Food Bank
“ The gift of food is the noblest of all gifts. You have today arranged the feeding of a large number of people and thus justified the name of this village. The years of life allotted to man is very short; the world in which he lives is very wide; time extends far behind and far beyond. What little man has to do here has to be done quickly, at the place that is assigned to him within the time that is allotted to him. And, man has such a formidable task before him; it is to fulfil it that he has come as man, exchanging for this human habitat, all the merit he has acquired during many past lives. The task is no less than the manifestation of the Divinity latent in man. The easiest and the most pleasant means by which this can be accomplished is seva - the service of man, done in a spirit of dedication and devotion. And, the best type of seva is feeding the hungry.”
Drawing from the inspiration of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, members of many Sathya Sai centres in UK have been serving the Food Banks in their local communities since long. The Covid-19 pandemic had increased the demand of Food Banks hugely due to the financial constraints on many hardworking households; those with children, especially, were the hardest hit.
In response to this, Sri Sathya Sai Charitable Trust UK took the opportunity to extend support to the Food Banks through the Sai Centres that had been serving them on a regular basis. Accordingly, Sri Sathya Sai Food and Nutrition Grants of £500 each were given to 19 Sai Centres in different parts of the country: Toothing, Wimbledon, Thornton Heath, Kingston, Bromley, Harrow West, Pinner, Slough, Bedford, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Manor Park, Wolverhampton, Narborough Road, Coventry, Nottingham, Bradford, Rochester and Cheltenham.
The following food banks were served: Kingston, Epson & Ewell, Croydon Trussell Trust, Bromley, Watford, Harrow, Slough, Bedford, St Ives (Milton Keynes) and Wisbech, Chelmsford, Redbridge, The Well (Wolverhampton), Leicester South, Coventry, Haven food bank Stapleford, Bradford Metropolitan, Medway and Cheltenham Open Door.
The management of these food banks were immensely grateful for receiving the much-needed items. The Trust is grateful to Bhagawan Baba for His Love, to the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation UK, to the members of Sai Centres for their selfless service and support, and to the various Food Bank managements and volunteers for their untiring efforts.
Love in Action
