A great man from another faith, Mahatma Gandhi, said “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I have been fortunate enough in the past years to nurture that sentiment in this spiritual place. Our prophet Ashu Zartosht, more than 4,000 years ago, counseled us to strive
for Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds. He asked us to be mindful of the planet’s ecology striving to keep the water, the air and the earth itself clean.
For the past two years, I have served as the president of the board for this temple. During this time, I have tried to follow Ashu Zartosht’s advice. It has been a positive journey, full of learning and possibility. And though much change has been accomplished there remains
much to be completed.
First I want to thank the other board members who helped me serve my community well: Shohreh Aryani, Siranoosh Ashtari, Arya Goudarzi, Atousa Khorramdin, Mojdeh Khosravan, Afshin Mehin and Kambiz Zomorrodi. We worked hard and well together. The positive changes would have been impossible to make without them.
So, please accept my deepest appreciation to each and every one of you and to all of our members for what has been accomplished.
• Our funds have increased. At the end of my two year term, the funds available to the temple have grown by approximately $45,000.
• We held all our traditional celebrations. Nowruz was well attended, as was Sizdah Bedar. We have renewed our membership with FEZANA.
• We have developed a professional website that will help increase our membership. The new website enables current members to stay informed about any issues facing the temple. It also lists all celebrations and activities that might appeal to prospective
members.
• We are doing many things to encourage more participation from our younger members; for example, we started our own football team.
• We had a fund-raising event for Anarestan and planted 50 pomegranate trees.
• In 2008 we participated in the Nowruz parade, which was very successful. We were the best and most organized participant.
• We reached out to the wider community by having booths at Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos. Many members of the general community, who were not familiar with our faith, dropped by and chatted with us. That kind of goodwill is important in building
good relations with our neighbors.
• In terms of neighbors, we are working very hard on our property issues. As you know our property has had some problems during the past years. We accumulated a lot of trash that has been cleaned up. We cleared the land behind the Autashkadeh, so people are now
able to park. We worked on adding a new well to create more water storage for the temple. And we would like to work with a landscape architect to create a master plan for our land. This plan will increase the beauty of our temple and surrounding landscape, and
be mindful of the area’s ecology. But there remain many challenges facing our temple.
• The most important is to legalize our temple and work on our infrastructure. We need to fix any and all violations. We may need to hire a land use attorney for that purpose. Otherwise it will be difficult to hold many of our events and celebrations that attract and retain the
new members we need to keep our temple strong and thriving. Another possibility is we leave this current site for religious purposes only and find a new location as community center. That would save us the attorney’s expense. And a new location could make it easier
to attract new members and hold many of our celebration and events. But there are many among us who would prefer to remain where we are.
• We want to increase participation by the current membership. More members are needed to serve on the PZO 15 board. New energy and ideas are vital in helping us continue the good work we are doing and to find solutions to the challenges facing us.
• It’s crucial to implement some sort of membership fee that will enable us to sustain our temple. Many other religions tithe. Followers of the Mormon faith, for example, are required to tithe a percentage of their income directly to their church. This kind of support would enable us to fix our temple, paint it, do general maintenance, and pay our ground keepers. It would enable us to offer more classes and encourage more members to join. It would pave the way for future generations to worship at this lovely temple.
Overall, I am honored to have served you for the past two years. Our temple stands for Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds. More than 4,000 years ago, our prophet Ashu Zartosht taught us how crucial it is to stand for a clean and healthy planet, to stand for sustainable ecology. Our prophet asked us not to pollute the water, the air and the earth. As we follow in his footsteps, I am grateful to have made some of the changes that will allow our temple and our faith to thrive.
Sincerely yours
Rod Shoja
President
PZO 14
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