Partnering with Others, a $50 Million Contribution to Fighting the Coronavirus: Sewa International to Release Report  

Sewa International is all set to unveil a report showcasing the $50 million impact the Hindu faith-based organization has had, partnering with more than 500 other organizations, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to seriously affect life in the country since early March last year. The report, titled “Joining Hands: A Community Effort to Fight the COVID-19 Pandemic,” will be released at a virtual event scheduled for Saturday, February 6, 2021, at 4 pm EST. Speaking at the virtual event will be Congressman Ami Bera, and representatives from national emergency and disaster management organizations like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), AmeriCorps, National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD), and OneStar. The event will be streamed live via Facebook.

The Sewa International report identifies 125 of the more than 500 organizations that Sewa volunteers worked with across the country raising money, distributing food, face masks and other PPE, offering help to stranded international students and travelers, participating in food and PPE drives, offering hot meals to the hungry, and managing ten hotlines responding to calls for help from around the world. “We did not know what would be demanded of us in this pandemic situation. It was a first-time experience in dealing with the kind of medical/health disaster that has affected the whole world. Ten months into it, and more than a million volunteer-hour commitment later, partnering with hundreds of organizations who put their trust and faith in us, we believe we have made a difference in our local communities, across our forty chapters, in 28 states, around the country,” said Arun Kankani, President, Sewa International. “This report itself, compiled with the help of young student volunteers, is an emblem of the kind of work we do and of our philosophy of serving selflessly,” he said. 

“Disbursing more than $2 million that were raised through direct donations and government and institutional grants, and distributing about $50 million worth of food, PPE, medical supplies, and groceries, serving more than 750,000 people in big cities and small towns, our 5,000 volunteers from 28 states have made a bold statement about selfless service,” said Syam Kosigi, Vice President, Organization, Sewa International. “As we realized that other Indian and Hindu cultural and religious organizations wanted to pitch in and offer their help and support, we started an initiative titled, ‘Sankalpa Patra,’ a ‘letter of commitment,’ that these organizations signed on to committing to work together in the time of this deadly pandemic. We have been honored and blessed to work with these dharmic organizations, those who identify themselves as Indian American and follow the precepts of serving selflessly, serving everyone without discrimination, and considering the world as one family. The ‘Dharma’ communities in the US represent only about one percent of the American population, but our work this past year shows that we can and do add a large drop into the bucket of good work done in the country,” Kosigi said.

“Our volunteers have been working hard to support and help people across the US, as well as in India and other countries where Sewa International has its presence. In the Bay Area, for example, people suffered not only because of the pandemic but also because of wildfires. Many people elsewhere suddenly lost their jobs, could not attend school, and had to fly back to their countries when international travel almost came to a standstill. The elderly, the sick, and the stranded had to be taken care of. It was amazing to see how our volunteers – with their special skillsets, community networking, and knowledge – set up and managed hotlines, monitored WhatsApp messages, and delivered aid and advice almost instantaneously. It was exhausting in the beginning, but it was satisfying too knowing what we could do to help dealing with this pandemic,” said Sandeep Khadkekar, Sewa International’s Vice President of Marketing and Fund Development. “We are truly a voluntary organization with our Board of Directors, our Executive Leadership Team, and our Chapter leaders all giving their time, their energy, their commitment freely. Our administrative costs are about three percent, and we have now partnered with hundreds of similar organizations to deliver help in these times of need,” Khadkekar said.

About Sewa International

Sewa International, a leading Hindu faith-based Indian American nonprofit organization, has extensive experience in disaster rescue, relief, and rehabilitation operations having responded to 24 disasters in the US and abroad. In 2017, after Hurricane Harvey struck the Houston area, Sewa volunteers helped in the rescue of nearly 700 people and have served thousands of affected families since then through their case management service. Sewa raised over $3 million for Hurricane Harvey recovery, Sewa continues to rebuild homes and greenhouses that serve as a means of livelihood. Sewa International has also rendered relief in the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2018 and Hurricane Imelda in 2019. Sewa teams in the San Francisco Bay Area continue to build and donate tiny homes for those rendered homeless in the California Camp Fire of November 2018. 

Among its other accolades, Sewa International has been recognized by Charity Navigator – the premier nonprofit rating agency – as the number five among the “10 Highly Rated Charities Relying on Private Contributions.” Sewa has for the last three years continuously scored the topmost-rated 4-star from Charity Navigator and has earned perfect scores for its Financial Health and Accountability & Transparency. 

For more information on Sewa International and its activities, please visit www.sewausa.org.

For more information on Sewa International’s efforts to support communities nationwide during the COVID-19 crisis, please visit https://sewausa.org/covid-19. 

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