Happy British Columbia day!

I trust that everyone has been enjoying this beautiful long weekend!
The main project for the coming season is the multifaith documentary project. The
title of the documentary will be: “Families and Faith: Raising Children in a
Multifaith Community.” You can read more about the project here or through the
link at the bottom of this page.
There have been many great developments with this project. We’ve partnered with
DiverseCity to help with our funding application to the Surrey Foundation. The Thien
Ton Buddhist Temple, Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara and Northwoods United Church
have joined on to assist, and many wonderful families and community leaders have
stepped up to be a part of the project as well. Himar Productions continues to offer
generous in-kind support until we get our funding in place. We would not have
made it to this point without the generous contributions of so many wonderful
people.
There are, however, a few areas in which we still need support. Please take a
moment to see if you or anyone you know might be able to offer support in these
areas:
We need more families! We need a few more children and families to participate
in the tours. If you know anyone with children aged 4-6, please invite them to be
part of this project! Specifically, we need more families willing to be “focus families”
for the project and attend the first series of interviews on Saturday, August 14,
9:00-11:00am at the Newton Family Resource Program. Please have them register
or contact me for more information.
We need more hand-on support! We need a few more people to come along to
the interviews and tours to help support the children and families. This is a great
opportunity to see the program in action. Please contact me for more information.
We need more interviews! We are seeking a range of opinions and perspectives
on the topic of religious diversity in our community. If you or anyone you know has
interest or experience in this topic, please have them contact me to set up an
interview.
Our next big event is the interview day on Saturday, August 14, 9:00-11:00am at
the Newton Family Resource Program. There are a number of other interesting
events happening in the community this month as well. Keep reading for more
information!
A warm welcome to those who are receiving this newsletter for the first time!

Congratulations!
Congratulations to Sylvia Zeelenberg, Sireen El-Nashar and Sukhvinder
Vinning for organizing and running a very successful multifaith tour for a
class of elementary school teachers in a post baccalaureate program of the
SFU Faculty of Education. This is a great example of the type of programming
that is possible with an established multifaith network.

Community Events
Inspirational Lectures by Shri Hazur Ardh Nam
The Kabir Association is hosting a series of lectures by His Holiness, Shri
Hazur Ardh Nam Saheb who is the head of the Kabir Panth, based in
Lahartara, Varanasi. His Holiness tirelessly spends time in fulfilling the
dreams of Panth Shri Hazur 1008 Udit Nam Saheb to develop the Ashram at
Shri Kabir Dharm Sthan, Lahartara for the world to visit and benefit from its
 spiritual teachings and peaceful environment. The lectures take place at
various locations in Surrey between July 31 and August 11. See link below for
more details.
India Day Celebrations
The Hindu Sikh forum of North America is organizing India Day celebrations at
the Lakshmi Narayan Temple, 8321-140 Street, Surrey, on Sunday August
22nd from 1:00pm onwards. The Hindu Sikh Forum aims to promote
multiculturalism and seeks to raise cultural awareness and understanding
through hosting events and festivals that are celebrated in India and in
Canada. This is an inclusive, community event. If you are interested in
hosting a booth or being part of the parade, please contact Vinay Sharma at
604-782-7624 or surreymandir@gmail.com. See link below for more details.
Ullambana Buddhist Celebration
The Thien Ton Buddhist Society invites you to celebrate Ullambana on August
29, 11:30 am at the Thien Ton Buddhist Temple, 17192 – 96th Avenue, Surrey.
Ullambana is one of the most important traditions of Vietnamese culture and
Buddhism The celebration honours parents and departed family. During the
celebration, children of the Buddhism class offer flowers to the Buddha and
silk rose pins to everyone. This is followed by praying, chanting and walking
meditation. All are invited to remain for vegetarian lunch afterwards.
Interfaith Mini-conference on Drugs and Violence
The Global Clergy Association of Canada in collaboration with the Steveston
Buddhist Temple of Richmond is organizing a Mini-Conference on September
11, 2010 at 4360 Garry Street, Steveston Temple in Richmond. The theme of
the conference is—“Drugs and Violence”. The spiritual leaders of various
religions, social- activists, political leaders and peace-officers will speak and
reflect on the proposed topic based upon their experiences, mind-sets and
beliefs. The conference will be from 2:00 to 5:00pm. This conference is open
to all and we welcome all. We cultivate harmony, foster understanding and
cooperation between diverse faiths, communities and institutions.
RCMP Diversity Calendar Photo Contest
The Surrey RCMP invites you to submit up to ten of your own photos showing
the diversity of the Surrey RCMP and/or the community for a chance to win a
cash prize! Winning photos will be features in the Surrey RCMP’s 2011
Diversity Calendar. The submission deadline is August 30. See here for more
details.

Ongoing announcements
Join us on Facebook!
Join our Facebook group and receive timely updates on the SNFP and other
multifaith events in the community. If you are not already on Facebook, you
will need to provide an email address and password to join. It is quite
painless. This newsletter will continue to provide more in-depth, monthly
updates to your inbox.
As always, I invite your comments and feedback on any aspect of the program. If
you would like to get more involved, please let me know what your interests are
and we can explore some ideas together.
In peace,
David Dalley
(604) 502-8661
davidanderin@dalley.ca

“Comforted by how much we share, we’re able to delight in our differences.”

- Raffi, from “A Covenant for Honouring Children”

Attached:
Documentary description
Kabir lectures
India Day Celebrations