Go-Green Service: Mid-Atlantic Region
Sai Center members all over the world observe 24th April as Aradhana Day, the day Sathya Sai Baba left His physical form. On this day, they honor His life and legacy in various ways. For the past few years, Sathya Sai Centers and Sai Groups across the Mid-Atlantic Region have observed the auspicious week of Aradhana Day with various Go-Green initiatives. Some of the Envirocare service projects include stream/marsh/beach clean-up, promoting the use of biodegradable and compostable disposables, E-waste collection drives and conducting study circles and SSE classes on Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings on protecting the Earth.
On 13th April 2019, members of the Pittsburgh Sai Center joined members of the North Hills Community Outreach (NHCO) to clean up a one-mile stretch of the local lakefront. Along with several SSE students, Sai Center members started picking trash at 9 a.m. and worked through noon, collecting five extra-large bags of trash.
Several members of the South Bethesda Center participated in the 31st Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup. Every year, Sai Center members join thousands of other volunteers to remove several tons of trash from different sites in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. Sponsored by The Alice Ferguson Foundation (AFF), the event aims to connect people to their local watershed through education and stewardship, with a primary focus on taking action for clean land, healthy lives and safe water. Sai Center members, including several SSE students, assembled at the C&O Canal NHP/Carderock area to receive an orientation by the site leader, and then enthusiastically participated in the cleanup for the next three hours. According to the Center Service Coordinator, “This community action really provides us with a transforming experience, and enables us to better know our environment and how to care for it. We are grateful for this opportunity to serve Mother Earth.”
Many other environmental service projects took place across the Region. Baltimore Sai Center members in Maryland participated in a tree planting service at a local nature conservancy in Woodstock, MD. Bridgewater Sai Center members in New Jersey participated in a clean-up of the North Branch of the Raritan River. Fairfax Sai Center members in Virginia joined hands with Fairfax Releaf Inc. to plant trees near the String Fellow Park and Ride in Centreville, VA.