Sri Sathya Sai Centres serve their
Local Communities during Covid-19 Pandemic (Part 2)

Dear Friends,

The SSSIO’s response to the desperate needs of local communities impacted by the pandemic has taken different forms. In addition to large scale food drives, SSSIO members have provided tens of thousands of meals and rations to the residents of old age homes, orphanages, homeless shelters, and those who sleep on the streets, to name a few.

In Myanmar, SSSIO volunteers distributed 4,000 meals, as of August 2020. In Indonesia young adults in Jakarta delivered food to 120 drivers and in Makassar they prepared 25 care packages for families facing hardship.

The Ladies’ Section of SSSIO of Thailand started meal distributions in May 2020 for inmates of an immigration detention centre.

Although affected by four waves of the pandemic, the SSSIO of Hong Kong continued to distribute over 1,500 hot dinner and breakfast meals to ‘street sleepers’ every month. SSSIO of New Zealand served meals fortnightly to 25 disadvantaged residents of the Phoenix House.

In South Africa, SSSIO volunteers started a food kitchen and in July 2020 alone served 500 people in old age homes, orphanages shelters, etc. in the greater Durban area.

SSSIO members in Ukraine supplied meals to the needy in Kiev, Kharkov, Dnieper, and Vinnitsa, and continued to feed the homeless in Sumy. Volunteers in Kyrgyzstan served meals to 20 homeless people in a local shelter.

In August and September 2020, SSSIO members in the Volga-Ural region of Russia served over 750 meals to the disadvantaged in many cities. They have continued to provide food every Saturday to 35 destitute people.

In Belarus, during September 2020, volunteers in Vitebsk braved the pandemic to deliver food to needy families and the destitute living on the streets. In Kazakhstan, they distributed food packages to single mothers and to the needy. In Azerbaijan, food distributions to the mothers and their young children continued throughout 2020.

In May 2020, SSSIO Young Adults in Chile served food to the needy in Santiago.

Since April 2020, volunteers from the Sri Sathya Sai Center of San Antonio in Texas, USA prepared hot meals consisting of rice, a vegetable dish, and fruit every week for about 600 indigent people. SSSIO volunteers in the Greater Boston area continued to provide groceries each month to 25 low-income families.

In Chatsworth, California, volunteers continued their multi-year monthly meal distributions to the homeless. SSSIO members in San Bruno, California were conferred the title of “Longest Serving Community Group” for providing about 290 meals monthly to residents of two hostels for many years.

Sai volunteers in South Bethesda deliver lunch every Friday to frontline healthcare staff at a local hospital in Maryland.

In Canada, SSSIO members, including young adults, delivered non-perishable food and bedding to residents at Sanctuary Toronto.

These are some examples of selfless service activities organized by the SSSIO in many countries. For further information, please visit saiuniverse.sathaysai.org or sathyasai.org or Telegram or WhatsApp.

With best regards,

Media Committee
Sri Sathya Sai International Organization