By Raxit Jariwalla
This annual 2010 books marathon turned out to be a major historic event, with ISV devotees distributing thousands of Srila Prabhupada’s books throughout the Bay area and at distant spots, including other parts of the US, Europe and India.
Our annual books marathon referred to as ‘The MSF of 25,000 Books, an Occasion for Selfless Service’, which began in the second week of October 2010 was concluded yesterday, January 5th, the day of offering, when the final results were offered to Srila Prabhupada and their Lordships at the Wednesday Night Gita Class held at the ISV temple in San Jose.
The main goal of this Annual 2010 Sankirtana Festival was:
* To distribute at least 25,000 books, an initial goal, which was revised in early December to 30,000 books
This annual 2010 books marathon turned out to be a major historic event, with ISV devotees distributing thousands of Srila Prabhupada’s books throughout the Bay area and at distant spots, including other parts of the US, Europe and India.
Book distribution occurred with much enthusiasm during practically all weekends of the marathon (MSF), during several Hari Nama performances in Palo Alto, during special days marking Indian festivals such as Dussehra and Divali, on Govardhan Puja Day, Thanksgiving Day, World Enlightenment Day, the day marking Advent of the Bhagavad Gita, and during Christmas holidays and weekdays involving spontaneous and voluntary Sankirtana activity.
The highlight of this MSF was massive door-to-door distribution of books at large apartment complexes and traveling Sankirtana through which ISV devotees distributed hundreds of book packs, Bhagavad Gitas & Krsna books in towns all across the Bay area. Both adults and children were active participants in door-to-door book distribution, including Sunday-School kids who organized their own Kids Sankirtana with a goal of 2500 books, succeeding in distributing totally 2894 books.
In addition, numerous cases of Bhagavad Gitas and several Srimad Bhagavatam sets were distributed at temple programs, and hundreds of Gitas were shipped for placement in motels all across the US, with extensive devotee participation by MotelGita team members from different states. (The MotelGita team succeeded in placing more than 10,000 Bhagavad Gitas in this marathon).
During this MSF, Srila Prabhupada’s books were also placed in libraries, distributed at weddings and special events, at Indian stores and different venues and at nearby and distant temples. Book distribution continued through Smart Boxes placed in various establishments. The smart box team had made a goal of opening new smart boxes in 2010. We are pleased to announce that by their untiring efforts, they were able to open 19 new smart boxes in the Bay Area.
Summary of Results
The Final Results of the 2010 books marathon can be summarized as follows:
In all,
* More than 150 devotees participated in book distribution
* They distributed 31,099 books, surpassing the MSF goal and setting a new record for book distribution, crossing the previous high of 23,581 books distributed during the annual marathon of 2009.
* ISV devotees raised 55,383 dollars, setting another new record in Laxmi points, surpassing the previous high of $33,864 set also during the annual marathon of 2009. The Laxmi score includes donations, $27,309 of which was made to ISV MotelGita in this year’s marathon.
We thank all participating devotees including members of Team ISV and all donors and sponsors who contributed to the success of this MSF. Last but not least we offer our special thanks to HG Vaisesika Prabhu for inspiring us with this MSF of 30,000 books.
On behalf of Team ISV,
MSF of Thirty-Thousand ki Jaya!
Yours in service,
Raxit Jariwalla