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Feed The Need Seva March 1, 2020
Houston, Texas - USA
The Houston Young Adults, once again, gathered together on Sunday March 1, 2020 to take part in the monthly Feed the Need Seva. This month’s Seva, as always, consisted of preparing 108 brown paper lunch bags. Each bag contained one delicious sandwich, one pack of crackers and one juice box. However, the sandwich was made slightly differently this time.
Instead of buying sliced bread from the supermarket as they always do, the host was kind enough to wake-up early in the morning to go and rescue burger buns from a nearby bread factory called Slow Dough where they throw away perfectly good bread that was made in excess and have no space for storage. This way, not only did the youth reduce food wastage but also saved on money which they would have spent had they purchased bread from the supermarket.
The sandwich was made of thinly sliced tofurkey (soy based meat substitute), mustard, mayonnaise, sliced pickles in between two healthy burger buns. This worked out well and the youth may continue to do so for every Seva if the bread factory happens to have the amount of bread they need.
Due to the absence of a few regular young adults for the Seva, the host approached his close friends and they were happy to help. Everybody stepped up by arriving early and with Bhagawan’s grace were able to complete the Seva on time.
After packing the 108 brown paper lunch bags in the blue delivery bags, they chanted three Oms followed by nine Gayatris and three Sai Gayatris to invoke Bhagawan’s blessings. Soon enough, they loaded the bags in the host’s van and headed out for delivery.
Downtown Houston under the US 59 freeway where several homeless people put up their tents for shelter, is always the first stop. Most of the recipients were very civil in their behavior and lined up behind the vehicle in an orderly manner. The group was able to hand out one bag each to everyone present and some even took two! Unfortunately, no pictures were taken during distribution, but seeing them lovingly accept the lunch bags not only provided the youth with a sense of fulfillment but also the desire to do more. They pray to Bhagawan to bless them with the ability to expand and serve many more people in the years to come!