The Sri Lankan community in the City of Las Vegas, Nevada, in the United States, overwhelmingly gathered at the Buddhist Temple to launch an awareness and fundraising campaign in the United States.

A Temple full of Buddhist worshipers and other well-wishers joined together in prayer on Sunday, 30 November, and hope that their community can enlighten the Sri Lankan and citizens of other denominations, as well as beyond the State of Nevada, in the United States, to the devastation and destruction faced by the Sri Lankan nation.

The outcome of the Prayer at the Buddhist Temple was the consensus and united efforts to reach beyond the State of Nevada and summon the assistance of the Members of the United States Congress, the Senators and House Members to extend solidarity with Sri Lanka.

No sooner the Temple Prayer event was concluded US Congresswoman, Dina Titus, representing the State of Nevada, reached the chief organiser of the event, Sanje Sedera, to inform him that she is negotiating with the United States Government to get more funds allocated for Sri Lanka.

The advantage the Sri Lankan community in Las Vegas, as well as the Lankan community at large in the United States, has is that US Congresswoman, Dina Titus, is a Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee for South Asia and a Senior Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives. In addition, she has a special interest toward the welfare of Sri Lanka in maintaining a close rapport with the Sri Lankan community in the State of Nevada as she holds the position of Chairperson of Sri Lanka-America Caucus in the US Congress.

Reaching to social activist Sanje Sedera, who maintains contacts and dialogue with many leading American lawmakers and their principal staff, Congresswoman Dina Titus assured her fullest initiative to get the US administration to broadly assist Sri Lanka.

In the month of October, Titus attended a specially convened session of the Sri Lanka-America Chamber of Commerce, based in Las Vegas, to strengthen her continuing rapport and dialogue with the Sri Lankan community.

The Buddhist Temple event, on Sunday, 30 November, was initiated by the Chamber of Commerce which has already launched a fund-raiser to get additional funds for Sri Lanka.

“The nature of the catastrophe is significant, and immediate assistance for Sri Lanka is vital”, said Sedera, one of the directors of the Chamber of Commerce.

Bante Punna of the Las Vegas, Nevada Buddhist Temple, who chaired the prayer session, reiterated the ‘urgency of grassroots fundraising as Sri Lanka has faced an unprecedented humanitarian emergency”.

The Buddhist Temple event was telecast in three Nevada television networks.