Dear Sangha Brothers and Sisters,
The following proposal was presented and approved by the Sangha at its April 4, 2020 Community Meeting. Please take a few minutes to read and respond as you choose.
All of you most likely have a card in your wallet with In Case of Emergency (ICE) contact information on it. Some may also have that information held up with magnets on the refrigerator, in a file drawer or elsewhere in your house. Maybe you live with your next of kin or that person lives nearby. But does he/she know how to contact someone in the Sangha on your behalf? Or maybe you live alone and have no relatives in the area. Then what?
Using myself as an example, if something were to happen to me in Schenectady, I would definitely want someone in my beloved Sangha to know about it, but my ICE card says to call my sister in Plymouth, MA, who would not have a clue about how to contact the Sangha. Perhaps you have similar concerns or maybe you’ve never even thought about it.
There’s a way to address these concerns and it’s as simple as adding the names and phone numbers of at least two Sangha people to your wallet ICE cards and other places as needed. You would give the Sangha contact information to your families and friends, and those people would, in turn, provide their contact information to the Sangha contacts. We just need Sangha people to serve as contacts. This arrangement is open to all, completely voluntary and requires no responsibilities other than exchanging contact information and relaying information to designated contacts. It’s based on the assumption that in a time of need you may want the support and guidance of your Sangha, and that your Sangha wants to be there for you.
Building a Sangha, supporting a Sangha, being with a Sangha,
Thich Nhat Hanh
receiving the support and guidance of a Sangha
is the practice.
Please let me (dorovie@aol.com or 518 346-1979) know by May 31st if you would like to:
1. Add the names of two Sangha people to your list of contacts; or
2. Offer your name and phone number as a contact; or
3. Both.
A list of Sangha contacts, along with instructions on how to proceed, will then be sent to those who sign up. The Sangha will keep a list of the match-ups and periodically ask for updates. Let me know if you have any questions.
Stay safe and healthy.
A deep bow and smile,
Dorothy
Kingfisher Sangha