Hoosier Hindu Americans donate 8600 pounds of FOOD

Indiana based Hindus, Jains, and other Indian socio-cultural organizations celebrated Diwali with a spirit of giving 8600 lbs during SewaDiwali Food Drive in the Hoosier State

The months of October and November are when two of the most important Dharmic festivals take place. In recognition of this, several cities including Carmel and Indianapolis have recognized the month of October as the Hindu Heritage Month. Those two months serve as a platform for the Dharmic organizations to do Sewa (Sanskrit term which means selfless service to the needy). Diwali festival is celebrated as the home coming of King Rama by lighting the lamps at households.

SewaDiwali is a nationwide initiative organized in 31 states this year. Hindu SwayamSevak Sangh (HSS,USA) coordinated the SewaDiwali efforts across the USA. Last year (2021), 315 Dharmic-American organizations and communities came together to collect over 590,000 pounds of food, donating to about 240 food distribution centers across the country. In recognition of this effort, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said “Indianapolis is a generous, welcoming community that looks out for its neighbors in need. The overwhelming participation from Indy Dharmic organizations during SewaDiwali is a shining example of that unity and generosity.”

In the Hoosier state, for the third year in a row, a successful SewaDiwali initiative was completed by the Dharmic communities of Hindus, Jains and other Indic socio-cultural organizations who came together through this selfless initiative of #SewaDiwali i.e. serving humanity is serving divinity. The initiative helped in bringing the community together and foster good relationships with each other.

In Indiana this year, SewaDiwali was conducted in the cities of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Avon, Greenwood, Indianapolis and Columbus. Seven (7) beneficiaries for this year were: Love Chapel of Columbus, The Social of Greenwood, Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center, Family Development Service of Head Start, Fueled for School, Grassroot Projects and Boys & Girls Club of Indianapolis. 8600 pounds of food will help serve 1000 or so Hoosier families across the state.

“Thanks Indianapolis SewaDiwali team for bringing 100 bags of fresh produce for the refugee families from Africa. God bless everyone” - Winnie Bulaya from Central Africa

“Thanks for sharing your festive month and thank you for sharing your festival with us. This bountiful giving from the Hindu community will be shared with families we serve in the west side neighborhoods of Indianapolis, Dhanyavadh” Clark Lienemann, President- Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center

“Huge Thanks to the Indianapolis SewaDiwali team for generously donating 112 bags of food. There is a great food desert and food disparity in the community. Going into the holidays, these packages will make sure that our families have something to share” - Pam Lazano- Center Director for Global Prep - Boys & Girls Club of Indianapolis

“This 1200 pounds of donation will make a huge impact and touch a lot of lives in the Noblesville community. Thank you Indianapolis SewaDiwali team and 19 other organizations that came together to do this” - Audra Shock, Operations Director - Fueled for School

Partnering Organizations
Art of Living - Indianapolis/Columbus
BAPS Charities - Indianapolis
Bengali Group of Columbus
Columbus Telugu Group
Columbus Ganesh Mandal
Columbus Kannada Dhiraagu
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh - Carmel/Fishers/Avon/Greenwood/Columbus
Hindu Temple of Central Indiana
Jain Center of Central Indiana
Maharashtra Sneha Mandal of Indianapolis
Mallige Kannada Kuta - Indianapolis
Kerala Hindus of North America
Samskrita Kendram - Carmel / Columbus
Sewa International USA - Indiana
SHRIMAD Rajchandra Love and Care(SRLC)
Siliconandhra Manabadi - Columbus
Sri Ganesh Mandir - Columbus