Houston, (June 18, 2023): Sewa International's Houston team in association with Fort Bend Independent School District (ISD) organized a food donation drive on June 3rd at the Hodges Bend Middle School. The drive was funded by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) grant awarded to Fort Bend County. Fort Bend ISD has about 80,000 students and about 51 percent of them are economically disadvantaged. Students &their families, benefiting from the food distribution, were contacted prior to the drive.

More than 50 volunteers, including Sewa summer interns, helped in packing 13,000 pounds of food items into 800 bags on the Memorial Day weekend at the Shri Krishna Vrundavana Temple, Houston. The food items included beans, rice, pasta, pasta sauce, cereal, and vegetables.

“I found a lot of joy in packaging the food. It was hard work the entire time, but we were able to pack 800 bags in about three hours. We did not know each other, but as we continued to work together, we all started to talk and laugh a little. I genuinely love packaging food as it brings me happiness,” said Saloni Singh, one of the Sewa summer Interns.

Four elementary school campuses were invited to participate on the day of the drive. Judge J. Christian Becerra of Texas 434th District Court and Lydia Chavez-Garcia, Director for Collaborative Communities, volunteered along with over 20 volunteers from Sewa International.

Food was also delivered to Shared Dreams on June 8, 2023, during the “Brighter Bites” distribution. About 480 students were assisted through this food distribution: 46 percent were African American, 37 percent Hispanic, 10 percent Caucasian, and 8 percent Asian. Besides this event, some 260 families were supported through a food donation to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Rosenberg, TX.