The Hindu Heritage Endowment§
The spiritual centers of South India, the aadheenams, traditionally support Hindu organizations such as temples, orphanages and priest training schools. In ancient times, farm land or shops owned by these monastic-run institutions supplied the revenue for regular charitable assistance for local religious and social activities. In today’s world, aadheenam endowments include stocks and bonds. The charitable activities of Kauai’s Hindu Monastery are more global than local, and are significant enough to be responsibly overseen by a separate organization, called Hindu Heritage Endowment (HHE), which Gurudeva founded in 1994. Through HHE, a wide variety of activities are funded, including temples, festivals and feedings, orphanages, children’s retreat camps, youth education, ashrams and mathas, religious publications, pilgrimage sites, priest training centers, support for pandits, shelters for sadhus, elderly homes, scriptural or philosophical research centers, support of ayurveda and jyotisha, the missions of various swamis and institutes for music, art, drama, dance and yoga. An organization can easily create an HHE fund to sustain its mission. Individuals can donate to existing funds or create new funds for their favorite Hindu charities or causes. Once contributions are put into HHE, they cannot be removed or used for anything other than the fund’s stated purpose. Grants, generated by investment gains, are regularly distributed to the beneficiaries to use in furthering their plans and goals. Contributions are tax-deductible in the US. As of 2011, there are over 80 individual funds within HHE, which together exceed $10 million. These assets are professionally overseen by Halbert Hargrove LLC of Long Beach, California, an investment counselor respected for their utilization of multi-manager institutional mutual funds. Contributions to an HHE fund can be made in several ways, including outright gifts of cash, securities or real estate, a bequest through a will or living trust, life insurance or a gift through a life income plan, such as a charitable remainder trust, gift annuity or pooled income fund.§
HINDU HERITAGE ENDOWMENT
Kauai’s Hindu Monastery
107 Kaholalele Road
Kapaa, Hawaii, 96746-9304 USA
Phone: (800) 890–1008, Ext. 244
Outside US: (808) 822–3152, Ext. 244
Fax: (808) 822-4351
www.hheonline.org
E-mail: hhe@hindu.org §