Requirements & Responsibilities

Required obligations, recurring tasks, and administrative responsibilities

Working status

This chapter is based on one onboarding phone call and should be treated as a working guide, not final legal, tax, insurance, food-safety, or permit advice. Exact fees, contacts, deadlines, and rules should be verified with current HPR leadership, the City of San Diego, and the appropriate compliance professionals before each event.

Purpose of this document

This document captures the recurring responsibilities the House of Afghanistan must understand to remain active and organized within HPR. The call identified two main required obligations: the annual lawn program and Hall of Nations hosting. Other activities are useful but optional.

Requirement 1: annual lawn program

Every house under HPR is required to hold at least one lawn program per year. This was described as a condition of remaining an organization under the House of Pacific Relations. The lawn program is therefore not merely a marketing idea or a fundraising idea. It is an annual operating responsibility.

The lawn program can be simple or elaborate. It does not have to include dancing, stage performances, or formal entertainment. The core expectation is public cultural representation. A valid program could include music, an MC, cultural explanation, food, and display tables. A more elaborate version could add dance, live music, children’s performances, poetry, cooking demonstrations, or vendors.

Minimum viable lawn program

Reserve an available date with the HPR lawn program scheduler.

Identify a simple cultural theme and program flow.

Arrange sound or background music if needed.

Prepare cultural displays or banners.

Decide whether food, drinks, or retail sales will be included.

Confirm food permits and vendor information if applicable.

Plan volunteer coverage for setup, public engagement, sales, safety, and cleanup.

Requirement 2: Hall of Nations hosting

Because the House of Afghanistan does not yet have a cottage, it is expected to host in the Hall of Nations. The exact frequency needs confirmation, but the discussion suggested that new houses may host roughly once per month. The participant specifically said the frequency should be confirmed with Jada and/or Tom Heenbauer.

Hosting means treating the Hall of Nations as a temporary cultural home. The House of Afghanistan would set up Afghan cultural materials and educate visitors. This can be simple: a table, signage, tea, books, photos, language cards, music, textiles, children’s activities, or a short presentation.

What hosting should accomplish

Give the public a clear, respectful introduction to Afghan heritage.

Explain that the House of Afghanistan is focused on Afghan people, diaspora, culture, thought, and artistic/intellectual traditions.

Recruit volunteers, members, and supporters.

Build familiarity with HPR operations.

Develop repeatable programming that can later become cottage programming.

School visit opportunities

The call also described fourth Tuesday school-based group visits. These are not required, but they are a strong opportunity. School visits allow the House of Afghanistan to engage students for roughly 2.5 to 3 hours with educational cultural material.

For House of Afghanistan, this could become a signature activity because it fits the organization’s educational purpose. Possible school visit content includes Afghan Farsi greetings, maps of Afghan diaspora communities, children’s stories, chess, poetry, music samples, clothing or textile displays, and short explanations of Afghan philosophers, scholars, artists, and poets.

Administrative responsibilities

The House of Afghanistan should maintain its own internal operating tracker rather than relying only on HPR’s shared files. HPR may provide calendars, forms, and permit guidance, but the House should keep its own board-level record of dates, approvals, permits, volunteers, vendor agreements, and post-event notes.

Responsibility

Internal owner recommendation

Notes

Annual lawn program date

President or events lead

Reserve early. 2027 dates may already be open.

Hall of Nations hosting

Programs lead

Confirm required frequency and maintain schedule.

Vendor paperwork

Treasurer or operations lead

Track vendor names, phone numbers, addresses, TFF/DEH numbers, and agreements.

Food compliance

Operations lead

Confirm food handler certificates and vendor permits before the event.

Insurance

Treasurer / board

Verify coverage before public events.

Delegates file review

Secretary

Monitor HPR Drive for new forms, deadlines, and schedule changes.

Post-event notes

Secretary or programs lead

Capture lessons learned while fresh.

There are no rows in this table

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Good-standing mindset

The safest internal rule is to treat every required HPR task as a board calendar item. Dates should not live only in one person’s texts or email. Each requirement should have an owner, due date, backup owner, and documented status.

Do not wait for HPR to remind the House of Afghanistan.

Do not assume a verbal note is enough.

Do not assume last year’s rule is still current.

Do confirm dates, fees, and forms in writing.