Volunteering is now made even more easier!     Signup for volunteering!!

Most of the activities in the temple are carried out by the dedicated efforts of volunteers. The Religious, Food, Cultural, Maintenance, Public Relations and Youth committees are some of the committees where volunteers are needed.  
Volunteering helps meet people and make new friends; it helps the temple increase and improve the services offered by the temple; and brings a feeling of satisfaction and inner peace in the individual. For details about the activities of these committees, call the temple and ask for the name and phone number of the respective coordinator.
We strongly urge you to sign up for any volunteer activity and get your family members and friends involved. Please contact us using the feedback form , and the committee co-coordinator will call or email you to set up. Students can apply the volunteer hours they spend at the temple towards any school volunteer requirements. 
Details of each committee/task force is given below:

Committees and Task forces for 2011

Executive Committee

Coordinator: Chairman of the Board - Mythili Bachu 

The Executive Committee consists of:

the Chairman (Mythili Bachu)

the Vice Chair (C.V. Grija Vallabhan)

the President of Operations (Umesh Shankar)

the Treasurer (Ravi C. Narayan)

the Secretary (Harihar Singh)

and the immediate past Chairman (Leela Mandava)  

 

SSVT Endowment – Investment Management Committee

Committee Chair: V.S.Raghavan vsraghavan@verizon.net

SSVT Endowment is designed to complement the temple’s income by creating two Funds to secure the temple's future and support the achievement of its mission. The Education & Culture Fund shall be managed so as to provide financial support for educational, cultural and other efforts consistent with SSVT's mission to benefit its congregation and the broader Hindu community. The Financial Security and Stability Fund is to provide long-term financial security to the Temple. It shall be managed so as to provide financial support through its earnings for debt relief and for long capital needs of the Temple. The Committee, consisting of the Treasurer, four trustee-emeritus and two independent financial specialists, is a fiduciary committee, and is responsible for monitoring the investment management of the Endowment and ensuring adherence to the investment guidelines and asset allocation strategies approved by the Board. The Investment Management Committee will employ one or more investment managers of varying styles and philosophies to attain the Fund's objectives.  

SSVT Endowment -Development Committee

Committee Chair: K. G. Venkatraman (Ramani), 301-646-1232, kvenkatram@aol.com

Established to explore ways and means to market the endowment to the congregation and to work alongside the Investment Management Committee to provide seminars and educational opportunities for estate planning and planned giving.

Finance Committee

Coordinator – Treasurer – Ravi C. Narayan, rcncpa@yahoo.com

Finance committee advises Board of Trustees on all financial matters: debt levels, budgeting, congregation loan rates, expense ratios and other management tools. Day-to-day operations are managed by the Accounting Team, which is overseen by the Treasurer. 
Accounting Team –Umesh Shankar
Tax Deductible donations: Usha Krishnamurthy
Debit-Order program management including devotee communications (managed by Barthy Setty)
Internal Audit  Umesh Shankar as Controller to handle Internal Audit function. Besides Umesh Shankar, the internal audit team includes Banu Ramkrishnan, Ubrani Jayaram and Ravi C. Narayan.

Operations Committee

Coordinator – Umesh Shankar, gumesh@yahoo.com

• Coordinates the day-to-day operations of the temple including scheduling and devotee services.
• Authorized to spend up to $2,500 within budget parameters for operational expenses.
• The Operations Committee coordinates the work of all Devotee committees and Task Forces which are listed below
  

Cultural Committee 

Coordinator – Kannan Subramanian, skannan11@yahoo.com

• Organizes and conducts dance, music, drama, and other cultural programs under Temple's auspices.
• Provides a venue for exhibiting the talents of young artistes in the region.
• Assists in raising additional resources for sponsoring artistes from India.
• Oversees the making and selling of audio tapes.
  

Education Committee 

Coordinator – Thaila Ramanathan, thailar@yahoo.com

• Educate children of Hindu roots about their rich culture & religion 
• Increase the learning for parents and adults so that they can better teach their children and better represent the Hindu community in interfaith settings 
• Provide an opportunity for those from non-Indian background to learn about Hindu culture.
  

Engineering/Facilities Committee

Coordinator - Sasi Menon, sasi_20903@yahoo.com

• Provides technical advice on all matters relating to construction, installation, remodeling and maintenance of all temple buildings and grounds
• Keeps all temple-owned buildings and grounds in safe and working condition.
• Hires and supervises contractors and other workers who perform maintenance functions and capital projects.
  

Food Committee

Coordinator – Bharathi Reddy, reddyb@cder.fda.gov

• Provides refreshments during weekends, holidays and special puja days.
• Assists in Temple's annual bazaar and special fund raising events.
  

Public Relations Committee

Coordinator – Uthra Rao, uthrarao@gmail.com

• Provides information on Temple services and programs to the congregation.
• Recruits volunteers to assist in religious, administrative and other special programs.
• Conducts ongoing and special fund raising activities.
• Schedule Front Desk volunteers
  

Religious Committee

Coordinator –  Vasu Murthy, thoughtsrlife@gmail.com

• Plans and manages Temple's religious programs.
• Organizes relevant pujas for Hindu religious days and special occasions.
• Selects priests specialized in different services to serve the needs of the congregation.
• Ensures the cleaning of sarees and dhotis for idols 
• Maintains inventory of jewelry and other idols-related assets.
  

Youth & Community Service Committee (Aakaar)

Coordinator - Rugmini Gopal, rugminymami@yahoo.com

• Provides a venue to teach Hindu mythology and rituals to children and young adults.
• Involves children and young adults in religious, cultural, and social programs of the Temple.
• Creates opportunities for social services in the larger community.
  

Task Forces

Automation Taskforce

Coordinators – Srini Mandava, srini@verizon.net

• Develop and implement a computer system to automate the front desk operations, and the priest and facility scheduling activities of the temple, such as to simplify and automate operational information gathering and management. Beside Srini, the team consists of Sridhara Kedlaya front desk and cc TV display, Ravi Kumar Ramachandran (front desk software) and Sunitha Sriram web services.
  

Decorations Taskforce

Coordinator - Priya Narayan

• Decorates Temple premises during special pujas and functions.
• Assists with decorations when devotees rent the Temple auditorium for marriages and religious events.
  

Devotee Database Services Taskforce

Coordinator - Usha Krishnamurthy

• Maintains current database of congregation members for mailing newsletters and other promotional materials.
• Prepares congregation lists for fundraising and special events.
• Maintains an account of donations and provides devotees with a report of their contributions for tax filing.
  

Flowers Taskforce

Coordinator - Bhavani Sivaramakrishnan bhavanisiva@yahoo.com

• Prepares garlands for all deities.
• Estimates flower needs for special pujas.
  

Garden Taskforce

Coordinator –K.G. Venkatraman

• Plants and maintains flowers in Temple premises
• Supervises workers who take care of Temple grounds.

Insurance Taskforce

Coordinators - Kusum Raghavan, K.G. Venkatraman

• Deal with all temple employee insurance benefits, including health, workmen’s compensation and other insurance, ensuring the best pricing, benefits and coverage for all 
• Deal with all temple building insurance matters and ensure that the temple’s assets are well protected
  

Hundi Collection Task Force

Coordinator - Uma Potarazu 

• Collecting, recording and depositing of all temple funds on a routine basis. 
• Hundi Counting Team: Kusum Raghavan, Sundar Mahadevan, Suresh Narasimhan, Jay Sriram, Kannan Ramaswamy and Bhanu Krishnakumar are team leaders who lead a team of 5 to 6 volunteers.
  

Publications Task Force

Coordinator -

• Publishes Temple's monthly newsletter.
• Prepares souvenirs and other special publications.

Publicity Task Force 

Coordinator –

• Oversees telephone voice mail and messaging system (outgoing messages by Radha Ganesan, incoming messages: Rama Rao)
• Coordinate the preparation and dissemination of publicity materials for the various committees.
• Arranges for placement of ads, video clips, etc. for upcoming events in various publications and television stations.
  

Transportation Task Force 

Coordinator – Kannan Subramanian

• Coordinates and manages devotee transportation and parking during temple special events and weekends.
  

Web Services Task Force 

Coordinator –

• Upgrade the current website
• Maintenance and upkeep of the temple's website.
• Coordinating all Internet activities including e-mails and e-groups.
  

Please serve your Temple in the committees and taskforces that you like. You can contact the coordinator listed or you can call the Temple at 301-552-3335 or by e-mail at ssvt@ssvt.org