Feed the Hungry’ Campaign Brings Winter Solace to Homeless- UNITED SIKHS Toronto

Toronto, Ontario, Canada: On the
crisp cold morning of 20th February, the Parkdale Recreation Centre of
downtown Toronto was filled with volunteers wearing a dastaar (a Sikh
turban), who were serving hot-meals and distributing warm clothes. Over
twenty-five UNITED SIKHS volunteers were at the recreation centre to
feed several hundred homeless people at the start of a ‘Feed the
Hungry’ campaign, in response to the ongoing economic crisis which has
left many people without jobs and homes globally.

UNITED SIKHS Volunteers distributing hot-meals and beverages to the homeless at the Parkdale recreation center

The
food drive that started at 11am with tea, snacks, cheek peas, salad,
rice pudding and beverages, lasted until 2 pm. Clothing was also
distributed to the needy. Recreation centre director, Charmaine Faredo,
said, “Today’s food drive has helped feed a lot of people. We need to
see more of such activities. This recreation centre opened in 1993 for
homeless and even though several groups have supported in the past
there is ever more need now to sustain the program. I thank UNITED
SIKHS for their humanitarian support.”

Charankamal
Singh, Sikh Aid Director of UNITED SIKHS-Canada, said, “The economic
crisis has hit every community and many more families are now in need.
The ‘Feed the Hungry’ campaign is a response to this need.”

“Under
the ‘Feed the Hungry’ campaign, UNITED SIKHS will work with Gurdwaras
(Sikh place of worship), to feed and clothe the needy from all
communities around the world,” added Charankamal Singh. Sikh Gurdwaras
practise a 500-year-old tradition of serving free food from the
community kitchen, called the langar .

To
date, the following 10 Gurdwaras in Ontario have committed to
participate in UNITED SIKHS’ monthly Feed the Hungry campaign : Glidden
Road Gurdwara (March 2009); Reagan Road Gurdwara (April 2009), Dixie
Road Gurdwara (May 2009), Scarborough Gurdwara (June 2009), Malton
Gurdwara (July 2009), Oakville Gurdwara (Aug 2009), Tivalda Road
Gurdwara (Sept 2009), Jot Parkash Gurdwara (Oct 2009), Mayfield
Gurdwara (Nov 2009) and Rexdale Gurdwara (December 2009).

Over
the last four years, UNITED SIKHS has mobilized 12 disaster relief
missions spanning 8 countries in Asia and North America, including the
Asian Tsunami, Asian Earthquake, Hurricane Katrina and the Myanmar
Cyclone. The ‘Feed the Hungry’ campaign is an extension of UNITED
SIKHS’ humanitarian relief work in response to the dire need for food
caused by man-made crises.

The Toronto ‘Feed
the Hungry’ event was sponsored by a UNITED SIKHS Director, Baljit
Singh, to mark the celebration of his daughter’s birthday. “Today is my
daughter’s birthday and I thought what better way to celebrate than to
help and feed the hungry. This special day brings immense pleasure to
me,” said Baljit Singh from Brampton.

UNITED SIKHS Volunteers distributing beverages.	UNITED SIKHS Volunteers in the kitchen.

“We
are committed to feeding the hungry. Our Sikh Aid teams would organize
such drives each month to reach out to the needy. UNITED SIKHS’
recognizes the human race as one family and it’s in this spirit that we
have started this ‘Feed the Hungry’ project,” said Amneet Singh, a
UNITED SIKHS volunteer.

“Today’s effort was
to further a 500 year old mission by Guru Nanak Sahib , the first Sikh
Guru, to feed the hungry, ” said Ranbir Singh, UNITED SIKHS’ Community
Affairs director.

To volunteer or to organize a ‘Feed the Hungry’ campaign in your city or town, please fill a form here. You may download a poster for the ‘Feed the Hungry’ Campaign here. To Donate please go to www.unitedsikhs.org/donate or post your cheque to a UNITED SIKHS office nearest to you. For details of our offices see http://www.unitedsikhs.org/contact.php

For any further inquiries please email sikhaid@unitedsikhs.org

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