FOOD FOR LIFE
An account by Janaki Mehta, a hardworking and enthusiastic volunteer and organising team member of Food for Life The Food for Life team recently marked three and a half months of serving the homeless prasadam, six nights a week, without a single break during the lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic. Each day it still fascinates the team that they have managed to maintain this service with no interruption whilst facing completely unprecedented times. In fact, it seems the service gets better and better each day. The team have had even more volunteers and drivers join the project since April. In addition, there have been even more food donations as the project has gone on. One of the guests remarked “Are you guys really the Hare Krishnas?” When the team responded “yes” he said, “Man, you guys have really stepped up.” Despite all the obstacles it seems the service has really blossomed! Along with the regular serving at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the team have also managed to serve daily at Trafalgar Square. The team have been extremely blessed to have the generosity of Food for All, Parasuram dasa and his team in allowing them to use their kitchen, their volunteers as well as any ingredients they might need. The team have had the incredible ongoing support of Paresh Chhabhadia from Om Gayatri Traders who has gone out of his way to supply mineral water for the homeless. This water supply has literally been lifesaving because many of the water
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Food For Life
taps which were previously used by the homeless are unavailable due to the pandemic. Meghrav have regularly supplied the team with an abundance of fresh fruits, which made for a healthy and nutritional supplement to the meals for the homeless. Anand Halai and family of Gradegold Catering have also regularly provided hundreds of fresh packed fruit boxes which look as amazing as they taste. Viji and family from Selva Food Convenience Store have donated a generous supply of drinks and sweets. Surplus Food Bank and their team have donated fresh milk, vegetables and fruits. With this the homeless were treated to a refreshing rose milkshake on one of the heatwave days. The Murti family have also been regularly donating muchneeded food items for the homeless in loving memory of Sudesh Murti. The ISKCON South London team have kindly donated helpful food items and sometimes cooked for the project including many special items like puris and theplas. On Nrsimha Chaturdasi a group from the ISKCON South London temple congregation made a range of special items for the homeless such as pakoras, burfis and more. The volunteers who regularly serve on the front line deserve ongoing praise and appreciation.
