for church, rain boots, tennis racket and balls, craft set to make bracelets, and a scrapbook and stickers.
• Her nine year old twin brother Brandon received nice pants and shirt, two sets of Legos, a science kit, and the twister game.
• The seven year old girl Bethaney received two or three sets of pants and shirts, socks, under wear, baby doll, troll stuff, troll giant coloring book, and rain boots.
• The mom received bras and underwear, black tennis shoes, faith based journal, and personal hygiene items as requested by her.
• As a family they received a 120 piece art set, drawing pad, and Scrabble game.

Due to the holiday month we are skipping the regularly scheduled meetings for Monday December 24 and Monday December 31.

NOTE: The Buddhist Recovery Group typically meets every Monday evening.

Today we open the online registration to our six week Beginning Meditation Course that starts January 22, 2019. Here is the Course Flyer in PDF format.

Dear SIM Friends,

We hope this letter finds you well. As we approach the end of the year, we want to share an update from the SIM Board, including milestones from this year and our goals for the coming year. We look forward to working with you to strengthen our community through a renewed focus on expanding opportunities for learning, teaching and practice.

In 2018, SIM hosted two 6-week Beginning Meditation courses, a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course, several new teachers on Thursdays and Saturdays, and a successful Fall Residential Retreat with 36 retreatants. We also encouraged opportunities for community building within the Sangha, such as monthly group dinners, hiking outings and book groups. We are so grateful to each of you for being part of our community and the role you play in making all of this possible.

In 2019, we look forward to building on this strong foundation by increasing support for our teachers. Our goal is to fulfill our mission of offering the best support possible to those in Sacramento practicing in the Insight/Vipassana tradition. To this end, we are expanding our budget to include a Teaching and Development Initiative. This will provide:

• Increased support for our existing faculty, including additional dana for their ongoing commitment and teaching, and resources to support them in their practice; as well as
• Dedicated funding to host new teachers for Thursday evenings, one-day retreats and new courses.

We need your help to accomplish this goal. Our projected budget for 2019, with the addition of the Teaching and Development Initiative, will be more than $65,000. As you plan your year-end giving, please consider supporting SIM by:

• Making a one-time, year-end contribution to support our Teaching and Development Initiative (any amount will help and be appreciated); and/or
• Signing up for a monthly, automatic on-line contribution to SIM. Monthly contributions are key to our long-term financial health, covering basic operating expenses as well as sustaining our Teaching and Development Initiative. If you are already giving through monthly donations, we sincerely thank you!

You can make a donation of any kind at https://sactoinsight.org/what-is-dana/. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our Board members at https://sactoinsight.org/contact-us/.

We look forward to continuing to strengthen our community and our practice together in the coming year.

Warmly,

Sara Denzler
Treasurer, SIM Board of Directors

We are looking forward to seeing all of you at our Annual Holiday Event Thursday evening, December 13th at our Sacramento Dharma Center at 3111 Wissemann Dr, Sacramento, CA 95826. Please go our calendar page for details and to RSVP for yourself and guest(s).

As in our past celebrations, we will enjoy together our vegetarian potluck dinner and, afterwards, contributions of “personal dana”.  Do you have a favorite poem or reading, whether one you’ve written or one you just love?  Do you play a musical instrument, paint, sing, write, dance?  Do you have a special travel experience with photos you might share a few of?  We would love you to offer your passion, skill, or art to our group.

“Personal dana” performances/contributions can be no more than 3 to 5 minutes long.  You must pre-register in order to assure yourself a space.  “Personal dana” contributions do not have to be strictly Buddhist in nature, just whatever comes from your heart. This is a great way to get to know and enjoy each other.  It is also a generous act to share yourself with our sangha community in this way. We have room for only about a dozen performances in all, so please respond soon.