New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

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Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban promotes cow protection, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, as envisioned by Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON New Vrindaban’s Founder-Acharya.

Participating Directors: Anuttama, Chaitanya Mangala, Jamuna Jivani (board secretary), Makara (chair), Olivia, Ranaka, and Vraja.

1. Ranaka’s Monthly Report

• Lalita Gopi:
  • We are currently milking seven cows at the Temple Barn: Jamuna, Malati, Anjali, Usha, Surabhi, Subhadra, Lakshmi.
  • There are three calves at the barn: Gopi Katyayani, Gaurangi, and Jai Sri.
  • Jaya Radhe is at the barn and should be calving before the end of the month.  
  • The cows are producing approximately 16 gallons daily.
  • Anandavidya is making approximately 30 lbs of butter weekly
  • The children from Gopal’s Garden preschool participated in “Gopathon,” a Facebook marathon for ISKCON goshalas. The children washed the cows feet, brushed, chanted to, and fed bananas to the cows. The children also took turns milking a cow along with Steady, their preschool teacher.
  • Our rambunctious young calves have been jumping and smashing fences, and demolishing gates. Ray will help with repairs.
• Ray:
  • Spent four days doing fence repair at the Valley Barn, with some assistance from Ryan
  • Moved 77 round bales of hay from the Valley Barn to Nandagram and the Temple Barn
  • Replaced a water fountain for the cows at the Valley Barn and winterized the remaining two fountains
  • Prepared winter quarters in the barn for Ganges and Kalindi, two old cows with bad hips that can no longer remain with the main herd.
  • Other barn and equipment maintenance
• Caitanya Bhagavat (Nandagram):
  • Cow care: winter maintenance, feeding, providing water, and health checks
  • Special geriatric care for elderly cows
• Suchandra (Community & Teaching Gardens):
  • Finished planting extra box of lilies found at Vidya’s.
  • Cut back asparagus, lilies, and butterfly bushes.
  • Delivered 200 lb of butternut squash and 12 two-pound bags of frozen green beans and tomato paste to the temple
  • Planted hyacinth, amaryllis, and narcissus bulbs for winter flowers to deliver to the temple
  • Weekly care for planted bulbs.
  • Delivered four narcissus plants and five hyacinth plants to temple.
  • Got order for Yoders and seeds ready.
  • Lalita Gopi has been working in the Community Garden, where she began clearing brush from the fence line and picked up a trailer load of trash and scrap wood.  
  • Lalita Gopi has also been working with the temple kitchen, who have been very cooperative to keep all uncooked and cooked food scraps in the compost bins behind the temple. This is being added to the dung pile at the Temple Barn for decomposition which will then be used at the Community Garden for fertilizer.
• Ranaka:
  • Arjuna, a male Jersey from the Canadian herd, died suddenly on January 16 from unknown causes. He was two years and three months old.
  • Updated the herd records and transferred all herd information to a new recording system on an Excel worksheet. The total herd count stands at 60.
  • Worked on yearly financial audit with Ram Associates.
  • Visited Vidya’s twice with Ray to come up with a plan to expand the capacity of the greenhouse attached to her house. This will be used for seed-starting in the early spring.

2.  FY18 Finalized Operating Budget Approval

WHEREAS: The ECO-V Board wishes to review ECO-V’s income and expenses for the previous year.

RESOLVED: The Board approves a finalized operating budget of $367K for 2018.

3. FY19 Operating Budget Approval

WHEREAS: The ECO-V Board wishes to set projections of ECO-V’s income and expenses for the upcoming year.

RESOLVED: The Board approves an operating budget of $400K for 2019.

4. Funding Request for April 2019 Appreciation Gifts & Plaques: $4K

WHEREAS: The ECO-V Board wishes to acknowledge the dedication of key community members, as well as offer a token of appreciation to the INV and ECO-V staff and volunteers.

RESOLVED: The Board approves up to $4,000 as a budget for plaques and gifts to distribute during the April meeting weekend.

Here’s a link to the ECO-Vrindaban website.

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