Nepalese Canadian Society of Edmonton (NECASE) President s Update #2 September 25, 2014 Dashain, the biggest festival of Nepalese people, has started today with Ghatasthapana. On this auspicious occasion, on behalf of NECASE Board and personally, I wish you a Happy Vijay Dashami. May Dashain festival bring happiness, peace and prosperity to you and your family. I would also like to extend a Happy Dipawali and a Happy Tihar. NECASE is organizing Dashain celebration program on October 5, 2014 at Maharaja Banquet Hall. Everyone is invited to this celebration. Please purchase tickets from Area Representatives near your area at the earliest to reserve your seat. The happenings between now and my previous update #1 were the Heritage festival, Teej celebration and other summer programs. Heritage festival is the biggest and important event of the society in the summer time. Heritage festival provides platform to strengthen bond among country folks. It is important because Nepalese community gets chance to showcase Nepalese culture and heritage to the outside world. People from all walks of life visit Heritage festival and enjoy the food and the fete. NECASE was successful to showcase Nepali culture and heritage; and also to bring Nepalese people closer than before. In this President Update #2, I will highlight some accomplishments, and update on regular activities and important Board decisions. A. ACCOMPLISHMENTS / ACHIEVEMENTS I. Events 1. Heritage Festival 2014. NECASE has successfully showcased Nepali culture and heritage in the Edmonton Heritage Festival on August 2-4, 2014. We observed a bonding and union among Nepalese from all walks of life in this festival. The volunteer spirit exhibited during the festival was exemplary and was guided by unity in diversity. I would like to thank Jaya Corson and her team for coordinating such commendable show. Hats off to all volunteers who contributed their valuable times to the NECASE s cultural showcasing in this festival. We had revenue of $ 17,600 and gross expenditure of $ 16,251. There is gross profit of $1,349, however, according to AGLC s cost recovery principle, profit can t be made from AGLC money. If profit is made, all profit not exceeding AGLC amount has to be returned to AGLC. If we had to return the AGLC money, then we will be at breakeven in the income and expenditure of Heritage festival 2014. The gross profit is tentative since we have not received AGLC notice of approval. 2. Embassy-Day Camp. NECASE in collaboration with Nepalese Embassy to Canada organized Embassy-Day camp on August 2 nd, 3 rd and 5 th of 2014. Dilip Kumar Paudel, Charge d affairs of Nepalese Embassy to Canada, was in Edmonton for the camp to help community members on President s Update #2 NECASE Page 1
passports, visa and other government documents. Community members benefitted from this camp and appreciated NECASE s initiation to organize the event. 3. Volunteer Appreciation. NECASE recognized its volunteers for their contribution in Heritage festival 2014 with a bar-b-queue picnic at Jackie Park on August 16, 2014. NECASE was honored by the presence of Jack Little, Executive director of the Edmonton Heritage Festival Association, who distributed Certificate of appreciation to volunteers. 4. Teej Festival. Teej celebration is one of the cultural events NECASE organizes annually. One hundred and thirty five Nepali ladies celebrated Teej festival on August 23, 2014 at Duggan Community League with joy and happiness. It was a potluck event and NECASE provided money for hall rental. Join me to thank Jaya Corson who organized this year s Teej celebration event. II. Awards and Honors: 1. Heritage Hero It is my pleasure to inform you that Jaya Corson, NECASE s nominee for the Heritage Hero 2014, is successful to win the Heritage Hero award. Congratulations to Jaya Carson for wining and the society as well for supporting the nominee. Jaya Corson deserves such recognition for her volunteer spirit and contribution to the society. This award is an inspiration to other aspiring volunteers. 2. Cultural and Sports Events NECASE players participated in volleyball, soccer, dandibiyo, and badminton in Alberta Cup tournament organized in Calgary on 24-25 August 2014. It is my pleasure to inform you that NECASE volleyball team won 1 st and 2 nd position. NECASE soccer team won 2 nd position. Congratulations to all NECASE players. III. Fundraise for Cancer Patient NECASE was requested to fundraise for the treatment of stomach cancer of Mahim Chapagain. On NECASE s request, society members donated overwhelmingly for the good cause. NECASE raised $ 3,346 and handed over the money to Ninu Chapagain, Mahim s father on August 31, 2014. NECASE would like to thank all donors and special thanks are due to Narayan Pokharel and Ai B. Gurung for their initiation to raise the money. B. NECASE PROGRAM UPDATE I. Membership Campaign NECASE is a non-profit organization operated by volunteer members. The foundation of such organization is its membership base. NECASE Board has started membership campaign with various programs. Membership campaign aims to increase membership base as well as provide opportunity for member engagement. Everyone, who accepts the objectives of NECASE and commits to abide NECASE Bylaws, is encouraged to buy membership. There are benefits of being a NECASE member, including social and financial benefits. Therefore President s Update #2 NECASE Page 2
purchase a NECASE membership and get tons of benefits. The steps selected for implementation of membership campaign are: (1) awareness through information dissemination, (2) membership promotion, (3) membership sale, and (4) member engagement. At the moment, NECASE Board is at initial phases of all implementation steps of membership campaign. Information required by community members, new or existing, about NECASE is available in NECASE website, www.necase.ca. NECASE Board has developed a promotional brochure for distribution. Information about member benefits are included in new membership application form. Information dissemination is done via group e-mail, brochure distribution and through program/activities. Membership sale is done throughout the year, but especially during NECASE programs and activities. A spectacular membership campaign is underway during upcoming Dashain 2014 celebration program. Membership promotion programs are emerging, one example is the membership discount on Dashing ticket. Please contact Dhruba Shrestha, Member Outreach Director, at 780 802 7763 or dhruba_pole@yahoo.com for membership. You can also contact area representatives near your area to purchase NECASE membership. You can also purchase NECASE membership online at www.necase.ca. NECASE is rejuvenating the task of developing membership database. Member Outreach Director is working on this task. Once membership database is established, NECASE Board has planned to develop member directory to be used by community members. Details for this directory are yet to be sorted out. II. Dashain Festival 2014 Dashain is greatest festival for most of us, Nepalese. NECASE is organizing Dashain festival celebration program on Sunday 5 October 2014 at Maharaja Banquet Hall. There are many attractions to this program, including performances by local artists, kid s fun time, and more. Details are provided in the NECASE webpage, www.necase.ca. In order to promote NECASE membership, NECASE members enjoy a $5 discount on Dashain celebration ticket. Please buy ticket earlier to book your seat. III. NECASE Casino Fund Raising Event NECASE s main source of fund is casino volunteer provided by Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission. This year NECASE is going to volunteer at Edmonton Casino on September 28 and 29 for fund raising. Enthusiastic NECASE members have shown interests to volunteer in this fund raising event. IV. NECASE Sports 1. Volleyball NECASE volleyball season has started at downtown gym on Sundays from 9 AM to 11 AM. If you want to play volleyball, contact Arjun KC at 780-782-0245 or <kcarjun@gmail.com>. President s Update #2 NECASE Page 3
2. Badminton Badminton is back after the summer break on Fridays from 8:15 PM to 10:30 PM at J. Percy Page School or Holy Family School. For information, contact Suresh Joshee at 780-450-3517 or <sjoshee@gmail.com>. V. Nepali Language School Nepali language school resumed its classes with 14 children from September 7, 2014 at the NECASE Centre and will run on every Sundays from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. The class will focus to improve skills on reading, writing and speaking as well as enriching culture. To enroll your children in Nepali language school, contact Chunu Mainali, Nepali School Coordinator at 780-466-4059 or <cmainali@hotmail.com>. VI. NECASE Centre Building Extension Asset Management Director, in coordination with NECASE Centre Development Committee, is preparing a proposal for the NECASE Centre extension. Proposal will include alternatives evaluated technically and financially. C. NECASE POLICY IMPLEMENTATION I. Ethics Agreement: NECASE Board has implemented an Ethics Agreement between the NECASE and each elected board of directors. The Ethics Agreement is to be signed on the first day of attendance of the elected director to the NECASE Board meeting. The objective of this agreement is to make the board of directors aware of: (1) their fiduciary duties; (2) standard procedures of NECASE board meetings; (3) NECASE operation protocols; (4) conflict of interest; and (5) standard decision making process. II. NECASE Standing Committees: 1. Honours and Award Committee NECASE Board has revitalized Honours and Award Committee, formed in 2012-13 term with a mandate of developing a policy document to recognize and award the excellence in volunteering within and outside NECASE. The Committee comprises of Arbind Mainali, Binod Rajbhandari, Janak Acharya, Nabaraj Adhikari, and Narayan Pokharel. The reason for revitalizing of this Committee is that it has already developed a framework and produced a draft policy. Once the Committee submits its final draft, NECASE Board will put for public review. 2. Grant Evaluation Committee According to the NECASE General Policy and Guidelines 2013, NECASE Board has appointed Arjun KC, Ishwor Chalise, and Rameshwor Adhikari to the Grant Evaluation Committee. The mandate of this Committee is to develop policy for awarding the charitable grant(s) by NECASE. III. NECASE Membership Application Form NECASE Board has approved modified membership application form. Modification to the existing application form was necessary to accommodate recent changes in Canadian President s Update #2 NECASE Page 4
Privacy Law. The modified form includes information on privacy, member benefit and consent to release private information, important to the applicant. D. PLANNED PROGRAMS 1. Development of membership database and member directory publication 2. Dashain-Tihar Chiyaapaan Karyakarm 3. Deusi-bhailo 4. Participation in multi-cultural conference 5. Lhosar President s Update #2 NECASE Page 5