Bhaktivedanta Ashram ISKCON Adelaide

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COMMITTED TO FIGHTING WORLD HUNGER

“Here they [the Hare Krishnas] have a reputation like the one Mother Teresa has in Calcutta: it’s not hard finding someone to swear they are saints… “

– The New York Times, “Grozny Journal”

Bob Carr (Premier, New South Wales, Australia)

“The commitment of FOOD FOR LIFE goes beyond the need for the basic necessities of life; it is a commitment to improve the quality of life.”

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is doing its part to combat world hunger.  In the last three decades, ISKCON’s “Hare Krishna Food for Life” program has served more than 300 million hot, nutritious, vegetarian meals to the disadvantaged throughout America, Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe.

In 1974, seeing street children rummaging through garbage for something to eat, ISKCON founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was moved to tears and instructed his followers that no one within a ten-mile radius of any Krishna temple should go hungry.  Today, the program includes free food restaurants, mobile kitchens, and emergency relief services, and distributes upwards of 400,000 free vegetarian meals per day to needy people in more than 60 countries.

“Too much grief and despair in the world is caused by hunger,” says Australian-born Paul Turner, international coordinator of Food for Life. “Krishna devotees are dedicated to bring people hope by distributing healthy and sanctified foods.”

Recently, Food for Life chapters in New Delhi and Mumbai inaugurated successful “Mid-Day Meal” programs to combat hunger.  These programs aim to liberate underprivileged children from the vicious cycle of poverty; they seek to encourage school attendance by providing students with fresh, nutritious lunches, free of cost.  In Mumbai, the program partners with the state government and the Times of India media group, and feeds more than 30,000 students in over 100 schools every day.

Here at ISKCON Adelaidefor over 25 years, we have been distributing free food in Hurtle Square in the city of Adelaide at 6 pm every Monday and Friday.

During Covid, we provided thousands of free meals to quarantined travellers, International Students and anyone in need.In addition to regular distribution in low-income areas, Food for Life has provided aid during several emergencies worldwide.  Some recent examples are:

  • Covid (2019-2021): Food for Life volunteers from several cities in neighbouring India came together to provide relief.  Working closely with local and State governments, the volunteers set up multiple distribution outlets, at one stage, they were serving 500,000 meals a day at the peak of the pandemic
  • Earthquake in Pakistan (2006): Food for Life volunteers from several cities in neighbouring India came together to provide relief.  Working closely with the local military and police, the volunteers set up a base at an ISKCON temple in Udhampur within the earthquake-affected region, and loaded trucks with drinking water, rice, bread, and blankets. The Food for Life team provided these items to the earthquake victims, including survivors in towns with the most severe damage.

 

  • Hurricane Katrina in Gulf Coast, U.S. (2005): Local Food for Life team members ventured into the hardest hit areas of the Gulf Coast, to distribute hot, fresh meals to affected residents.  Food for Life teams in Texas continued to offer aid to evacuees and displaced refugees, serving up to 800 meals daily for several months following the disaster.
  • Tsunami in Southeast Asia (2004): Food for Life was quick to respond, providing relief support and hot vegetarian meals to people on the same day of the disaster. In Sri Lanka alone more than 10,000 meals have been provided daily, along with medical care, clothing, and shelter for orphaned children.

 

  • Cyclone in Orissa, India (1999): Food for Life was able to distribute more than one million vegetarian meals, along with water bottles, blankets, clothes, and first aid treatment to the devastated survivors.
  • War in Grozny, Chechnya (1995): Since the beginning of the Russian counterinsurgency campaign on Dec. 11, 1994, Food for Life volunteers risked their lives to serve 850,000 bowls of hot porridge, freshly baked bread and tea to the local residents. A New York Times article declared that in Grozny, the Food For Life Krishna devotees “have a reputation like the one mother Teresa has in Calcutta: it’s not hard finding someone to swear they are saints.  In a city full of lies, greed, and corruption, the Krishnas deliver the goods.”

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