In November 2022, a fundraising event was held to help Tara Lanka help the villagers of Gambirisgaswewa, Anuradhapura.
The event was called “Food for Lanka” and more than 100 people, including volunteers, made the night a fantastic success. It raised about 15,000 Australian dollars.
Zopa Noble Park Buddhists, was inspired by Tara Lanka’s work and mounted the fundraiser as their way of helping the villagers, too. Zopa NPB is associated with Atisha Centre but is 205 kms away from Bendigo in a Melbourne suburb. Not only did they manage the whole thing, they also funded many of the costs. It was inspiring.
There was a Sri Lankan themed meal with a silent auction of art and donated items. One of Tara Lanka’s first and longest sponsors, Maree, was there from Peace of Mind (POM). Maree’s photos are all over this website from when she visited Sri Lanka to train the girls at Haragama. She sells their handcrafts from pom-melbourne.com and at the fundraiser POM hosted a stall and donated the proceeds to Tara Lanka. We urge you to get your handcrafts from pom-melbourne.com — please;)
The menu was designed, sourced and cooked by husband and wife volunteers Karl Ratnayake and Dishna Warnasooriya with assistance in the kitchen from volunteers and others who served and cleaned up. Wonderful people.
Straight after Food for Lanka,Venerable Lekdron wrote a letter to thank the people who supported the event and outlined some of the immediate steps that the event made possible. You can read the letter here.
You can still donate to fund our work with the villagers, just click the button…