Arya Samaj for Houston Food Bank
HOUSTON: Arya Samaj Greater Houston organizes its annual Food Drive for the Houston Food Bank. Its members enjoy food every Sunday together after the weekly Satsang, called Rishi Langar’s Preeti Bhoj. But this time of the year is slightly different for them when they spare a thought to the recurring pain of the hungry people in the society. The Sixth Principle of Arya Samaj envisions a world without suffering – Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah – may all be happy, including humans and animals. Hunger is the greatest enemy that gives rise to all sorts of evils. The unfortunate people without adequate food suffer hunger. Sleep could make one forget the pain of hunger but a hungry man is unable to sleep, too.
It is Almighty Om Paramaatma’s challenge to all noble souls in the world. We know that water and air are more necessary substances for survival than food is. It is God’s benevolent design that air and water are available to everybody without any major effort, and it is the food that triggers a common human being into the action mode. One could lay the responsibility on the hungry man that he is lazy and responsible for his own plight. But the society is greatly interconnected. The society as a whole must make it happen that everybody is gainfully employed and can earn with dignity to bring food into his home. There are instances when a person is willing to work but is unable to find work. Of course, there are difficult cases when a person is simply unable to work due to old age, handicaps, infirmity, etc. Putting all factors together, Arya Samaj believes in doing a small bit to lessen the suffering in the society we live in.
Arya Samaj Houston takes pride that their members responded generously for the cause in the year 2017, surpassing the previous contributions. Besides a number of boxes of canned food, cash donation of $4000 was made, encompassing a multi-volunteer drive of 6-8 weeks – a small step toward a hunger-free world. Let there be a world where food is available to everybody just as one can count the availability of water!