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Feed the hungry
By Angela Lee
As the homeless brace for the onslaught of winter, Sikh groups across North America are wrapping up a gargantuan effort to feed the hungry.
Under the banner, Sikhcess Feed the Homeless Campaign, community groups distributed more than 65,000 food packages to the needy this past year — delivering nearly 50,000 meals on one night alone.
Mobilizing networks of volunteers from Sikh gurudwaras, or temples, in 24 cities, Sikhcess took the 500-year-old tradition of langar, or free kitchen, to the inner city, an area traditionally served by Christian missions and non-sectarian activists.
Sikhcess’ Feed the Homeless Campaign began a year ago in Vancouver, BC, where other South Asian groups like Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen (GNFK) and Helping Hands BC have mounted similar campaigns to feed and clothe the needy.
The concept behind free kitchens began with Sikhism’s founder, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, who challenged local temples to feed anyone who entered, regardless of caste, religion or race.
Sikhcess volunteers assembled meal packs for the homeless, consisting of curried vegetable wraps, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or “veggie-meat” sandwiches. All meals were vegetarian, in keeping with Sikh tradition.
“The idea was to make the meals sustainable and portable in case they got shoved into a pocket and saved for later,” says Amit Singh, Sikhcess’ Chicago-based executive director. Singh says all the donated food came from community groups, and not corporations.
The non-profit organization does not accept cash or monetary donations, which it feels would only complicate its efforts.
In Metro Vancouver, Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen is a collaboration of five Vancouver temples that served 10,000 meals to the Downtown Eastside at the end of November. Of the three organizations, Sikhcess Feed the Homeless Campaign was perhaps the most ambitious.
Sikhcess chose one coordinator, or City Executive as they call them, for each of the 24 cities involved. The coordinators would oversee all the volunteers, food donations and distribution.
The visionary behind the project is Jatinder Singh, a charismatic 40-year-old entrepreneur who set out in 2001 to convince his kids they could be proud of their Sikh identity. Singh found few South Asians in the news worth emulating. So he made a few phone calls, and was put in touch with Amit Singh and Upne Ep, two accomplished young professionals with a desire to reach out to Sikh youth.
“We identified areas we thought were important to address, whether it was spirituality or career development, then developed programs around each of these ideas,” explains Amit Singh. The resulting youth conference not only gave youngsters a chance to hear Sikh success stories, but paired youth up with mentors.
Sikhcess also encourages community service among youths, through the practice of seva, or “selfless service.”
Jatinder Singh says the organization has plans to create a college guide and scholarship for youths interested in pursuing higher education.
For Amit Singh, a 27-year-old business process consultant, a series of encounters with a homeless man named Larry a few years back drove his current involvement with Sikhcess.
Larry had lost his job and his family and had ended up standing on the streets of Detroit, begging for handouts from passersby. Amit, then still in college, took compassion on the homeless man and, over the next three or four months, bought him lunch at Mr. Z’s café on the corner of Piquette and Woodward in central Detroit.
Singh told Larry about programs designed to help people like him get back on their feet. Larry eventually found a job at the Detroit Rescue Mission. The last time Larry talked to Singh, he told the younger man that he’d moved off the streets and was doing all right. “My hope is that each person we’re serving will have a Larry experience,” says Singh, by phone from Chicago.
Still, some cynics would say that with every act of goodwill comes the tempting opportunity for self-promotion or proselytizing. Amit is quick to rebut this idea. “For Sikhs, it’s a blessing to serve — it’s not our mission to evangelize,” he says. “But while it’s great to feed people, we also try to tell them they’re loved and appreciated.”
Singh says the references to numbers and records broken accompanying each Sikhcess press release only serve to drum up support for their cause. “I can’t tell you how encouraging, motivated and inspiring the volunteers have been,” says Amit. “We’ve had nothing but good reactions from people about this.”
For Joti Shergill, founder of Helping Hands BC, helping the needy was a chance to get communities to work together. “I didn’t want to be associated with any one religion, or to promote a certain culture, I wanted to do it on a bigger scale. I have volunteers from different communities helping me.”
Shergill’s mother, a Sikh, had encouraged her daughter to give to the needy. But the realtor was in for a rude surprise when she tried to leave clothing donations at various societies.
“They wouldn’t take them – all they were interested in was monetary donations.”
When Shergill realized how much of the money actually went to the poor, she decided to mount an effort of her own.
The last Saturday of each month (except in December, when they held it earlier), Shergill and her Helping Hands BC friends set up a tent in Oppenheimer Park and serve hot meals and give away clothing.
In the New Year, both Sikhcess and Guru Nanak’s free kitchen have plans to mount new campaigns to feed the hungry, though representatives from both organizations said the details still need to be hammered out.
“I’m exhausted,” admits Jatinder Singh. “The American side is putting pressure on me to do this again, but it’s a huge undertaking.”
Those wishing to volunteer or donate items can contact:
Sikhcess at [email protected]; Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen at [email protected]; Helping Hands BC at [email protected].
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