Meher Center’s Financial Picture
October 2021
Dear Meher Center Family and Friends,
Warm greetings to each of you in Beloved Meher Baba's Love.
The Center opened for overnight visitors on October 1! So far so good. It's wonderful to hear of the happy hearts who are, once again, making the pilgrimage to His home in the West. Referring to the Center, Baba said, "I never leave." He is always there to greet each of us as we arrive and find Him anew in our hearts.
Baba told Center founder Elizabeth Patterson that the Meher Spiritual Center would be present when He returned in 700 years! That is very comforting, but also challenging to protect and maintain the Center into the future. A challenge from the Avatar, however, is our opportunity to step up and support the Center in whatever way we are able.
One practical way to support the Center is through donations. The Center depends on your financial support for its operations and maintenance. The major expense for the Center—as with most service organizations—is staff salaries and benefits. Throughout this pandemic the entire staff has been retained, thanks in large part to your generous support. The loving and capable individuals who make up our staff have always been an important part of the Center experience for each of us—sometimes in the background and sometimes directly. It would have been a great loss if any had had to leave the work of the Center. Thank you.
Donations more than doubled in September from the month before in response to our earlier communication of the Center's need. However, overall donations remain considerably behind last year's pace. Giving in the final three months of this year will determine whether the Center can meet all of its expenses without drawing down its endowment.
Here we are again, at the challenge, where each of us has the opportunity to step up and contribute what we can to the Center's future. If you have not yet given this year or feel that you could contribute more, please do so as soon as you are able. The Center needs your support.
As a reminder, you can donate to the Center through our website at www.mehercenter.org/donate, where you can choose to begin a monthly donation or give a one-time gift. Or, if you prefer, you can send a check to the address listed below. If you have an existing monthly donation and would like to increase it, please contact the Gateway at (843) 272-5777.
Thanks to all of you, and thank you Meher Baba for this challenge and opportunity!
In His Love,
Bob Ahrens, Presiding Officer for the Board of Directors
Meher Center, 10200 North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, S.C. 29572
