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Open Letter to the Community From Texas PCC

Date: Feb 5, 2009

On March 15, 2009 we celebrated our 1 year of existence as a cultural center. This would not have been possible without your support and the support of our selfless volunteers.

I wanted to share a few thoughts with you as we move to our second year of operation. First I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and your families for your continuous support. We work very hard and for long hours for you. I am personally spending about 30-40 hours on some weeks (specially on the weeks that we have events scheduled). I know the others volunteers work NO LESS to keep the lights burning in the cultural center and make you comfortable during the events. Even though we work long hours and sometimes sleep a few hours a night, seeing our community come together for a common cause is really rewarding and makes it all worthwhile.

• Every financial donor in 2008 should be getting their 2008 YEAR END donation statement this week. If you do not receive yours, either you have not given us an address or the address on file is incorrect. You can come to the cultural center with a picture ID and pick up your statement. (OR send me your address and I will mail it to you promptly)
   

• Our 2008 Financial statement will be posted on our website shortly.
   

• We have been able to put together many events in the last year and we are hoping to continue this in 2009. Take a look at all the events we have completed on our website to gain an appreciation of what the volunteers have achieved.
  see 2008 and 2009
   

• My favorite part of our activities is the children’s Persian classes which is growing rapidly. Thanks to Ms. Nouri and Ms. Navabi’s relentless support, and the volunteer parents who help during the classes, the children are really learning and enjoying themselves. The children are working on a Norooz show that includes songs, dances and plays which will be performed on March 8, 2009.
   

• We are getting close to having 1000 people joining our distribution list and people are being added at the rate of 5-10 per week. All-in-all, we feel very successful, but there are still many people who don’t know about our cultural center. We need your help in getting the word out to your friends and family and encourage them to support us.
   

• We have a few great volunteers who are spending their extra time at the cultural center any chance they get. It is amazing. When we have an event, we often get 15-20 volunteers swarming around the place. They sweep, clean, decorate, dust, prepare tea, put out snacks, serve, wash dishes, mop, buy stuff for the cultural center out of their own pockets, bring funds they have raised from their families and friends, buy books and donate it to us to sell to the public. I have never seen so many people support a common cause with such passion and commitment. On the days when we are short a few bucks to meet certain large expenses, our volunteers come together and donate money to cover one or two smaller bills so we are able to meet the larger rent or electricity bills. We are learning to get along and meet challenges and disagreements without storming out of meetings or causing undue stress on the volunteers. The cultural center is a good example of what we can achieve in such a small amount of time. All that is required is sincerity, commitment, and really practicing what we always expect from others—that is being direct, practicing what we preach, working as a team, supporting each other, being sincere in everything we do, respecting each other and treating people as we would like to be treated.
   

• We need your support and help in all areas of the activities. With your support in 2008, we have been able to make the rent and expense EVERY MONTH without delay. We have a few regular credit card donations $10/month to $100/month which is helping us greatly but we could use a few more people. Monthly credit card donation is the easiest way you can help us.

And finally, I know the economy has been in the dumps for a while now and it seems to be getting worse. There are things we can do to help our community. There are many who are looking for jobs, or having trouble with their bills and even with putting food on the table for their families. If you are able to help someone, go ahead and just do it without thinking about it. Don’t underestimate what a seemingly minor gesture can do to someone else’s life. Utilize the Community Connections section of the website to give away the stuff you don’t need, or post a job that you have seen on the paper, or help someone who is requesting help. You have an extra PC or a laptop? Maybe a student can use it; go ahead and put it on the site for free.

I have improved that section a little and added more categories. This is a free service to help our community and not really for business/commercial use… If you want to advertise your business, let me know and we will arrange something. It will help us financially and in turn we can help the community. I have added categories like Elderly Care, For Sale, For FREE, …etc.

By the way, we have a lot of new students in town who are needing stuff for their apartments, school or families. If you have stuff to give away (furniture, TVs, computers etc…) that you think our students can use, please advertise in the FOR FREE section and they will contact you.  Check it out and use it.