"We are happy to once again bring you this opportunity to honor loved ones, dedicate a brick in memory of loved ones, or simply include your family alongside friends and community members on the paver patio at our Arbab Rustom Guiv Dar-e-Mehr (DM),” noted the newsletter of the Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York (ZAGNY) dated June 5, 2023. "The funds collected will be allocated to the Dar-e-Mehr Zoroastrian Temple (DMZT) Capital Account for continuing upgrades to our building,” stated the appeal.
"This is an old initiative we had started in 2016 to generate about $ 200,000 (Rs 1.65 crores) for Dar-e-Mehr Phase II,” stated Edul Daver, their principal fundraiser, in response to queries from Parsiana. Launched following the construction of the New York Dar-e-Mehr, the campaign was meant to generate funds for the fountain, purchase library furniture, install audiovisual equipment and create the patio.
Above: brick paver project and (top) solar panels that generate
funds and power for the New York Dar-e-Mehr
"The initiative was received with enthusiasm. However, there was concern that since it was not a wall feature but a patio, people would be walking over the engraved bricks. This concern was mitigated by designing the patio such that the engraved bricks would be placed on the edge nearest to the building and not in the walking path. This reassured donors who continue to request engraved bricks from time to time. These additional requests are welcome since the patio design and installation allow for replacement of blank bricks with engraved bricks,” noted erstwhile ZAGNY joint secretary Nina Mistry.
To overcome the challenge of motivating those who had not contributed to the new building, the patio design was created to include pavers of different sizes to enable wider participation. Small bricks (8”x4” with three engraved lines) were available for $ 1,000 (Rs 82,612); medium (8”x8” with four engraved lines) for $ 2,000 (Rs 1.65 lakh); and large (12”x12” with five engraved lines) for $ 5,000 (Rs 4.13 lakh). "The largest bricks are closest to the fire temple and are the smallest in number. The second row of middle-sized bricks fall in between. The smallest sized bricks are the largest in quantity. "We are in fact getting close to the end and may need to start a fourth row,” added Daver.
"Phase II succeeded in raising about $ 170,000 (Rs 1.40 crore) towards completion of the new DM, and an additional $ 20,000 (Rs 16.5 lakh) was raised in 2021 towards the DM Operating Expense and Maintenance Fund. About 70 donors contributed during Phase II, and an additional 10 in 2021 when the initiative was revived, followed by a handful of requests since then,” Mistry gave the details. "Going forward, the plan is to activate the Campaign for a few weeks annually and direct the funds where most needed at the time.”
"The Brick Paver Campaign was the major initiative but not the only one… Perhaps the most innovative initiative was to raise monies for the generation of solar electricity for the Dar-e-Mehr,” an enthusiastic Daver explained the project from conception to fruition. "A bunch of us are solar energy diehards and we wanted to install solar panels to generate electricity for the Dar-e-Mehr. The conventional route would have been for members to donate monies towards the project and DMZT to install the system.”
However to avail of the Federal Government incentives that provide a 30% tax credit with most states, including NY, offering additional smaller benefits to those generating solar power, seven individuals came together and invested $150,000 (Rs 1.23 crore) to form ZSolar LLC (Limited Liability Company). DMZT being a non tax-paying entity could not have availed of these incentives.
In the initial years, DMZT would purchase electricity from ZSolar at the market rate while charging ZSolar a rental fee for housing the solar panels on its roof. In effect it was receiving electricity at a discounted rate. "In about six years the partners have recouped their investment and with equipment completely depreciated we have sold the ZSolar assets to the Dar-e-Mehr for one dollar (Rs 83). The Dar-e-Mehr now gets 100% of the generated electricity at zero cost… It did involve substantial extra paperwork, annual tax filing, State reporting and a professional tax account to make sure we were in complete compliance,” stated Daver. Parinaz M. Gandhi