All HCS members, friends and well-wishers,

Namaste, Time flies by, it feels like yesterday that we took oath of office. It was a hectic 9 month period filled with religious and cultural activities. We had a great executive team during 2019 and could achieve many things in this short period of time. I thought I owed you a state-of-affairs update at our temple.

1. First and foremost, I have seen an increased level of community engagement during this period both culturally and religiously speaking. The heartbeat of our collective organization is our membership interests, participation and unity in diversity of the many cultures we collectively and proudly represent and support. To that, there has been a notable uptick in members that are partaking in weekly events (Sunday Kirtan, lunch and children’s classes included). 2. Religious Activities a. Ganeshotsav : This was one of the spectacles of the year and a joy to watch Ganesh Visarjan at Amherst’s Veteran Canal Park after a week of Ganesha puja with different regional organizations doing the Arti and providing prasad . That includes, Marathi Mitra parivar, Sanskriti, Kannada Sangh, Kaveri, Gujarati Samaj, Telugu Association etc. This was done after obtaining permission from Town of Amherst and was well covered by news outlets. b. Kids Religious Karaoke Sessions: We were able to introduce kids of all ages to bhajan singing which is very beneficial to kids. The bhajans included Ganesh stuti, Devi stuti,Shiv stuti etc c. Religious events: Starting with Shivratri, we celebrated all religious events with greater enthusiasm and devotee participation with the timely help of trust committee members. We hosted several famous religious leaders and scholars from all around the world during this period 3. Cultural Activities We were able to present performances of many artists in HCS, including Asia’s only illusionist and world renowned magician Kruti Parekh. Famous artist Sandeep Narayanan’s Carnatic recital being the latest one in addition to different presentations of social importance like the one on the dangers of school kids’ vaping a. We were very successful in bringing the Indian community together by organizing various programs with collaboration with regional organizations, for. e g, Ganesh Puja with Marathi Mitra Parivar, Navratri Garba with Gujarati Samaj, Balaji Utsav with Tamil Mandrum and Telugu Association, Musical concerts with Kaveri Sangam, Thyagaraja Society and Telugu Association etc,. b. Green Project : Many members have passionately suggested the need to actively support green initiatives at HCS. To that I am happy to announce that we have stopped purchasing any paper products or using any Styrofoam plates or cups at HCS as a result the amount of trash generated per week has significantly reduced; leading to us saving on expenses( of the order of about $4000) and importantly helping support our environment by reducing our carbon footprint and instilling the habit of taking care of mother earth in children. The following is the ‘”approximate difference” we could make. Since we started using stainless steel plates in, 18 months or 78 weeks x 150 plates , approximately = 11700 Styrofoam plates we removed from landfills. Weekly food scraps at 50 pounds x 78 weeks = 3900 pounds . All this captured and composted instead of going to trash and using plastic garbage bags. We reduced trash pick up from once in two weeks to once a month. The composted food turned to soil, was distributed to patrons for their garden and house plants. Also the Executive committee with Green team cleaned the temple premises of plastic trash a part of the earth day celebration.. 4. Financials & Donations: On the effort to move over to cash less transactions we set up pooja payment capabilities on the website as well as the latest card reader device available for devotees at ease. Revenues have outpaced expenses in the first 9 months by about $59,000! This is a meaningful movement and puts us on a healthy path of financial recovery after a few years of a strained P&L. This is a direct result of heavy donations and close scrutiny on expenses. This is the best financial result we have had in the first three quarters since 2010. To that, I also want to make sure that we being fully transparent – The P&L is posted on the 2nd floor. Welcome to view and review. For the first time we applied for grants from county and town. The outcome is expected soon. Also we began using payroll services for salaried employees. 5. Rental: We implemented the rental agreement and put in to practice the existing policy of taking advance booking deposit. 6. HCSwny.net has been revamped for a better look and we took back HCSWNY.org domain name which we lost years ago. It is still undergoing updates. Also we have our own email id now to facilitate easy transition from one committee to the next one. 7. Constitutional Amendments: As you may recall from the last General Body Meeting; the members had asked for a constitutional review and to that a committee was formed and you will receive recommendations in the General body meeting in November. 8. General Cleanliness and Hygiene: As you have likely noticed; the temple premise visibly looks to be in better shape. We are working hard as a team to ensure we maintain the hygienic standards that members expect from us. We installed beautiful storage boxes to keep all the things spread around the prayer hall. 9. Signage: Created and posted various signs for the convenience of the devotees. You must have noticed different signs as soon as you enter the temple premises. 10. Necessary steps were adopted to save maintenance cost by installing smart thermostats and Robot vacuum cleaners. 11. Audio system is updated with new state of the art WiFi controlled module with TAB support. 12. Set up a computer terminal at the entrance of the prayer hall which devotees can use for taking membership or credit card payment for services. Other updates, WiFi enabled TV displays( Upstairs ,Downstairs) to show temple programs, flyers sponsors etc.,WiFi everywhere in big building and small building, cameras covering the entire HCS premises etc 13. Pending Items – The largest stress point as it pertains to our facility is the roofing system over the temple. Due to a plethora or reasons; the system isn’t working as intended and we have engaged with multiple companies, received their professional feedback and are currently evaluating quotes such that we address this permanently in 2020. 14. First time in last 5 years we could resume the summer camp which was a great success and much appreciated by the kids and parents. 15. We celebrated Balaji Utsav on Oct 12 and first time during Devi Navratri timeline, and done after a gap of 5 years and overall 3rd time in the history of the temple we performed Maha Chandi Homam on Oct 13, Sunday with the participation of priests from Toronto. Both were spectacular successes in its terms. It is very difficult to list all the improvements and the changes

happening at the Temple to make the devotee’s visit a very pleasant experience. Obviously this is not just a team effort from your HCS team; but most importantly from all of us as patrons. As we enter the festive season ahead; on behalf of HCS; I want to wish you and your families peace, joy, prosperity and please make sure you visit the temple with family and friends. We need your much needed support. Please write to me or any executive committee member what you need to see as a change at HCS or anything you are happy about. Best Regards, Bindu Nair HCS President