April 15, 1997

IAAMJV NEWSLETTER

Jai Jinendra. I hope this letter greets you and your family with the best of health and spirits.

Please note that the format of this newsletter has totally changed. Thanks to Chirantan Parikh through whose effort we have been able to get this long over due face lift.

Here are the highlights of the news items and progress we have made since we published the last progress report in October of last year.

Response to our donation appeal:

We are pleased to inform you that the year end 1996 response from our membership to the last newsletter was excellent. Many of you responded generously either by making a new donation or paying off your earlier pledge. Here are some interesting numbers:

Grand total donation to-date: $316,315 (Cash received $278,292, Balance due $38,023) including

Donation from Non-MJV donors: $46,827 (Cash received $42,627, Balance due $4,200)

Donation for Kanya Chhatralaya: $71,968 [Cash received $70,967 (99%), Balance due $1,001 (1%)].

We would like to thank the following donors who sent in cash funds (or cash equivalents) of $14,400 after we published our last newsletter. Some paid off their earlier pledges and many others came up with new donations.

Please remember that the most of the donation has come from about 150 members out of 350 or 43% of our members. This means 200 members or majority of our members have not had a chance to donate as yet. We would like to urge them to come forward and donate through our association for a worthy cause. The donation of over $46,000 from the non-MJV donors should serve as a source of inspiration to them.

Please be aware that you can donate to your association in a variety of ways and we are always ready to meet your wishes. You can give to our general funds (any amount), India/US Loan Scholarship Fund (any amount), set up a scholarship trust fund at MJV ($1,000), become a MJV patron ($875) or set up an Endowment fund($5,000). Please call us to explore these opportunities to permanently create the memory of your parents and other loved ones through a trust fund and/or a patronship and/or an endowment fund and help the bright and needy students of our community in the process.

The following graph depicts the rate at which we have raised and collected the donation. All of us collectively should feel good about we have been able to accomplish :

Although our collection rate (Cash received vs. Pledges made) is about 87%, we would like to aim for 100% . We happen to believe that the quality of our membership is superb and anything less than 100% can only lower our outstanding image in the eyes of the community.

Donation to Vidyalaya to-date:

Here are the details of the funds sent to MJV so far:

$31,276 37 Patrons

32,454 27 Scholarship Trust Funds (plus one more set up with donation in rupees)

50,000 Kanya Chhatralaya Project

19,342 Six Trust Scholar Seats

6,000 Copier ($5,000) and Fax ($1,000)

1,500 Funds to upgrade phone system

8,800 16 Water Coolers ( 2 in each branch including Kanya Chhatralaya)

$149,372 Total as of April 1, 1997

In addition, we are ready to send about $22,000 to MJV for the Ahmedabad Kanya Chhatralaya project, one patron, and one scholarship trust fund. MJV has asked to hold off sending these funds pending a permission from RBI.

Visit to India

I visited India during the month of December 1996. I went to see Mr. Rajni Shah and Natwar Shah in the main office. I was quite pleased with their use of computer in handling the accounting matters. I felt the office needs new furniture, new equipment and renovation. I have requested the MJV officers to look into this issue.

Shri C.N. Sanghavi and Shri Champaklal Shah, President, of MJV Alumni Federation organized a dinner in honor of our association. Several alumni took their time off and came to attend this event. We would like to thank them all for taking an interest in our activities.

Thanks also to Shri Kirtilal Doshi and his son-Shreyas who hosted a luncheon. All MJV officers, Shri. C.N. Sanghavi and Shri Pratapbhai Bhogilal attended the luncheon. It was very nice of them to come and exchange views on areas of common interest.

Kusumben Kothari, daughter of an ex-alumnus of MJV, from USA was visiting Bombay with her children. She expressed strong interest in exposing her children to the work done by MJV to promote the cause of education. Thanks to Shri Prakash Jhaveri, Honorary Secretary, who was kind enough to sit down with them and explain what MJV was all about.

I met with Mr. V.S. Patni, Honorary Secretary, Poona Branch and was extremely pleased with his enthusiasm and dedication. He has established an Alumni Association and played a major role in renovating the MJV premises at Poona. He has also started a very nice newsletter called "Smruti". This is an excellent example of what a motivated person can accomplish inspite of the obstacles inherent in India. I wish more people like Mr. Patni would come forward and accelerate the changes at MJV.

I also saw Shri Dipchand Gardi at his flat and was quite impressed with his vision of MJV. In view of the rapidly improving financial situation, he is thinking of opening up several MJV branches in the years ahead. It appears MJV indeed has a very bright future.

MJV Branch at Udaipur

As we reported in the last newsletter, we have started talking seriously with MJV about this project estimated to cost about 2 crore rupees. Dr. Mohan Jain and Kanti Mepani had several meetings recently in Bombay with MJV management team to discuss the feasibility of this idea. Subsequently, several MJV officers and Dr. Mohan Jain went to visit the sites in Udaipur and established future contacts for moving this project further. Dr. Mohan Jain has established a Steering Committee in Udaipur led by Shri Babubhai Bapna and a similar committee in Bombay led by Shri Premlal Bapna and Shri Mohan Sanghavi. He has also been able get an indication from these groups to donate 60 lac rupees for this project. Our hats off to him for showing dedication, leadership and initiative and giving a very strong push to this project. We would like to thank MJV management team for showing a strong interest in this project. Also special thanks to Shri C.N. Sanghavi who was instrumental in hosting and guiding Dr. Mohan Jain and Kanti Mepani throughout the initial discussions. If the project takes off, we will need to do our part to make it a grand success. We will keep you posted.

Patrons

Since we published the last newsletter, Dr. Chandrakant P. Shah, NE. has applied to MJV to make her daughter-Swati C.Shah a patron of Vidyalaya. (Incidentally, Dr. Chandrakant P.Shah has donated to our association almost every year. We would like every one to follow his fine example.) This brings the total number of patrons through IAAMJV to 38, assuming approval by MJV. If you become a patron of Vidyalaya, you will automatically become a life member, you will have a voting privilege, and an 12"x16" photograph of your relative will be displayed in the Vidyalaya hall. The fee to become a patron is $875 currently.

We would like to appeal to you all to become a patron of MJV and make IAAMJV a powerful force in shaping the destiny of MJV.

Scholarship Trust Funds

Since our last newsletter, one additional trust fund is being set up at MJV, bringing the total to 22 trusts. The donor is

It requires a donation of only $1,000 to create this trust in the name of your relative. The principal stays intact and only the interest (around 10%) is used to offer scholarships to bright and needy Swetamber Murtipujak Jain boys and girls every year. This program being managed by MJV is an excellent opportunity to preserve the names of your loved ones for generations to come.

Endowment Funds

Since we started this scheme, two families have set up endowment funds by contributing $5,000 each. The families are:

• Dr. and Mrs. Maheshbahi and Induben Varia, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Dr. and Mrs. Dilip Shah, Chicago, Illinois

In addition, we are also holding $3,400 toward another endowment fund from an anonymous donor in memory of late Smita Shah.

The minimum requirement to set up an endowment fund is $5,000. This will allow you to create an endowment fund in your name, the interest from which will be used to support the bright Jain students of any sect. The scheme also let you designate one student of your choice every year. Please call for details if you are interested.

Computers for MJV Branches

We were planning to ship several good quality, low cost computers to MJV through JAINA. By going through them, MJV could have saved the customs charges and hassles. Unfortunately, JAINA informed us only recently that computers are excluded in the Indo-US agreement they have signed. Consequently, we have abandoned the project for now. We do not feel it would be cost effective to ship computers to India if MJV has to pay duty and penalties. We would like to thank Dilip Shah and Rohit Doshi of Philadelphia for their support in this project.

IAAMJV on Internet

Thanks to Chirantan Parikh through whose effort we are already on an internet web page. He has put our directory (modified), donor list, organization, and past two newsletters on internet. We intend to add forms for donation and undergraduate as well as graduate loan scholarship applications. You can access this page by typing Http\\www\\Rajkot.com/MJV. We hope someday we can communicate with MJV management, current students and alumni through this medium and work on areas of common interest promptly and efficiently.

MJV Alumni at JAINA Convention:

Election

Our constitution requires us to hold an election every other year. We will hold our next election during the JAINA convention in July 1997. Please review the JAINA program material, to be distributed at the convention, for the exact time and location of our general body meeting where the election will be held.

We think it is very important that we have a very strong organization. A strong organization should not have to depend upon any specific individual or individuals for its success. Therefore we are inviting those members who will have time, energy, and motivation to achieve our objectives. Please study what the expectations are before you come forward. If you think you can do justice to your selected task, have an IAAMJV member nominate you by filling out the Nomination Form enclosed with this newsletter and mail it to Naresh Shah, Chairman, Nominations Committee. before June 1, 1997. His address is 15 Seventh Ave, Garden City Park, NY 11040. No nominations will be accepted from the floor. We would love to have you join our team. On the other hand, if you do not have time, please refrain from signing up now. Perhaps you can contribute your time at later date. Even if you are not an active member of the working team, you can always support the organization through generous donation or in many other small ways.

Job Descriptions for officers and working committees

1. President

Takes charge and provides vision and overall co-ordination

Stays in constant touch with MJV, Bombay, other branches, and alumni organizations.

Evaluates constitutional changes if need be.

Corresponds with state and federal agencies if need be.

Presides over the meetings.

Assures that constitutional requirements (including election ) are being met.

Provides liaison with JAINA.

Promotes the goals of the association vigorously.

2. Vice President

Acts in place of the President

Provides public relations function

Interfaces with other associations, committees and members

Guides and corresponds with the MJV alumni associations in India on a regular basis.

Responsible for preparing publicity material and getting it published in the news media in the U.S.A. and in India.

Initiates reunion activities.

Helps MJV students coming to US. for further studies

Promotes the goals of the association vigorously.

3. General Secretary

Works closely with Scholarship committees.

Keeps record of meetings and other organizational historical records.

Revises the association letter head when necessary.

Helps in holding an election

Responsible for arranging video and camera facilities during alumni get togethers.

4. Communications Secretary

Keeps membership data base current

Takes active steps to increase the membership

Publishes and distributes the directory on a need basis.

Provides address labels to the other officers when needed.

Provides assistance to the Newsletter Editor

5. Treasurer

Provides prompt acknowledgment to the donors

Keeps full documentation on income and expenses of the association.

Prepares financial report every year and gets it audited by the auditor.

Files tax returns for the IRS and NY State, if required.

Keeps track of the loan refunds.

Helps members in special donations such as Life Insurance Policies, stocks, bonds, mutual funds etc.

Working Committees

Long Range Planning Committee

Comes up with creative ideas to keep the association vibrant and growing

Helps the executive committee in shaping up the vision for future

Fund Raising Committee

Responsible for raising funds whenever alumni meet.

Initiates plans for year end fund raising

Organizes special fund raising events for specific projects.

Works and co-ordinates activities with treasurer

Fund Collection Committee

Sends reminders to alumni who owe money to IAAMJV

Collects checks and sends them to the treasurer

Works with fund raising committee and treasurer

Special Events Committee

Organizes special events with the help of the local alumni and other people.

Arranges programs to benefit the Jain community at large.

Information Bureau Committee

Obtains information on American universities and helps MJV students in India.

Obtains information on the job market in the US. and gives a realistic assessment to the MJV students in India.

Publicizes the availability of this service to all branches of the MJV.

Scholarship Committee (For undergraduate students from India)

Screens the scholarship recipients in India.

Corresponds with the scholarship recipients on a regular basis.

Arranges to get their photographs and provides them to the editor.

Editor in chief

Responsible for preparing and mailing a newsletter periodically.

Donation Appeal for Tapovan

We are including a letter from Pujya Chandrashekhar Maharajji . He is actively involved in helping Tapovan, a boarding school for Jain kids (Grades 5 through 12) located near Koba. Besides the school, they have a temple, hostel, play ground, and library. He has made a plea for donation to support this institute. We would like to request you all to read his letter and donate generously. Please make your donation check payable to the Jain Center of Southern California and mail it to Mr. Dinesh Shah, 2034 Via Del Rey, South Pasadena, Calif. 91030. Please call him at 213-258-4010 if you have any questions.

Sum Up:

We are very grateful to you for your continuing support. As more projects come along, we will have to keep our minds and wallets (!) open and support them with the best of our ability.

We should all be proud of what we have been able to accomplish so far and yet so much more remains to be done. We need to branch out and start impacting broader section of our community in a positive way. We would like all members to keep contributing every year and thereby keep the torch of education glowing. We would especially like to urge 57% of membership who have not come up with any financial contribution as yet. Please remember the dollar amount is not as important as your willingness to support a very important cause and to get involved. We are ready to accept and use any amount of your donation and/or positive energy.

With Warmest Personal Regards,

Anop R.Vora

President

"It is wrong to waste the precious gift of time on acrimony and division." Source: Cardinal Joseph Bernardin

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Proxy Form

I hereby appoint ___________________________ as my lawful proxy to attend the Annual General Meeting of the I.A.A.M.J.V. INC. to be held at the JAINA convention and to vote on all matters arising at the meeting and to take all actions there at in his/her sole discretion in my place and stead.

Date: __________________________ ___________________________

(Signature)

___________________________

(Print Name)

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I.A.A.M.J.V. INC. Officers Nomination Form

I hereby nominate __________________________ for the office of _______________ of I.A.A.M.J.V. INC. at the election to be held during the JAINA convention in July of 1995 or any adjounments thereof.

Date: __________________________ ___________________________

(Signature of Nominator)

_______________________

(Print Name of Nominator)

I accept the nomination.

Date: _______________________ ________________________

(Signature of Nominee

________________________

(Print Name of Nominee)