Honey Locust Sangha
Omaha Community of Mindful Living
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HLS Caretaking Council Meeting
October 8, 2020
Present: Patrice Watson, Mark Watson, Dave Watts , Jim Cox, Mike McMahon
Absent:  Juanita Rice, Gina Matkin

We began as always with Meditation,  Thay's Reflection on holding a meeting, and a check-in

1) Update on how we collect dana.  
We had previously discussed changing from Paypal to Venmo for online donations as the Venmo has been described as more user friendly and has no fees.  We have no further info on this right now.  Dave and Mark are looking into this. (thanks!!!!)

2) Updates on possible virtual DOM with Terry Cortes Vega this December
As we will not be able to have an in person retreat with Sr. Terry in December as planned, we discussed the possibility of doing an online DOM with her.  A few of us attended the online retreat with Sr. Terry and the Plum Blossom sangha a couple of weeks ago.  There were mixed reactions to this.  One of us found the online retreat to be not very moving or satisfying, while another thought it was worthwhile. We decided that even though the online format is not ideal, it would be good to have a single Day of Mindfulness with Sr Terry on December 5 just to keep in contact with Sr Terry.  Mark is in touch with Sr Terry about this.

3) Treasurer's Report 
We received a brief Treasurer's report from Randy
Current Balances:
 
Sangha Checking Account: $1699.39
PayPal:  561.84
Dana: We had about $150 of Dana this past month. Up a bit from the last few months.

We still have a little over $2000 in deposits at Creighton Retreat Center (for 2019 and 2020 retreats). Initially we thought the funds would just be applied towards future retreats. But in light of the persistence of Covid, Mark is looking into getting this money refunded to us.

4) Claudia's note requesting sangha to support Mars School families who are in need.
After discussing Claudia's request for sangha support of needful families at Mars Middle school, the council decided the following:
A) We affirmed  the sangha practice of only using sangha funds for Thich Nhat Hanh- related groups such as the TNH foundation, and the monasteries, and our own sangha needs.  
B) As part of our ongoing practice to be in touch and engaged with problems in the world, especially in our effort to be more aware of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) concerns,  individual sangha members are welcome to post notice of things going on in the community and soliciting participation from individual sangha members. Individual sangha members can contact the person making the request and donate time and money  We appreciate the individual sangha members who bring these concerns into the sangha and  can teach us a lot, and help us to be more aware,  engaged and inclusive.

5)  Frequency of CTC meetings
Before COVID the CTC had established a policy of meeting each month, sometimes taking a month or two off for summer or holidays.
Since COVID, for many good reasons we have met less frequently.  We discussed what is the optimum way to continue, with no end in sight for COVID.
After discussion, we decided to go ahead and meet monthly for the sake of continuity and in order to do the practice of CTC.  Acknowledging that some of us may be burdened by a heavy meeting load (many of them Zoom meetings), we encouraged members to do good self-care and to feel free to take as much time off from the meetings as they need as long as we have a quorum without them.

The meeting was adjourned with harmony in the CTC
The Honey Locust Sangha / Omaha Community of Mindful Living is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All funds donated help to fulfill the mission of practicing and raising awareness of the mindfulness practice in the Thich Nhat Hanh / Plum Village tradition.

​You can donate (provide Dana) using the PayPal link at the left (you do not need a PayPal account) or send via Venmo to @HoneyLocust. Please indicate General Dana or specific event (December DoM, for example) in the text via Venmo.