Hindu Dharmic community donates 14K pounds of food in Woodbridge, NJ

The donation was part of the annual SewaDiwali food drive, in connection with the Hindu festival of "Diwali". The festival has significance for Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists and has been celebrated in the U.S. for several decades.

Festivals are specific days of celebration, families and communities comes together to follow certain traditions and create a loving bond thus bringing harmony and cheer all over. During the Diwali festival families decorate homes, do the traditional rituals wear new dresses prepare varieties of food, offer to the deities, and also to families and friends.

Diwali has been a reason for friends and family to come together in the spirit of festivity for some time now. The SewaDiwali initiative has sought to infuse the spirit of giving into the celebration as well. As described by initiative organizers, SewaDiwali is “an initiative by the Indic-American and broader Dharmic community, bringing together individuals and organizations through the concept of Sewa Dharma, i.e. Service to Humanity is Service to Divinity.” its mission is to “foster the values of togetherness and Sewa (selfless service) for the welfare of society in the festive and enlightening spirit of Diwali.”

The SewaDiwali initiative launched in New Jersey in 2018. That year, volunteers collected approximately 18 thousand pounds of food and other items to donate to local pantries. The project has seen tremendous growth since then. In 2023, the effort expanded to 34 states where volunteers collected over 500 thousand pounds of donatable items. SewaDiwali has organized well over 2 million pounds of total donations across the country since its inception.

This year at Woodbridge, 6th annual SewaDiwali food collection ran in the month of oct-nov. SewaDiwali had an amazing partnership with 20 schools of Woodbridge township, Wegmans, The Goddard School, Sanskrit Bharati, Sewa International, the maples community and club Scout Pack 66, and HSS. SewaDiwali volunteers set up food collection centers at their homes and campaigned in their neighborhoods. The majority of volunteers are school students and they have collected food by standing in front of grocery stores at Oak Tree Road & also by doing a door-to-door campaign to spread the word about the food drive.

Despite the increase in food prices, volunteers were able to collect and donate a total of fourteen thousand pounds of food "We feed Woodbridge" at the concluding event on Dec 2, held at Indiana Avenue school No.18 parking lot. The concluding event was presided over by Mayor John McCormac, and attended by Council President Gregg Ficarra, Council members Viru Patel , and Sharon McAuliffe, the Community police team, and community leaders. Since 2018, Sewadiwali donated a total of over 51K pounds of food to the "We Feed Program" which supports food pantries across the township.

Woodridge Mayor John McCormac at the event appreciated saying " Thank you Sewadiwali for this amazing effort to collect food for people in need. It is done from schools, communities, and organizations, this is the most amount of food collection I have ever seen". Speaking to student volunteers he said "You don't and you will never meet the people who are going to have this food probably on their table this week since we are in the holiday season. So you are helping somebody, you don't know who they are. it could be somebody in your class. It could be your neighbor, but you will never meet them. This is what's special about food drives". The mayor's words exactly match and connect with volunteers of Sewadiwali whose motto is selfless giving while celebrating the Diwali festival.

In a similar event of the Diwali Celebration by the Indian student association held at Middlesex College on Nov 17, Sewadiwali donated 8665 lbs of food to the Middlesex College pantry. This is the 5th year Sewadiwali is supporting the college pantry during Diwali. Several different local organizations donated to the Middlesex College food drive, quickly filling up an empty classroom with canned beans, cereal, bags of rice, and various other food items. They were later recognized and received tokens of appreciation from the school during the celebratory event. College president Mark McCormick, College vice president Linda Scherr, Food pantry director Amanda Lyons, Assistant dean Ode Hoppie, Faculty, and students attended the event. Organizations participated at Middlesex College are ,
Hindu SwayamSevak Sangh USA (HSS)
Sewa International
Sri Radha Gopinath Temple
Sai Datta Peetham Sri Shiva Vishnu Temple
Kerala Hindus of New Jersey (KHNJ)
Sight Saving Academy of India Inc (SSAI)
American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI)
Mallakhamb Federation of USA
Dogwood Meadows Community Edison
Saraswati Cultural Association (SCA)

President Mark McCormick said in the appreciation letter " On behalf of the entire Middlesex College community I express my heartfelt thanks to everyone for the generous donation of thousands of pounds of food and other necessities for Middlesex students in need. We are grateful for your spirit of selfless giving expressed in your efforts to collect and bring food for our students who experience food insecurity. Your concern for the welfare of others is inspiring and offers lights of hope in our community"

College vice president Linda Scherr in her appreciation note said "The generous SewaDiwali food donations have a tremendous impact on many students’ ability to stay in college without the risk of food insecurity. We appreciate the generosity of the organizations involved and are very grateful for our partnership with Middlesex College."

At the national level #sewadiwali is coordinated by Hindu SwayamSevak Sangh (HSS www.hssus.org) and this year donated over 502,000 pounds of food, benefiting over 245 organizations from 34 states.

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