National Service Day 2025: Mid-Atlantic Region Sri Sathya Sai Centers
Several Mid-Atlantic Sathya Sai Centers paid tribute to their beloved Sri Sathya Sai Baba during the National Service Day on October 18, 2025 through various service activities.
Sri Sathya Sai Group of Richmond, Virginia
In Virginia, the Sri Sathya Sai Group of Richmond joined with the ‘Friends of Bryan Park’ to help clean up Bryan Park, a 262-acre park and watershed on the north edge of Richmond city. Three major streams converge in Bryan Park to form one large stream that feeds into the Chickahominy River and then into the James River.
On October 18, 2025, members of the Richmond Sai Group, along with SSE children, gathered from 9-11 am. to pick up leftover trash, plastic, and other debris that can harm the environment and wildlife. They collected more than eight bags of trash and plastic, helping to clean the surrounding woods and stream.
A member of both the Richmond Sai Group and Friends of Bryan Park, Margaret Porter-Daniel, coordinated the Service Day activity, and noted that the group’s stream clean-up “prevents plastics, Styrofoam, and other debris from entering the Chickahominy River. It is a first step to keeping our major waterways clean and clear and our Bryan Park beautiful.”
Sri Sathya Sai Center of Holmdel, New Jersey
In New Jersey, the Sri Sathya Sai Center of Holmdel lovingly prepared and served a community meal at Trinity Church in Asbury Park, a historic church committed to serving the community through compassionate outreach and social justice ministries. Among its various activities include a food pantry, community meals, emergency shelter during extreme weather, housing and wellness support, and programs that promote dignity, healing, and empowerment.
For over 34 years, the Holmdel Sai Center has offered a feeding service at the church every third Saturday of the month, “serving as Sri Sathya Sai’s instruments in the true spirit of ‘Love All, Serve All,’ said Kalyani Kallakuri, the center’s service coordinator.
On National Service Day, about 10 volunteers worked from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. preparing a meal for 80 guests that included homeless and needy individuals from the surrounding community. The food consisted of vegetarian Mexican bean chili, baked pasta, salad and fruit.
Balasubramanian, a center member who has volunteered for over 30 years for the service, stated that the guests who have attended look forward to the Saturday service. Members also periodically donate gently used clothing and household items.
Sri Sathya Sai Center of Fairfax, Virginia
The Sri Sathya Sai Center of Fairfax held an Envirocare Service Project in conjunction with a local nonprofit, Fairfax ReLeaf, that plant trees and care for nature.
Volunteers plant and preserve trees, improve the beauty of the community, and restore habitat on public and common land in Northern Virginia. On National Service Day, center members returned to the same Fairfax County Park where they had planted several native saplings a year ago. The team of 18 volunteers used pickaxes, shovels, sheers and gloves, clearing away thorns and poison ivy and other invasive species that threatened to choke the trees.
Those labor-intensive acts made a great metaphor for one’s spiritual development, said Chitra Kumar, USA National Envirocare Coordinator. “As our beloved Sai tells us, we must remove the six inner enemies of desire, anger, greed, infatuation, pride and jealousy before noble feelings can flourish."