Match our Challenge Grant! A generous donor has promised matching funds of up to $10,000 for the Children’s Educational Fund specifically designated for children in Rumtek, Sikkim, India. In order to obtain the full matching grant, we need to raise an additional $8,725. Your donation today will help us reach our goal.

The Bodhi Seeds Children’s Educational Fund sponsors school fees for children in the Himalayan region. The donor has designated $10,000 to sponsor the education of children living in the lay community of Rumtek, who ordinarily would only have access to a rudimentary education. In order to achieve their full potential, the children need to be provided with books and attend better schools, where fees range from $400 - $800 per year.

100% of your donation goes to the school fees, and will be doubled by the matching grant. 

Rumtek Monastery holds a special place in our hearts, and the Tibetan lay community in the surrounding town has many families who have a shortage of resources and struggle to pay school fees.

You can change a child’s life by supporting this fund today.

Your donation will help disadvantaged students in this rural area develop literacy, and help them reach their potential by attending a school with better infrastructure and curriculum.

If you are interested in sponsoring a specific child, whether in Rumtek or another Himalayan region, please let us know at donations@bodhiseeds.org. We will give you the name and photo of the child you are sponsoring.

To help us obtain our matching grant before October 31, please donate here today. Please specify that you would like your donation to go toward the “Children’s Educational Fund.”

Thank you!
Sincerely,
Acharya Tashi Wangchuk

Thanks to your support, Bodhi Seeds has fulfilled its goals for 2011–2012. 

We have been able to stand firmly behind the Tso Jey Medical Clinic and have funded its operational expenses and the salaries for our nurse, physician and custodial staff. Men, women and children can find help at the clinic seven days a week and receive free medication funded by Bodhi Seeds.

We would like to be able to give each monk at Rumtek an annual stipend that enables him to make a trip home to visit family. It’s an important visit for the well being of both the monks and their family. This year, with your help, every monk who needed the support, received it, happy to make the trip home.

Our on-going commitment has also been to the children of the area, funding their tuition for educational expenses. Individual donors have made it possible for several children to obtain full tuition to pursue their educational dreams. There are more children who are requesting help, but we do not at present have sufficient money for their sponsorship.

In 2012-2013, Bodhi Seeds will need your support to enable it to continue to pursue and expand on the goals you have for Rumtek’s health and well being.  Rumtek went through a difficult period following the earthquake of 2012. With your help, the clinic services were available to the monks and villagers while the monastery structures were repaired.  In 2013, please help us make certain these services can continue and grow to include more preventative health care and health education for monks, and the men, women and children of the villages.

Acharya Tashi visited Rumtek in October 2012. He not only reported that the clinic was running well, but also that the monks, villagers and administration were universally appreciative of your efforts. We finalized plans for an ESL teacher that had been requested by the shedra leadership in 2010. If we can obtain sponsorship for him, our teacher will leave Seattle for Rumtek in March 2013. We will need to raise money for his airfare and a small monthly stipend. Finally, more children need educational support and in 2013; we would like to double the number offered help so that they can pursue their hopes for a better future.

Each of you has a personal relationship with Rumtek. Every monk we speak to, villager we help, child we hold, mother we counsel—it is you that is quite literally there with us. We feel great joy in doing this, and make aspirations that you will join us again in the coming year as you have in the past.

Yours truly,

Acharya Tashi Wangchuk
Don Ross, M.D.
Susan Kirchoff, RN, MA

We'd like to let everyone know that we've received an official letter of thanks from the monks at Rumtek Shedra. One of the many things that Bodhi Seeds does for the Rumtek monastic community is provide them with clothing and a modest allowance. Please read their letter of thanks below. Thank you all for your ongoing support. Your contributions, large or small, makes a real difference in the lives of others :).

The Nalandabodhi Seattle Sangha along with many of our Bhutanese and Tibetan friends made momos (dumplings) and delicious foods.  It was an event of friendship, good food, and music played by our own sangha members. $2,000 was greatfully received in donations!

Just like the fundraising effort in Vancouver, BC, the momo party was an effort to raise funds to match a challenge grant of $10,000 USD presented by the Raynier Institute & Foundation. We would like to acknowledge the The Raynier Institute & Foundation for last year's grant of $15,000 toward the building and establishment the medical clinic for Rumtek Monastery and community.  Based on the success of the start of the Tso Jey Clinic in Rumtek in 2010 and 2011, The Raynier Institute and Foundation is, again, offering $10,000 with another $10,000 matching amount based on our efforts to raise $10,000.   
 
We so happy to report that we have raised over $5,110 toward our $10,000 goal! Thank you all for your great generosity.

On Friday, Oct 28th, we had a great time hosting a momo (Tibetan dumpling) party at Maitrivana in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Acharya Tashi, Lama Rabten and a few others spent the whole day in the kitchen making the momos by hand! We also provided a few other dishes and beverages, and guests brought fruit, salad, and dessert.

There were around 40 people who came to the party, which was open to the public. Dinner was sponsored by Bodhi Seeds, with the hope that a good number of people would come for the party, company, and enjoyment, and perhaps consider making a donation to Bodhi Seeds. The generous response was beyond our expectations. The numbers are in, and we were able to raise just over $3,110 CAD that night! Thank you so much to those who came out and donated in support of Bodhi Seeds' programs :).

The momo party was an effort to raise funds to match a challenge grant of $10,000 USD presented by the Raynier Institute & Foundation. We would like to acknowledge the The Raynier Institute & Foundation for last year's grant of $15,000 toward the building and establishment the medical clinic for Rumtek Monastery and community.  Based on the success of the start of the Tso Jey Clinic in Rumtek in 2010 and 2011, The Raynier Institute and Foundation is, again, offering $10,000 with another $10,000 matching amount based on our efforts to raise $10,000.  
 
We are so happy that we have already raised over $3,110 toward our $10,000 goal!

On Saturday, Nov 19th, we will be hosting another momo dinner party in Seattle, WA at Nalanda West. Everyone is welcome! Please feel free to bring your family, friends, and whoever you think may enjoy the event and festivities. We hope this dinner will be as successful as the one hosted in Vancouver :D.