A Letter From Dr. Sally Rhine-Feather
Dear Friend,
Can some people really see the future? Read other people’s minds? Observe events unfold - as they happen - even when they take place hundreds or thousands of miles away from them? Indeed they can!!!
Popularly called ESP or extrasensory perception, it is the firmly established ability of the human mind to perceive or to experience without the help of the five senses.
A 2001 Gallup Poll found that half of all Americans believe ESP is real, and 65 million Americans have personally experienced it. The scientific evidence is substantial and continually growing. In fact we could be on the verge of breakthroughs in our understanding that may surpass in importance the breakthroughs in aviation made by the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk in 1903.
We are no longer working to show that ESP exists, but now we are focusing on how it works, and how it can be used to help the human condition. Moreover, we now recognize that our minds can interact at a distance with other minds and that our minds can help influence the health of others at a distance. And some of our “near death” and other experiences suggest the survival of our consciousness after death.
I grew up in a world of parapsychology. The Rhine Research Center is named after my father, the late Dr. JB Rhine, who, with my mother, Dr. Louisa Rhine, pioneered the scientific study of ESP in the United States starting in the 1930s at Duke University. My father applied scientific methods to establish the reality of ESP in the laboratory setting. This work has been duplicated around the world and has had an enormous impact on our understanding about the workings and the reach of the mind.
The implications of the results of consciousness research are nothing short of astounding and one must wonder why they have not yet become national priorities. Sadly, they have not. Virtually no government or corporate funds are available for continued research into ESP.
Now, after more than fifty years of superb research, and at a time when humanity cannot afford to discontinue its work in understanding the nature of the mind, our work is on very shaky financial footing. Nonetheless, we have developed a strategy to maintain and intensify our work. Yet we must turn to our many friends for help.
In 2003, we published an aggressive research agenda for probing more deeply into consciousness that will further explain our place in the universe and enhance our lives in the most practical ways, including how ESP can be used in healing and even in business applications. Inspired by the Wright brothers’ breakthrough in aviation, we called our agenda "Taking Flight."
Today, we are launching the Taking Flight Society for friends who want to be a part of our effort to create a revolution in understanding far more thrilling even than aviation has been. Asking for you to join us in our work at this critical junction is really the only way we can ensure our work and the future of the Rhine Research Center. The Taking Flight Society asks for a five-year financial commitment at a level with which individuals and couples are most comfortable. We are hoping that a minimum commitment of $100 a year for five years will be possible for you. Of course we will appreciate your gift in whatever amount. At the $100 per year level, the commitment would be only $8.33 per month. While this amount may seem relatively modest, over the next five years, the total commitment would be $500. And this amount will make all the difference in the world in how The Rhine plans for its future.
Those of you who know me personally -- and the thousands of you who have written to me about your ESP experiences -- know that we have rarely asked our friends for financial support. For years we have lived off the generosity of only a few individuals and the independent grants that our researchers have received. At this point, as funding is drying up, we have no choice but to ask our friends for help.
We at The Rhine are all working as volunteers and have only one paid office worker. So we are counting on your help now and trust you will respond to this urgent and sincere appeal for help. Your gift to the Rhine Research Center is tax-deductible.
Thank you!
Become a Volunteer at the Rhine
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Did you know the Rhine Center relies almost exclusively on volunteers to manage and run our operations?
Socialize, Network, Learn, and Contribute!
Our volunteers make up a close community of like-minded people who share a common interest in the fascinating realm of parapsychology and consciousness. Being a Rhine Center volunteer is extremely rewarding and has distinct advantages, such as having the opportunity to network and socialize with world renowned parapsychology experts and researchers and others with similar interests. Volunteers are offered special incentives including: attendance at Rhine Center programs and social events, and special discounts. Consider becoming a part of one of the oldest and most respected centers of its kind in the world. Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator at Volunteer@Rhine.org or call the Rhine Center at (919) 309-4600 for further information.
Volunteer Needs
Areas where volunteers are needed include:
Office Assistants: To cover phones and do administrative work, one or more days, minimum 4-hour blocks of time.
Facility Maintenance: To do building repairs, landscaping, yard work, and gardening.
Program Assistants: Registration table at scheduled talks, events and workshops.
Publicity Assistants: To do flyer distribution, posting notices of upcoming events.
Library Assistants: To do data entry of new online card catalogue system, assisting with book sales.
Technical Assistants: To provide back up AV support to record programs and workshops.
Research Assistants: To assist with research projects, as needed.
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Volunteers would receive Orientation training, and be asked to attend some weekend meetings if possible. If interested and available, please fill out a volunteer application form and either drop it by or mail it to the Rhine Research Center office.
The TFS Society donor plan offers one of the most meaningful ways of helping the Rhine Center in planning ahead, by asking for a five-year commitment at whatever level is comfortable.
Now in its second year The Taking Flight Society has achieved pledges amounting to upwards of nearly $50,000. That is a big step in helping the Rhine Center to plan for its future. The TFS asks for a long-term commitment of $100 or more for five consecutive years but we appreciate your gift in whatever amount is possible.
In the words of Jerry Posner, our original Director of Institutional Advancement, “We believe our many friends will step up to the plate and support the Rhine Center so that we can continue our historic role in the understanding of consciousness. It is important to remember that if we understand consciousness, we understand ourselves. I believe that is well worth the investment of only $8.33 a month. Of course all of our donors are appreciated no matter what the amount of their contribution. We consider all contributions as gifts from the heart and we honor all of our friends and supporters."
To join the Taking Flight Society via mail, please download this document (Format: Rich Text), fill it out, and send it to the Rhine Institute (the address is on the document). If you prefer, use this plain-text version instead.
Plan Now For A Gift In The Future...
Many persons desiring to donate to their favorite non-profit organization may want to establish giving plans while they are living in order to be assured that the funds they wish to donate will be available at a future time after their death. This technique is commonly called “planned giving.” The financial arrangements of donors certainly vary but there are enough unique methods for planned giving to assist most interested donors.
Most individuals may want to make planned giving arrangements through their own qualified accountant or attorney although if a potential donor favors planned giving and has no financial advisor of his own, the Rhine Center can help with recommending appropriate professional help.
Here are a few of the popular and proven methods that
are commonly used to establish a planned giving program:
CHARITABLE REMAINDER TRUST: This method allows an individual to make a substantial gift of his or her assets in a current time period and yet retain the income from these assets during his or her lifetime. Upon death, the assets would then pass to the non-profit institution.
CHARITABLE LEAD TRUST: The income from the assets, often in the form of an annuity, is distributed to the non-profit on a current basis.
BEQUESTS BY WILL: This is a common technique for passing assets to a non-profit. Will bequests need to be formalized, however, through the use of an Estate Note. It is still possible for the donor to make changes in his/her will as time goes on, but if an Estate Note has been prepared and signed, the planned donation to the non-profit remains unchanged.
LIFE INSURANCE: In most instances a cash value life insurance can be used as a donation by having the non-profit simply listed as the beneficiary. Another way of giving might be from the sale of old policies that have been in existence for many years to a settlement company, and then donating the cash value proceeds to the non-profit.
IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVERS: This is a recent provision which allows individuals 70 ½ years or older to contribute up to $100,000 from their IRA to a qualified non-profit institution.
OTHER: There are a number of other ways of planned giving that qualified consultants can help to explain as well as implement for the would-be donor to the Rhine Center. Nearly all of the various methods of donating have very attractive income tax features., but a potential donor should always review his/her plans for giving with a tax advisor in order to obtain the most favorable income tax treatment.
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For more information please contact our adminstrator at admin@rhine.org or call the Rhine Research Center at (919) 309-4600, or visit us at: 2741 Campus Walk Avenue, Building 500, Durham, NC 27705 |
