By BGR Staff
Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, BGR’s Buddhist Action to Feed the Hungry online gatherings have provided an opportunity for us to practice, learn, and be inspired together as we honor and raise funds for people in need around the world.
This fall, once again, members of the worldwide Buddhist Global Relief community will come together online in a celebration of conscientious compassion in the Dharma. On October 29, from 3–5 pm ET (12–2 pm PT), Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi will host an online Dharma gathering, “Creating a More Compassionate World,” as part of BGR’s annual Buddhist Action to Feed the Hungry campaign.
This year, our presenting teachers include Joseph Goldstein, co-founder and guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society; Konjun Gaelyn Godwin, abbot of the Houston Zen Center; Bhante Buddharakkhita, founder and abbot of the Uganda Buddhist Center; Ven. Lekshe Tsomo, founder of the Jamyang Foundation; Rev. Kiyonobu Kuwahara, of Berkeley Buddhist Temple; Raimund Hopf, founder of Mitgefühl in Aktion; Bhante Saranapala, founder of Canada: A Mindful and Kind Nation; and BGR founder Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi. The emcee will be Ayyā Dhammadīpā, founder of the Dassanāya Buddhist Community, and the event will also feature the premiere of a musical composition by composer Daniel Blake on the Nirvana of Mahapajapati Gotami, the first Buddhist nun.
We will also hear the stories of some of the people around the world who have been helped by your generosity, as we are joined by representatives from three valued BGR project partners:
- Amrita Basu of Building Bridges India (BBI) will speak about BBI’s vocational and agriculture training programs to support and empower the widows of men who committed suicide because of poverty and indebtedness.
- Genevieve Waltcher of our longtime partner Lotus Outreach International (LOI) will tell us about her organization’s support and scholarship programs for underserved young women and their families. LOI’s “Rice 4 Education” program provides much-needed rice support to female students from some of the poorest families in rural Cambodia; the CATALYST scholarship program supports qualified female high-school graduates to enable them to continue their educations.
- David Palmer of the Joan Rose Foundation will speak about his organization’s food program, which provides two nutritious meals, five days a week, 51 weeks a year, to approximately 560 vulnerable children in Jacmel, Haiti. For many of these children, these meals provide their only source of reliable nutrition during the week, staving off malnutrition.
These are only a few of the incredible projects made possible by your support. Please join us for this celebration of compassion in action in the Dharma! To register, please visit the 2022 Buddhist Action to Feed the Hungry page on our website.
