Ed Federman and ARA received a special message from David Lynch for the ARA Endowment Fund’s first annual gala dinner
On Saturday 27th October, ARA hosted the first annual gala dinner to raise funds for The ARA Endowment Fund. Edward Federman, Executive Chair and Managing Director of ARA, founded the Endowment Fund in 2009, as a simple and affordable way for ARA staff to make donations to registered Australian charities. Today, the Endowment Fund donates 100% of the interest earned annually to The David Lynch Foundation, The GO Foundation and The Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Our goal is to provide substantial contributions to each of these foundations for the foreseeable future.
Although he was unable to attend the fundraising dinner in person, we were very fortunate to receive a message from renowned U.S. filmmaker David Lynch, which was made especially for the night.
About The David Lynch Foundation
The David Lynch Foundation was founded by David Lynch in 2005 to make the Transcendental Meditation technique freely accessible for adults and youth. TM is a form of silent mantra meditation which was developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It involves the use of a mantra and is practised for 20 minutes, twice per day, and has been shown to alleviate the experience of stress and anxiety.
The David Lynch Foundation is currently working with students in under-resourced middle schools and high schools, veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress, women and children survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, accident victims dealing with post-traumatic stress and adults and youth who struggle with opioids and other addictive substances.
The foundation has recently established its base in Australia and will continue to assist youth at risk, victims of domestic violence and veterans to alleviate stress. The first projects in Australia have begun, including the provision of individual TM scholarships for women, young girls and schoolchildren suffering domestic violence, and the commencement of a TM program for a women’s shelter in inner Sydney.
