HSS coordinates Sewa Diwali food drive with New England non-profit organizations donating 14000+ lbs. of food to local pantries

Diwali is a season for celebration and sharing. New England area organizations along with HSS chapters participated in the #SewaDiwali (www.sewadiwali.org) food drive which is a joint initiative of 350+ Dharma communities of America across the USA. The objective is to help local communities overcome the food shortages by supplying non-perishable items and hot meals to local food pantries and other community organizations. 

An Indo American Leadership Forum meet held in summer of 2021 brought together over 25 area non-profit organizations where they discussed a common goal of working together to give back to the society during the festive season of Diwali. The participating New England HSS chapters were based in Foxborough, Shrewsbury, Burlington, Billerica, Boston in Massachusetts, Nashua, New Hampshire and Scarborough, Maine.  Dharma center of America, Maheshwari Mahasabha of New England, Chinmaya mission, Sewa International, Federation of Indian Associations, were among the New England area organizations that joined hands in this food drive.

During this drive, over 125 volunteers did outreach between Oct 5^th and Nov 21st with friends and neighbors and thanks to the generous donations received, together donated 14000 + lbs. of non-perishable food items to community food pantries. Jorge O Elorza, Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island was present during the donation made to food pantries in Providence to represent the strength of a unified Indo American community. Children, teens, and adults alike, one and all participated in collecting food items door to door and establishing food collection bins in neighborhoods across 15 towns engaging over 245 families. Recipient food pantries were very grateful for the donations and acknowledge that the donations were greatly appreciated especially as the pantries were facing the additional burden of serving a wider section of people due to the pandemic challenges. 

Recipient Food Pantries are –

Burlington Food Pantry

Mansfield Food Pantry

Pebble Street Soup Kitchen

Rhode Island Food Pantries

Worcester County Food Bank

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