Sri Sathya Sai International Organization - USA

Members of the Sri Sathya Sai Center of South Houston traveled to Beaumont, TX and Lake Charles, LA on August 14, 2021, to distribute school supplies to children in low-income communities who were severely impacted  in the aftermath of multiple hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Lake Charles: 

During visits to support disaster relief efforts in Grand Lakes Community in Lake Charles, LA, in 2021, Sai volunteers identified a great need for school supplies for children from families struggling in the aftermath of the disasters. Working in collaboration with Grand Lake Elementary School, volunteers were able to identify 36 children and their specific needs. Using the school website, the volunteers created a master list of items needed for each grade level, with links to stores where the items could be purchased. Volunteers then procured and assembled the school supplies in 36 bags, with each bag tagged for a specific child and filled with items according to the child’s need. On August 14th, volunteers traveled to the Grand Lakes Community to deliver the 36 bags to the parents of the children.   

Beaumont: 

Through prior interactions with a food pantry in the Beaumont, TX, Sai Center members came to know of the great need for school supplies amongst the families using the food pantry. A school supplies drive was organized by the Cathedral of Praise Miracle Center in collaboration with the Ameri group. Planning for this school drive started in early August when Center members signed up to contribute various school supplies that were being solicited. On the morning of Aug 14th, 2021, a group of 4 volunteers drove to Beaumont and delivered 70 bags of school supplies. The bags were arranged according to grade level in the driveway of the distribution location. Families drove by and picked up the bags based on the number of children they had. T-shirts were also distributed along with each school bag. 

Lillie Mattox, the organizer of the drive by the Cathedral of Praise Miracle Center expressed her gratitude for the support from the Sai Center members: 

“We want to thank the Sai group along with the Ameri group who are here at the Cathedral of Praise Miracle Center for the School Supplies Drive; not only for their food contribution to the pantry, but also for supporting the back-to-school supplies drive too. We want to thank you all for your donations because it’s truly a blessing for the people in this area who are in need. There are people who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and even with federal monies, they are still in need so thank you for all that you have donated.”