The 2011 Vaisakhi Food Drive has raised more than 19,300 pounds for Mississauga’s Seva Food Bank. Organized by the Punjab Charity Foundation and the Guru Gobind Singh Children’s Foundation, the weeklong initiative solicited donations from the Sikh community at gurdwaras and South Asian food stores across the Greater Toronto Area.
“It was an amazing sight to see 15 vans full of food line up outside the food bank last night” commented Seva Food Bank volunteer Manpreet Kaur Gosal. Volunteers from the Punjab Charity Foundation, dressed in their bright orange T-shirts, were on hand to off-load the food.
Since opening its doors in September of 2010, the Seva Food Bank has distributed over 100,000 pounds of food to over 400 client families. As Vaisakhi represents the spring harvest for Punjabis, Mrs. Gosal reflected on how “seeing a warehouse full of food ready for distribution to families in need really does do justice to this special occasion”.
The Seva Food Bank provides safe, nutritious and culturally-appropriate food to low-income families in Mississauga through a partnership with The Mississauga Food Bank. It is an initiative of Sikhs Serving Canada, a registered not-for-profit organization whose mission is to positively impact local communities by acting on the basic Sikh tenets of sarbat da bhalla (the well being of all) and seva (selfless service).