To Donate by Credit CardTo Donate by CheckPlease send your check payable to "Kurukulla Center" to the address below. Please indicate on your checkthat the donation is for the Building Fund. Kurukulla Center Donating Your TimeOr if you would like to donate time or have questions please contact the center at info@kurukulla.org. Thank you for keeping this vision alive. |
Thirteen years ago, in the late summer of 1998, five or six Kurukulla Center volunteers gathered together to launch a campaign to purchase a building. We had been a "Center in a box" for long enough. The Friends Meeting House in Cambridge was a very convenient place for us, but we were tired of lugging the Center cushions up from the basement, pulling our flimsy (but portable!) altar out of the closet, and unpacking our holy objects from their box. Our beloved teachers also urged us to think, not just of ourselves, but of the benefits that we could bring to all sentient beings in the Boston area in the years to come.
At that first meeting we recognized that we had a ways to go before we would be in a position to purchase property. Our financial records were incomplete and our regular membership rather small (about 30 people). We had at that time an offer of $35,000, if we could raise that much in matching funds. At that time we wondered, "Where will this $35,000 possibly come from?"
Under the guidance of a professional fundraiser, we spent two years stabilizing our finances, fostering a sense of community among our members, and building support for the purchase of a building. In the fall of 2000 when we officially kicked off our fundraising campaign, we had already raised $140,000 towards our goal, along with $75,000 in pledges for the next few years! We felt immense gratitude to our teachers — Geshe Tsulga, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Ribur Rinpoche — whose kind teachings had inspired so many students to participate in building a Center together.
In June of 2001 we purchased an old nursing home at 68 Magoun Avenue in Medford, a town that was unfamiliar to most of us at that time. We began the huge effort of reclaiming the property from its long history of neglect and abuse. It was difficult not to get discouraged from time to time — many carpenters we consulted suggested that we sell the property immediately to avoid the myriad problems we faced. Despite all fears, however, dozens of volunteers labored on and six months later we had a very livable, attractive Center.
Our grand opening in January of 2002 was both the culmination of a great effort and the start of a new chapter in our history. Each year we face new, major challenges — enlarging the gompa, improving the heating system, replacing the roof — along with a constant stream of minor repairs. Through many gifts of volunteer time and money, both large and small, we managed to meet those challenges.
A gift to our Building Fund is not just a gift to ourselves, to those of us who happen to be here now, but to the future, to those who will follow us. We like to try to imagine where Kurukulla Center will be 50 years from now, who will be the students, and who will be the teachers. If one had perfect faith in our teachers and in the Dharma, it might be possible to imagine clearly how bright our future is and how much benefit the Center will bring to Boston.From our experiences of the last five years, we know we'll continue to be amazed at the results of our collective efforts.
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