The Seva Collective food pantry drive-thru – Credit: CBS Uplift / Simrin Singh via YouTubeIn India, those of all faiths occasionally visit the places of worship of the Sikhs to get a delicious taste of ‘Seva,' the Sikh principle of selfless service when they give out free dinners to anyone who visits.
In California, Sikh organizers are capturing that culture and using it to help residents of Santa Ana—a large food desert where residents struggle to have routine access to nutritious food.
At one of the longest drive-thrus you'll ever see, volunteers, some with turbans and some without, load up the trunks of cars with 2-weeks worth of produce and groceries—no questions asked.
The organizers, called the Seva Collective, have already handed out 4 million such parcels, but they're continuing to grow all the time—partnering with farms, businesses, and food banks to distribute as much as possible to those who need it.
“Our goal is to get fresh food, as well as shelf-stable food to every family's car or cart who comes through the drive,” Bandana Singh, who co-founded Seva Collective alongside Ravin Kohli and Saanand Singh.
“We have cars lined up as early as three or four in the morning—we don't start the drive till 9:30 a.m. So to us as the volunteer team, it tells us that the need is there and we want to do whatever we can.”
Residents say it's nutritious, it's uplifting, it takes away the “dread” and sense of anxiety about having enough real food to feed their families.
But how exactly could anyone live in a ‘food desert' without Seva's service?
Food deserts are typified by a wealth of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores that sell ultra-processed foods rich in sugar, salt, and vegetable oils, and a dearth of grocery stores and farmer's markets.
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As a result, Seva puts an emphasis on supplying unprocessed and nutritious food whenever possible—which often means they're covering fast distances to acquire it.
“When we first started, we were driving to LA downtown food market, we were driving to Central California to pick up citrus—we were kind of all over the place,” said Bandana Singh told CBS News.
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Each month, the Seva Collective distributes 60,000 pounds of food to more than 1,200 families and they're beginning to expand operations to offer books, toys, and clothing as well.
Volunteers come from all backgrounds, but it's rooted in the teachings of Sikhism: That life is precious, that god has a plan, and that unless you work hard, you won't come to know what your role in that plan is. Ms. Singh and the squadron of volunteers work hard indeed, and they impart a little bit of this Sikh wisdom into their operations—like on Vaisakhi, the celebration of the formalization of the Sikh religious brotherhood and sisterhood.
WATCH the story below from CBS… For Viewers Outside US, Watch HERE.
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