LET’S SHARE A MEAL 2014
The concept of Langar is probably as old as the concept of Gurudwara. While the Guru’s shabad guides the spiritual self, the Langar subdues the physical self to attain a condition of calmness which helps to concentrate on the omnipresent one. Langar Seva is a humbling act which extracts the ego in the heart and makes one more presentable in front of Waheguru. With time Langar has proved to be a touchstone for equality and non discrimination and has been an institution in itself.
Langar was initiated to serve the Sangat travelling from far to listen to Guru’s shabad and later more so to feed the needy and poor. While Langar is still served in all the Gurudwaras, in many cases the main concept of this institution is marginalised. One fails to see that feeding the needy is no more the part of the equation.
Sangat from Nanak Naam Jahaj Gurudwara has been, for few years, going to the local homeless shelter once a year to distribute and serve food items. In year 2012 it was decided to take a step further. We set ourselves a target to serve food in various homeless shelters on the occasion of Guru Nanak Prakash Purab. It had dual purpose of not only serving food but also reach out with the teachings of Guru Nanak. In one day we ended up serving food to approximately 2,000 individuals. What a fulfilling experience it was and there was no doubt that this has to go further. So we raised the bar again in 2013 and this time we wanted to reach 5000 individuals and the date decided was 23rd November. With appreciations pouring in from Sikhs across the world for our earlier food drive, we formalised the concept and called it Let’s Share a Meal.
And no doubt that it was a great success. Many Sangat members volunteered for various tasks like booking the shelters, preparing Langar and delivering it. Langar prepared to serve was a mix of traditional Indian and western vegetarian food. Langar was scheduled to be delivered at more than 20 locations in New York and New Jersey through the day starting at 8am till 7pm. It was an uphill task but with learning from earlier food drive, we were able to create an efficient assembly line setup, which ensured that warm food reached the shelters on time. Everyone including children were very involved and went to various shelters to not only serve food but to have food with the homeless individuals. This definitely boosted the sense of belongingness to a unified world and highlighted the character of Sikhs, shedding light on the future role we want to play in this society.
Future holds a lot for this initiative and with Waheguru’s kripa, we pray to take it further than Nanak Naam Jahaj Gurudwara. And in true sense we would then be able to say....
WHAT A MEAL.
This year again on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Prakash Purab LET’S SHARE A MEAL event will reach out to serve Langar to more than 5,000 people in homeless shelters and senior homes across the state of New York and New Jersey.
The program will continue for the whole day Saturday (15th Nov 2014) as we prepare and serve food to homeless shelters from 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM. All the meals will be prepared at Nanak Naam Jahaj Gurudwara Langar Hall with preparation starting earlier in the week.
As you
can imagine, we need your tremendous support for this noble cause.
You can provide
your support by volunteering for preparing and distributing Langar to
these homeless
shelters. Let's Share A Meal does accept donations.
As you can imagine serving people in this way is very rewarding and good for the heart. Best wishes to all!
~ LET’S
SHARE A MEAL TEAM
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