- Update on World Hindu Council of America’s: Food for the Front liners
- COVID – 19 Seva Relief Efforts Report
- Report on VHP America’s COVID-19 Relief activities and funds disbursements
- VHPA New Jersey Chapter Responds to Covid-19 Pandemic
- Seva Projects performed in Baltimore area
As the valiant doctors and nurses continue their battle against the coronavirus, so also the volunteers of VHP of America continued their service of feeding them. The second and third weeks of “Food for the Frontliners” saw food deliveries to Marlborough Hospital, UMass Memorial ER and Covid tents, MetroWest Framingham and Natick campuses, and Milford Regional Hospital. Breakfast was delivered to the third and first shifts, and dinner was delivered to the second and third shift of the staff of Marlborough hospital. Lunch was delivered to UMass, MetroWest Natick and Framingham, lunch to Milford Regional Hospital and dinner to MetroWest Framingham, by the dedicated volunteers.
Volunteer Poonam Gupta was thrilled to be part of this effort, saying she “felt honored to provide this seva (service).”
The staff were ever so grateful. One of the senior members of the leadership team at Marlborough Hospital, who wanted to remain anonymous said, “The breakfast bags were a big hit! The overnights were pleasantly surprised!! They were very thankful. It was so thoughtful of these people to think of the second and third shift.” They all found the Indian veggie burgers delicious!
The staff at UMass gobbled up the pizzas is in an instant and expressed gratitude to the organization and all the volunteers.
MetroWest Natick and Framingham campuses both expressed their appreciation for the delicious food. Susan Surapine, a senior administrator at MetroWest, expressed her thanks for the delicious Indian-style veggie burgers made especially for them by Dosa Temple of Ashland, MA.
Volunteer Vijay Dalal was happy to see, “the spirit of our culture that was celebrated in every trip made.”
Abhishek Singh said,” I felt very happy when the staff clapped and waved until I left the parking lot. It was such an exhilarating experience.”
Acknowledgements are due to Dr. Apeksha Tripathi for her continued efforts at coordinating with all the hospitals, contacting all the key people and following up with the team and hospitals before and after each and every delivery, while continuing to work at serving her patients, along with being a frontline worker herself.
This effort also could not have been possible without the dedication by Ganesh Koyalmanam, who coordinated with every restaurant, kept track of every delivery, communicated with all the volunteers, kept the whole team informed of every activity, and kept impeccable records.
As this initiative continues, donations are needed more than ever. Please continue to open your hearts and your pockets and give generously, just as the medical staff continues to give of themselves in this ongoing fight against an unseen enemy.
To Donate please visit: https://www.vhp–america.org/donation/
This is an ongoing effort to provide much-needed nourishment to the weary healthcare workers who are risking their own safety and health to keep the public safe. Please donate generously to this initiative, so that the work can continue as long as it is needed. This is also an opportunity to do your part by volunteering to deliver the food to the various area hospitals.
Cincinnati Ekal/VHPA Chapter Sewa Activities
Submitted by Amul Tyagi, Sewa Coordinator
Face Mask Distribution: Neelam Jaiswal took the initiative of forming a team of members of Hindu Women Network, part of the Cincinnati chapter, for making and distributing face masks to fight off Covid-19 virus pandemic. She and Avisha Gulrajani, Manjul Gupta and Rita Singhla made more than 500 face masks and distributed it to a TriHealth hospital, doctors’ offices and neighbors.
- Donation to Foodbank: Nalini Tandon, Chapter President, and Renu Gupta organized a successful fund-raising drive and collected $1050 for donation to Freestore Foodbank, a Cincinnati food bank which provides free groceries to the needy families in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area and supports other food pantries in the TriState area.
Food Drive: Kalpana Parikh of Hindu Women Network and her husband Ashwin Parikh, President of Jain Temple, organized a successful food drive and collected food items worth $700 for Lakota School District which is providing free groceries to the needy families as the schools are closed due to Covid-19 crisis.
- Helping a Woman in Need: Chapter has been providing financial and other help to a young woman abandoned by her husband who also took her young child away from her. She has no family so she lives in a shelter home. With Ekal/VHPA Chapter’s help she is fighting for her right to see her child. Renu Gupta and Dr. Nalini Tandon are coordinating this sewa activity. They are in regular contact with the victim . The chapter also raised $4000 + in cash donation to help in legal expenses. There are many individuals also who are helping her a lot.
Serving BCCF: Volunteers of Hindu Women Network (HWN) have been taking desserts and Birthday cards to BCCF (Ohio) , a government run nursing home to celebrate their birthdays once a month. This has been a very successful Sewa project.
