By Aleyna Minamoto
Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple
During these uncertain times, the Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple is working in a collaborative effort to strengthen its community outreach activities.
In an effort to support our Keiro members (age 80 and over), the temple organizations — including the Buddhist Women’s Association, Girl Scout Troop 5325, Marina Cub Scout Pack 79, the Sangha Initiative, Senior Outreach, Adult Buddhist Association, Jr. YBA and Dharma School — have come together to offer Senior Dana Deliveries during this pandemic.
Three sets of deliveries have been made to date, with the most recent delivery of 136 bags. Deliveries also went out to the Venice Sangha members over the age of 70.
The delivery bags included practical items such as hand sanitizer, face masks and toilet paper, as well as food items such as fresh fruit, senbei, and snacks donated by temple Sangha members and friends.
Each recipient receives a card made by Girl Scout Troop 5325 and a message from Rev. Kory Quon.
The first delivery of 84 monthly care packages was made to our Keiro members in June and a second delivery was made on July 19. The July Obon-themed bags included sacks of rice and ochazuke nori generously donated by Kubota Mortuary, and August deliveries included books donated by Hongwanji Place and a small plant to accompany the usual goodies.
This collective effort, safely bringing together young and old, is under the guidance of Rev. Kory and led by Aleyna Minamoto of our Sangha Initiative.
We hope to continue this program through the rest of 2020, or as long as we continue to face COVID-19 challenges.
As Rev. Quon noted: “Although we are physically apart for now, we will continue to practice compassion