Community Service

Being a Sikh, the concept of seva, or selfless service, is something that has been ingrained in me. To me, giving back to the community in whatever way I can has been a significant part of who I am. Today I am doing it with my time, tomorrow I want to do it in bigger ways by using my education to make a bigger impact. Some of the ways I am currently involved in giving back to the community are:

• The Jimmy Fund Walk: Since 2016, I have been volunteering with a group from the New England Sikh Study Circle manning a table at the Jimmy Fund Walk. I help by handing out water and snacks, setting up, cleaning, and cheering people on. It is inspiring to see people of all ages walking together towards a common cause to fight cancer. It is also sad to hear stories where people have lost family and friends to cancer, but continue to walk to support the cause.


• A Place to Turn: A Place to Turn is a local food pantry in Natick that I help at. Along with raising funds, making announcements, and helping buy groceries I help organize and plan the trips. We also spend time at the pantry sorting canned and boxed foods by their expiration date, sorting out perishable and nonperishable food items, and helping with inventory updates. I am always surprised when the pantry staff shares how many families they serve and how some can’t even afford the basics. Being able to give back to the community gives me a sense of satisfaction.


• St. Francis Homeless Shelter: My dad has been organizing quarterly visits to St. Francis Homeless Shelter for over 30 years and I have been going there since I was a baby, learning humility and how to serve others. Every quarter we prepare more than 300 care packages that include the basic toiletries and hand them out personally. During Thanksgiving we hand out 250 sweatshirts, gloves, and hats. Some of the people say that this is all they have for the winter. Once I heard someone tell my dad that our care packages and sweatshirts helped him through some really tough times, but he is all set now and wanted to share that with us. As I help fund raise, plan for these visits, make announcements, prepare and distribute packages, it really makes me appreciate and be thankful for what I have.


• New England Sikh Study Circle: Having gone through Sunday School for the last 10 years, I have learnt the rich tenets of the Sikh religion, its core values and am proud to be an American Sikh. In an effort to give back to my community, I decided to become a teacher's assistant for core classes. As a Teacher’s Assistant at the New England Sikh Study Circle, I work closely with elementary and middle school kids teaching them Gurmukhi (Punjabi script) and Sikh History every Sunday. Through traditional lessons, Jeopardy, and kahoots, I continue to both teach and learn from the kids in an engaging and interactive manner.


• Khalsa Kids Unplugged: I also co-lead an effort called Khalsa Kids Unplugged (KKU) that aims at bringing together Sikh youth of all ages for bonding and social connection through. We aim to have a quarterly KKU event, to engage kids beyond Sunday school. I help plan activities, especially around holiday themes. We have done scavenger hunts, traditional Indian games, chocolate fondue, etc. It takes a lot of time and effort to plan activities, get registrations done, and ask adults to help with supervision and some of the administrative tasks like ordering food. It is always a fun day and it feels good when parents and kids come up and say, ‘Thank You for organizing this!’


• Let's Share A Meal: Let's Share A Meal is a broader effort to end global hunger. Over the last couple of years, through New England Sikh Study Circle, I have also gotten actively involved in leading efforts around providing meals to local shelters. I help with administrative tasks like coordination, packing meals, and then dropping them at numerous shelters. This year we have already done two day long events where we prepared and donated over 5,000 meals to about 30 homeless shelters in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.