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Sewa Day 2014: Atlanta volunteers clean a road in Cobb County

November 2014

Sewa International USA celebrated Sewa Day on October 5, 2014 at over 20 locations in the USA, involving volunteers in the Indian, Indian-American, Hindu, and other communities. The objective was to bring together a diverse group of volunteers representing professional bodies, associations, linguistic, temple, spiritual, social, and cultural organizations for a day of community service. Hundreds of volunteers of different ages and backgrounds from Sewa International and partner organizations worked on a variety of projects at locations across the country to make a difference in their communities.

Volunteers in Atlanta, Georgia cleaned up and maintained North Church Lane Road, Smyrna, in Cobb County, as part of the Adopt-A-Mile program. Volunteers go there every 3 months and clean this one mile road and report back to the county about their activity. This effort not only helps our local community where we live but also helps our county; it also helps in building bonds between Sewa volunteers and local community members.

Examples of other Sewa Day projects included serving at a community food bank in Pittsburgh and removing invasive plants from a park in Seattle. At many locations, Sewa International prepared or sponsored lunch for the volunteers and facility staff after the volunteer event. UK Prime Minister David Cameron is among many celebrities and dignitaries who endorsed Sewa Day. He called Sewa Day “something really, really special and valuable. As Prime Minister you see amazing things and get to meet amazing people,” he said, “but I think the thing that gives me greater pleasure than anything else I do is seeing these amazing examples of social action in our communities.”

Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi is brand ambassador for Sewa Day 2014. Sewa International is a Hindu faith-based nonprofit working in 20 countries in the areas of disaster relief/rehab and development (education, healthcare, women's empowerment, child welfare, rural and tribal welfare, and refugee support), and hopes that the seeds of sewa (Sanskrit for ‘selfless service’) are watered so that acts of kindness and public service are performed more often.