Our Shalom, Our Future Campaign
Sale of Shalom Mountain projected for July 2011!
A successful Our Shalom, Our Future campaign raised more than the $250,000 initial payment needed in order to buy Shalom Mountain from the current owners and convert the organization into a non-profit. Since that time, the transition team, with Nancy Thomas at the helm, has been fully in action and we are now within a few months of completing the conversion.
The Merger
In January, it was determined that merging the assets of the non-profit Friends of Shalom with the new non-profit Shalom Mountain, Inc. would provide the strongest organizational structure moving into the future. Before we can move forward with this new structure we must first work with the FSM accountants to acknowledge the more than $300,000 in contributions received during the capital campaign. We then must complete and submit the 2010 tax return documents.
Fund Development
In February, the Capital Campaign committee worked with a professional fundraiser and conducted an assessment to gauge the community’s interest and willingness to participate in future fundraising efforts. After assessing the feedback, it was determined that we need to adopt a staged approach to future fundraising efforts and provide the community with frequent updates as to what is evolving on the Mountain. As a result of this, we have hired, Rosemary Calderalo as our part-time Director of Fund Development to assist us with the integration of the two organizations and to work with us in the creation of a plan for future efforts.
The New Board
In March, in anticipation of the merger this summer, a new Board for Shalom Mountain was named and announced to the Shalom community. The members are Barbara Brown, Michael Thomas, Shaena Heintz, Jeff Hilliard and Joyce Harvey-Morgan. You can read about them on the Shalom Mountain website.
Following the April work weekend, the new Board met for the first time. Overseen by Nancy Thomas – who is coordinating the transition – the new Board also met with Nance McGee, Director of Program and Operations, Tom Goddard, future Director of the Land Development project and Rosemary Calderalo, Director of Fund Development. These rich conversations began the working relationship between a policy/governance board and Shalom’s operations. These two groups are addressing the key steps to authorize the operations areas at the time of merger/sale in order to make the transition without interruption of the retreat center.
The final steps to the merger/sale to occur at the end of July:
Late July is the projected time for the merger/sale. While we hold prayers, intentions, and efforts to expedite an earlier closing date, below are some of the next steps in this process.
1. The notice to the FSM board and the interim Shalom Mountain, Inc. board to grant approval to the merger. This notice contains the blending of the two purpose statements from each 501c3.
2. We must apply to the Attorney General of New York to waive any opposition to the merger. This is followed by a legal pleading to the Supreme Court Judge for Sullivan County to decide. This is a formality, but a required step.
3. Upon approval from the Attorney General the Certificate of Merger will be filed with the Secretary of State, and the new non-profit, Shalom Mountain, Inc. will then become the merged entity with FSM, completing the purchase of the Land and the Retreat Center.
4. On a parallel track, the sale documents are close to final draft with every expectation they will be ready by the end of May; these documents cannot be activated until the Certificate of Merger is final.
If you have any questions on any of the above areas, call or email, any of us on the Campaign Committee.
Vyana Bergen, vyana@shalommountain.com
Shelly Reichenbach, smilingwidely@msn.com
Shaena Heintz, shaenah@hotmail.com
Rosemary Calderalo, calderal@optonline.net
OUR SHALOM, OUR FUTURE
“More than anything else, we long to love and be loved.”
Shalom Mountain has been a home-of-the-heart for thousands of people for more than 35 years. The Shalom process has forever changed our lives and continues to call us to be conscious, loving, and fully alive. We don’t want to imagine a world without Shalom. Yet, without a strong financial intervention before the end of this year, it’s something we may have to face.
The material here presents the story of Shalom to date, as well as the story that is now being written. If you’re already clear that you want to be part of that story without reading further, we invite you to participate in creating a strong foundation for Shalom’s future through making a financial contribution. To contribute, click on the “Contribute Now” button below.
Some Background on Shalom Mountain
Shalom’s mission is to call people to be conscious, loving, and fully alive, a transformation that is best served through the power of intentionally loving community. Because the essence of Shalom—its heart and its focus—is love, rather than any particular belief system, its mission unites diverse groups and honors all spiritual paths.
Shalom Mountain, the place and its staff, supports this mission by providing a safe space where people can risk experimenting with new behaviors that express the fullness of who they are. Hundreds of us testify to the power and love the place radiates to all who come here. It’s why we keep coming back.
Over the years, with the generous support of Friends of Shalom Mountain, the Mountain has emerged from being a small personal business to being a vibrant multi-functional organization with depth of leadership facilitating personal transformation through retreats, residencies, and leadership trainings (472 participants in the last year alone).
Since its inception, Shalom Mountain has been a privately owned business, led by the genius of Jerry and Elisabeth Jud, the loving of Joy Davey and Lawrence Stibbards, and the courage of the three stewards. Now the time has come for us, the Shalom community, to move forward into the next phase of the dream. Shalom has outgrown the ownership structures of the past.
Becoming a New Nonprofit
To support Shalom’s mission, it is time to expand from being a privately owned business to one that is nonprofit and community funded and operated. Accordingly, we announce the creation of a new nonprofit organization named, simply, Shalom Mountain, Inc.
Your Participation Is An Investment
Although there is at this time no ownership option, providing funds to Shalom is always an investment. We contribute funds because we want Shalom to be here far into the future for our families, and our friends, and ourselves, as well as for anyone in the world who may need a mat trip. In these uncertain times, the skills and principles of loving are crucial to the quality of the future of the planet, and Shalom is one of the best places to learn those skills. We are investing in the future of our planet.
Here’s How to Contribute
Give enough until you feel so good that you wonder
why you don’t always live that way”
- Buddhist Teacher
So many have loved the Mountain through tears and joy, work and play, participation and prayer, time and money. We are all givers to, as well as receivers from, the wellspring of the Mountain. Shalom has stretched our hearts, bodies, and souls in a multitude of ways already. This time, we ask that you consider giving substantially more to Shalom Mountain than you have to date.
The return on your investment is significant. Not only will you be securing the ongoing availability of Shalom as a resource; in addition, giving to this campaign ensures that you have a strong sense of personal ownership of our beloved Mountain, not in the legal sense, but in your sense of belonging. Your financial gifts not only secure Shalom’s future, they allow you take up your own authorship of Shalom’s future. This depends not on a dollar amount, but on your knowing that you are part of the solution.
We need everyone to participate in this campaign, at every level of giving. Every gift matters. Your financial gift carries an energy that contributes a vital piece to this evolving community of which we are all a part. Your contribution is tax deductible. To contribute, click on the “Contribute Now” button below.
Find the deep
pleasure
in your giving.