Volunteer with Sikhs United Gives First-Hand Account of Katrina Disaster Relief

September 23, 2005

Source: SikhNet

http://www.sikhnet.com/Sikhnet/news.nsf/RecentNewsHTML/00963C2327AF1A248725708500650F15!OpenDocument

On September 23, 2005 SikhNet ran an article by Gurujot Singh Khalsa, who gives a first-hand account of his work with the United Sikhs in providing help to those displaced by Hurricane Katrina. He says, "Some young sikh friends and myself have been feeling the urge to serve humanity in some way. We started our own group called S.E.V.A. (Sikh Espanola Volunteer Assoc). When we heard about the efforts that United Sikhs were doing we had found our opportunity... At the Allen Chapel [in Baton Rouge] there were about 100 evacuees. Of course there are bigger shelters but we went here because it seemed to need more help. We started off by helping them get organized... Then next day I went back to the Allen chapel with a small group and served food... We served evacuees from the shelter, volunteers, organizers, and evacuees from other households who depend on shelters for support... After the trip S.E.V.A. talked about it and agreed that we had some expectations that Baton Rouge would be in peril and we would be saving lives. We had also thought that some of the evacuees might be racist, violent, or unwelcoming. However, neither of these were the case. We all felt gratified to have participated in any way. We touched some evacuees who felt like we really care, and our help was much appreciated. Also, we met some cool Sikhs brothers and sisters who share the Khalsa spirit of service."