The days are long but rewarding for members of the Sikh community assisting those made vulnerable by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Starting at 6am each day, volunteers start preparing meals in the kitchens of two gurdwaras (temples). They cut two bags of onions and cook 70kg of lentils and 150kg of rice. Then they pack the vegetarian meals to be distributed.
At 1pm, the volunteers repeat the process for dinner.
The Langgar (Free Kitchen) Pick-up Programme serves 10,000 Punjabi meals every week. It was launched in March by the Central Sikh Gurdwara Board in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The menu includes rice, chapati and lentil curry. Occasionally, more local flavours, including vegetarian fried rice and mee goreng, are served.
15 volunteers at a time are allowed to work in the Central Sikh Temple and Silat Road Sikh Temple kitchens.
The new programme complements the Langgar Outreach Programme, an Sikh community initiative that has been running for years at five distribution and pick-up locations in other gurdwaras.
Both programmes serve a total of 12,000 meals a week.
The Sikh community relies on donors to provide those meals. While the programme gets referrals from various groups, the free meals are available to all and can be picked up at the gurdwara’s gate.
The community has also launched the #SGSewa hotline to assist the vulnerable with counselling, and legal and medical advice. The task force has responded to over 1,300 calls from people of all faiths.
Read more here.
Source: The Straits Times, 18 May 2020