ABOUT US

Sacramento Zoroastrian Association is a non-profit religious organization, exempt for tax purposes by the IRS.

In February of 2010, five Zoroastrian women from Northern California gathered together to respond to some of the community needs and established the Zoroastrian Women Organization (WZO) as a nonprofit corporation under Section 501 (C) (3) of the US Government code. WZO was registered on April 8, 2010 with the Tax ID # 90-0545184.

The limitations of not owning a permanent location made ZWO look into the possibility of purchasing their own building. Being tax exempt, the Organization was able to raise funds to make the down payment for purchasing a building in the former Mather Airforce Base location for a purchase price of $550,000.
This would not have been possible without the generous support and donations received from community members in just a few months along with a no interest personal loan of $350,000 from a Zoroastrian benefactor.

In order to include the whole community and not just the women, the registered name of WZO was changed to Sacramento Zoroastrian Association (SZA) in 2014 and the building was named as The Zoroastrian Center of Sacramento.
Later, a separate structure was built adjacent to the Center and on March 26, 2017 it was officially opened to serve the community as a Dar e Mehr. This prayer hall was made possible by a generous donation of $200,000 by the Zoroastrian Association of Hongkong.
The Center building not being compliant with the City and County codes for large gatherings, a major renovation of the Center was undertaken with the help of a bank loan of $250,000 to obtain the City/County permits. The Center was then officially opened on June 30, 2018.

Purpose of the Organization:

To provide a venue for discussion of Zoroastrian history and philosophy for adults To develop age-appropriate religious instruction for children To conduct religious ceremonies such as Jashan, Sudreh-Pushti and Gahanbar. To build communal harmony and cohesiveness by celebrating Zoroastrian festivals such as Nowruz, Tirgan, Mehergan and Yalda – and also sponsoring social events such as family picnics, cooking and baking classes.

To promote self-esteem and self confidence in the Zoroastrian community, especially the youth, through sports and games, music and dance classes.

Donations:

The year 2022 will be considered a landmark year for The Sacramento Zoroastrian Association. This year will mark the payoff of the initial loans taken to purchase and renovate the Center.
The Bank loan of $250,000 taken for the renovation of the Center in 2017 had a remaining balance of about $150,000. A special fund drive was conducted in the last half of 2021, and the community generously came forward and donated the remaining balance of $150,000 towards the bank loan. So, the entire bank loan was paid off in early 2022.
Of the $350,000 personal loan, we have a remaining balance of $50,000. Our goal is to pay this balance off in 2022. SZA will then be debt free fdrom both loans totaling $600,000 taken to purchase the Center and its subsequent renovations.