Aradhana Day Service Activities: Loudoun, VA
The Sri Sathya Sai Center of Loudoun, VA organized multiple service activities to observe Aradhana Mahotsav Day, the day Sai Baba gave up his mortal body.
About 25 members took part in a food drive coordinated by Martha’s Table, a nonprofit organization that distributes food daily to the needy in DC. Sai Spiritual Education (SSE) children and their families prepared about 125 peanut butter sandwiches while making sure they observed social distancing guidelines. Other center members sponsored fruits, snack bars and bottles of water for 125 meals. They also donated 55 hygiene kits to Martha’s Table to be distributed along with the food.
Kim R. Ford, the president and CEO of Martha’s Table, expressed her thanks: “Your generous gift to Martha’s Table will directly support our efforts to increase access to healthy food for all Washingtonians so they have an opportunity to thrive. With the generous support of organizations such as yours during this school year, we will provide over 2 million healthy meals to our DC neighbors. We truly could not do it without you.”
For some SSE students, making sandwiches for the less fortunate was a fun and inspiring activity. Rithika, aged 18, reflected, “I love this service. I'm glad that I was able to do even a little thing to hopefully bring joy to someone.” Jahnavi, aged 10, shared, “I feel so blessed to get an opportunity to be part of, and to do, a little service during the COVID pandemic when there is so much need. This has inspired me to look for more service opportunities wherever I can.”
Additionally, Loudoun Sai volunteers distributed 192 hygiene kits to DC shelter residents and to people living on the street. Each kit contained one toothbrush, one 6 oz. toothpaste, one 4 oz. hand sanitizer, a pack of 10 face masks and one roll of toilet paper.
The center conducts monthly feeding on every fourth Saturday. In the month of April 2021, it coincided with Aradhana Mahotsav Day. As in previous months, Sai Center members prepared food at home, consisting of pasta, fried rice, hot soup and rajma curry and delivered it to a shelter in Manassas, VA. Bananas, oranges and bottled water were also donated to the 40 shelter residents.
The service coordinator noted that, “Service under the umbrella of the Sri Sathya Sai Organization is always very fulfilling and satisfying. When SSE children are involved, it is even more fun and energizing.” He pointed out that service fulfills the core Sai message of “Love All, Serve All,” by truly putting it into practice rather than merely paying lip service to it.