SNM Toronto Guru Pooja Diwas 2012 Food Drive

A Nirankari Saint has to be food for the hungry, water for the thirsty and clothing for the naked.

-Satguru Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji Maharaj

With the blessings of His Holiness Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj members of the Sant Nirankari Mission Toronto Area Branch in conjunction with The Brampton Salvation Army Community and Family Services organized a food drive for families in need as a part of the celebrations for Guru Pooja Diwas. Marking the birthday of his Holiness Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj, saints guided by His Holiness’ teachings took the opportunity to help those less fortunate by initiating the food drive. This year’s food drive was hugely successful, bringing in 13, 812 lbs of food. This was 1062 lbs more then last years collection.
The Brampton Salvation Army supports 100 needy families per month and provides them with a food camper filled with a variety of foods. The efforts of the Sadh sangat brought in canned and packed food items like soups, juices, meat products, pasta etc, which were collected for a period of 3 weeks.
Parmukh Rev. Parduman Singh Ji and Rev. Sukbir Shah Ji (Director In-charge Social Services) were present as the Salvation Army collected the food. Gordon A. Randall, Community and Family Services Supervisor, who has been part of the Salvation Army since 1972 thanked the SNM Toronto for their ongoing efforts through a letter of recognition. He thanked the SNM Toronto for their, “very generous outpouring of food for those less fortunate.” He expressed that the great amount of food donated, “speaks highly of the appreciation of your members for all that they have and receive. This food will go a long way in helping the hungry in the Brampton area. “ Furthermore, he was especially thankful to the SNM volunteers who helped load the large amounts of food onto the truck and spent hours wrapping the products for easier handling. The saints of all ages with smiles on their faces created an assembly line to load the food onto the truck.
Each saint felt an over-whelming sense of fulfillment in being able to help other members of the society without asking for anything in return. This initiative of selfish giving has been a long standing tradition to celebrate His Holiness birthday.
With his divine blessings, may we continue to keep in our hearts and minds the message of his Holiness, ‘Service to mankind is service to God’.