Repairing the IFAST Gita Nagari house

Dear devotees and friends of the Institute,

 

Last year we all pulled together and raised the funds needed to pay off the mortgage on the Institute house. The effort marked fifteen years of dedication and focus by devotees all around the world to transfer the property from private hands into IFAST’s name, and raise sufficient funds to secure ownership free and clear. We can't thank everyone enough for your sincere dedication to carrying out Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s wishes by safeguarding the place where he gave ecstatic classes, generous darshan, and final instructions in the months prior to his disappearance.

 

Acquiring title in the Institute’s name and paying off the mortgage is a major accomplishment, but it is only part of the challenge. In addition to meeting monthly expenses for insurance, property taxes, gas, electricity, phone & internet and IT, we are now confronting several decades of inadequate and deferred maintenance. The house needed major work when it was first bought in 1995; that work was never done and, not surprisingly, over time the house has continued to deteriorate. The windows, electrical systems, and plumbing all need repair, and the roof and HVAC have outlived their useful lives and need to be replaced. The downstairs has had a mold problem for years, and when we started work in the downstairs bathroom, we discovered that a septic system had never been installed, so moisture was collecting under the floor instead of being drained away from the house. These repairs are absolutely essential for the house to be both habitable and safe.

 

Bhakti Tirtha Swami wanted the house to serve as a guest facility for visiting sannyasis and devotees to stay during their visits to Gita Nagari; as a place where classes can be offered; and, of course, as a place of pilgrimage to be in the presence of our beloved Guru Maharaj. Thanks to the generosity of a handful of donors, proper maintenance has started but the need is substantial and we are once again making an appeal to the community to help us satisfy Gurudeva’s wishes and get the house in a good state of repair.

 

We have sought bids from several local contractors, and with all the work required we need to raise $53,000. This is a much larger figure than any of us anticipated when we started to consider maintenance. Further delay isn’t an option and will only result in greater expense. If we all pull together now, we can get the work done; the good news is that most of these are one-time repairs, and once done, we won’t have to do them again for many years. We appreciate whatever you can contribute, either as a one-time donation or on a monthly basis. No amount is too small and every contribution matters.

 

In closing we want to acknowledge our heartfelt gratitude for the family of devotees and the community of well-wishers who step up again and again to ensure that Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s legacy can continue. May Guru and Krishna bless each of you for your steady determination and enduring love for Gurudeva in his service to Lord Caitanya’s mission.

 

The link to donate via our Gofundme page is: https://gofund.me/585a93d1

You may also send paper checks or money order via mail to:

 

IFAST c/o Neil Chakrabarti

2004 Ludington Avenue

Milwaukee, WI 53226

 

Or send money electronically via Paypal to [email redacted]. (If you use the “Friends and Family” option it will send the donation to IFAST without taking out a PayPal fee.) Gofundme will take out a small fee for their administrative purposes for funds collected through their site.) For any alternate methods of payment (such as bank wire, cash, etc.), please contact Nava Kaisora dasa by phone at [phone redacted].

 

Sincerely,

The IFAST Board Members (Loka devi dasi, Citi Sakti devi dasi, Prithu dasa, Madhvacarya dasa, and Nava Kaisora dasa)