The Sikh Center of New York is using its stock of donated foods and funds to prepare, package, and deliver thousands of home-cooked meals to Americans in coronavirus self-isolation for free. The initiative is being run and organized by several Sikh volunteers from the East, West Coast, and Midwest of the US. They are prepared with an infrastructure to help agencies across the country.
So far, they have cooked and packaged over 30,000 meals for citizens in New York City, one of the worst-affected regions in the US. The food was prepared following strict food hygiene practices, including social distancing, as well as the use of gloves and face masks.
Himat Singh, the coordinator of the American Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (east coast), told ANI, “The ”Sewa” or service provided by the Sikh volunteers is a vegetarian meal comprising of dry fruits, rice, and lentils. The meals were prepared on Sunday and were packaged and loaded for delivery. The distribution starts on Monday in the morning, by local authorities. Volunteers who prepared and packaged the meal had a medical check and have been approved by physicians and health authorities.”
The Sikhs will prepare the home-cooked meals and individually package them for the distributing agencies to distribute to people having trouble getting food at the supermarket, such as the elderly, the specially abled, single parents who are caring for children and can’t go out, and the homeless.
The Sikhs are not only providing free food in New York, but centers on the West Coast have also opened the Gurudwaras as a shelter and are delivering medicines and essentials to the homeless and needy.
Dr. Pritpal Singh, the coordinator of the American Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (West Coast), told ANI, “Once we heard people were having a problem with food when they go shopping, they can’t find food in the shopping center, then we started reaching out to people in our personal capacity in the Bay Area (San Francisco).”
The Sikh community’s spiritual leader, Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Jathedar Harpreet Singh, said he requested that the Sikh community spring into action as the pandemic crisis deepened and there is a mounting need for their help around the world.
He said, “We have requested gurudwaras across the country and the world to especially reach out to the stranded Indian students and provide them meals and shelter, which will give relief to many worried parents back in India.”
As the crisis escalates, more and more people are reaching out to lend a helping hand, and it’s a beautiful thing to observe. From Sikh langars to community restaurants that let people in need eat for free, these efforts show how food can bring communities together in difficult times.
