Dalai Lama’s Ind. visit to benefit cultural center and hunger initiative

You don’t have to be Buddhist to benefit from the Dalai Lama.

When he visits the Conseco Fieldhouse in May, both the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington and the Interfaith Hunger Initiative will share proceeds to help benefit their organizations and programs.

Dave Miner, volunteer executive director of the IHI, said his group is ecstatic about the upcoming visit.

“We are very pleased to be a part of this,” Miner said. “Having His Holiness here is not a common thing, and we’re glad to be a part of it.”

In fall 2007, Jim Morris, sports and entertainment president of the Indiana Pacers and former director of the World Food Program, proposed the IHI. He challenged various religious groups to come together for a common cause, Miner said. The group now has more than two dozen congregations.

The IHI is particularly excited because this is the first large-scale event the group has taken part in, Miner said. The organization plans to use the money it raises for its student lunch program in Kenya, as well as to assist food banks and lunch programs near Indianapolis.

Currently, the IHI helps more than 2,700 Kenyan children get a free meal while in school, Miner said. With the money generated from the Dalai Lama’s speech, it hopes to expand the program so the schools can be comfortably self-sufficient.

“It’s disturbing to think that food is not available to everyone,” Miner said. “One of the girls said to us, ‘Thank you, I hope you can keep helping us. If you don’t, we will probably all disappear.’”

Miner said there are about 18,000 students in the Indianapolis area on a free-lunch plan, and the donations from the event could help expand the program to the summer months.

Only one in every six students receiving free lunches in Indianapolis can access food provided by a summer food program, he said. The IHI’s goal is to find out why these students are not getting to any of the more than 120 locations across Marion County where the food is available.

Miner said he’s heard many stories that demonstrate how hard life is for some of the children.

“A kid last year got a good citizen award,” he said. “Sometime later, he was in line for a lunch and got in a fight with another student.”

The fight occurred because he hadn’t eaten all weekend and wanted to be first in line.
Hunger has become an increasing problem since the recession, Miner said.

Requests to Connect2Help, an organization that offers emergency services regarding food assistance, increased by 41 percent in 2008 and increased again in 2009.

The TMBCC also has projects of its own that could be furthered with its share of the funding.

TMBCC director Arjia Rinpoche said it has plans to start a children’s cancer hospital in Mongolia, a refugee camp in India and a Tibetan and Mongolian summer camp at the center.

“His visit will be a wonderful support for our projects,” Rinpoche said.

The good news for the IHI and the TMBCC is that the revenue from the Dalai Lama visit is expected to be very high.

According to Lisa Morrison, the event’s marketing director, His Holiness’s visit to IU’s Assembly Hall in 2007 was a sellout. More than $100,000 was raised on merchandise alone.

Ticket sales are expected to raise more than $250,000 by the time of the event, she said.

In 2003, the City of Bloomington made about $1.4 million as a result of tourism from the event and saw more than this total in 2007, she said.

Rinpoche said he’s very excited to see His Holiness again and that he thinks the event will be insightful for the community, as well as all of those who attend.

“He’s a great person, role model and mentor,” Rinpoche said. “No matter the situation, he always says ‘never give up’ and is always searching for a positive way.”