\u00a0with<\/span>\u00a0a\u00a025-acre campus.\u00a0HSNC has\u00a0a\u00a0temple,\u00a0but more important is we have this huge cultural hall and\u00a0state-of-the-art\u00a0learning center\u00a0with\u00a0ample parking\u00a0space. It’s in an excellent location\u00a0at the\u00a0center of\u00a0RTP.\u00a0We\u00a0always try\u00a0to do the community events in a big way here,\u00a0and especially this year we wanted to\u00a0make a difference\u00a0by providing pandemic-related assistance\u00a0such as such as stitching masks, Covid-19 testing, and a food program.\u00a0Every\u00a0Friday and Saturday, we\u00a0prepare food in our commercial kitchen with the help of community volunteers.\u00a0We have\u00a0so far\u00a0prepared\u00a0and delivered 45,000\u00a0meals\u00a0to\u00a0area food distribution centers and homeless shelters.<\/p>\nSatish\u00a0<\/span>Garimella\u00a0(SG):<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>When<\/span>\u00a0coronavirus hit, everyone was shut down. We didn’t know what to do<\/span>. First,\u00a0the senior citizens said they want to start making masks and then people started helping them. And then afterwards we wanted to go to the next step. So, again, a bunch of people came and said, “Okay, we want to start making food.” I didn’t want\u00a0it to be a one-time\u00a0kind of a thing. I wanted an\u00a0ongoing thing where people see what we can do and offer,\u00a0and this was our time to give back to the community.\u202fAnd\u00a0<\/span>these guys\u00a0<\/span>preparing food\u00a0have been dedicatedly working\u202fover the span of one year. All the food is coming through volunteers. They’re donating the food and we have a chef who is\u202fmaking the standards of what\u00a0they like.\u00a0So,\u00a0a lot of\u00a0the homeless \u2026\u00a0now they love it.\u00a0The flavor\u00a0[of Indian food]\u00a0\u2026\u00a0people are enjoying it and we got<\/span>\u00a0a lot of kudos from the homeless shelters and others.<\/p>\nIA:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0And now you\u2019re hosting vaccine clinics here. Can you tell me about\u00a0how that came to be?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nSG:<\/strong>\u00a0So<\/span>,\u00a0Eastern Carolina Medical Center, who is\u00a0organizing\u00a0this in cooperation with\u00a0HSNC and the town of Morrisville, they reached out to me and I said, “How much can you scale?” And they\u00a0said, “How much do you want?” Then they said, “We have 800 shots. Do you think you can help us?” And I immediately reached out to\u00a0HSNC\u00a0and\u00a0they\u00a0said, “Hey, let’s do it.” And I said to the town, “Are you willing to partner with us?” They said, “As long as the shots are going to everyone in the town.”\u00a0Morrisville provides\u00a0the EMTs\u00a0and other stuff\u00a0and now we\u2019ve put\u00a0over\u00a011,000 shots in arms.<\/p>\nAnd our whole goal was to bring that out to the community so people can go.<\/span>\u00a0I can say to\u00a0my neighbor, “Okay, I’m going to\u00a0go [get vaccinated]. Want to come?”\u00a0We wanted to create that kind of a peer pressure saying, “Okay, because you want to have parties at the end of the day, you all want to get vaccinated.”\u00a0And it is local. You don\u2019t have to drive as you did.\u00a0So,\u00a0people enjoy it. The timings are there. We have 40 to 50 nurses there. Within 10 minutes, you’re out. What else do you want in your community? We are trying to do all these kinds of things.<\/p>\nAnd we feel content because it is for a good purpose and people are very thankful of having these events here, so\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0that way it is from a\u00a0faith-based\u00a0perspective, like, “Okay, we are making a change in the community,” and that’s what we want.<\/p>\nIA: <\/span>On that note, as you think\u00a0about\u00a0all\u00a0these different programs that you’re doing, could you speak to how the Hindu tradition motivates or informs doing this work in the community?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nMP:\u00a0<\/strong>The<\/span>\u00a0Hindu religion, as you might have heard, is\u00a0a way of living your life.\u00a0Respecting\u00a0others,\u00a0spirituality,\u00a0and being helpful to others (Sewa) are the core values of\u00a0the\u00a0Hindu\u00a0religion. HSNC facilities such as temple, cultural hall, learning center\u00a0\u2026 are\u00a0open to all.\u00a0The\u00a0main motive\u00a0of HSNC founders\u00a0was to build a center\u00a0that\u00a0can assist the community in meeting their religion, educational, social, cultural, spiritual, and family needs.<\/p>\nYou were t<\/span>alking about the food program, right? We said that every Friday\u00a0and\u00a0Saturday we\u00a0deliver 400 to 450 meals and that costs\u00a0us $250.\u00a0Our\u00a0community members have supported this food program in a big way by providing donations\u00a0and volunteering\u00a0help. This touches on another\u00a0important aspect of\u00a0the Hindu religion. On the\u00a0death\u00a0anniversary,\u00a0or on\u00a0birthdays\u00a0or on\u00a0marriage\u00a0anniversaries,\u00a0people believe in\u00a0donating, and especially\u00a0food.\u00a0It\u2019s called\u00a0annadhan<\/span>am\u00a0<\/em>(an offering of food)<\/span>.<\/p>\nSG<\/strong>:\u00a0And<\/span>\u00a0we believe in\u00a0vasudhaiva kutumbakam<\/span><\/em>,\u00a0<\/span>like, the whole world is one family.\u00a0So, for us, it is like, as he said initially, direct so we could congregate. The\u00a0number\u00a0of Indian families around this area is close to 70,000 people and by\u00a0the\u00a0grace of God, everyone has good jobs and so after some time, it comes down to, okay, how do we contribute back to the community?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
IA:<\/span>\u00a0That\u2019s a question I was going to ask you as well. With so many people who have family in India \u2026\u00a0Have there been supporting networks or other things happening here, being so far from home?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nSG:<\/strong>\u00a0[Early in the pandemic] I was working very closely with the Indian embassy because all the visas were\u00a0<\/span>canceled,\u00a0and you had only emergency visas. It was painful because every week I\u2019d\u00a0hear seven to eight people have lost their loved ones in India,\u00a0and\u00a0they wanted to go.\u00a0And\u00a0many of the parents who were stuck here because of no flights allowed into India, their life medications were\u00a0\u2026\u00a0They didn’t have access to it. So,\u00a0getting our local pharmacists and local doctors to give prescriptions\u00a0in the meantime to get their life medications going was a big help.<\/p>\nRight\u00a0<\/span>now,\u00a0things going on in India are so painful because the first wave was,\u00a0everyone was happy.\u00a0There is Sewa International;\u00a0they started fundraising and they have now, or last I checked, like five and a half million dollars\u00a0raised.<\/p>\nMP:<\/strong>\u00a0S<\/span>o,\u00a0on that line,\u00a0recently\u00a0we joined\u00a0Sewa\u00a0International\u00a0\u2026 we\u00a0started\u00a0a\u00a0campaign\u00a0and so\u00a0far,\u00a0we collected\u00a0$50,000\u00a0in\u00a0donations from our community,\u00a0which\u00a0we have passed\u00a0on to\u00a0Sewa to assist in India in the form of\u00a0oxygen\u00a0concentrators, medicine,\u00a0food,\u00a0sanitation kits,\u00a0etc.<\/p>\nSG:<\/strong>\u00a0Otherwise,<\/span>\u00a0you feel like you’re\u00a0here,\u00a0but no one is helping back home.<\/p>\nIA:<\/span>\u00a0I’m wondering if I ask a final question, you both could just give me your thoughts. Right\u00a0now,\u00a0we’re dealing with Covid-19 and this pandemic, but there certainly have been lessons to learn about faith communities’ roles in public health generally. So,\u00a0from what you’ve been doing here, what lessons do you think we should be gleaning about how faith communities can play a role?<\/strong><\/p>\nSG:<\/strong>\u00a0That’s a good question because this is not new, right?\u00a0<\/span>Obviously,\u00a0we are not used to the pandemic and all those things, but the good part about\u00a0HSNC\u00a0\u2026 it\u00a0has partnered with\u00a0Triangle Area Hindu Temples (TAHTs)\u00a0and\u00a0HSNC has been hosting free medical camps for $10. You can get your blood work drawn, which would be $700 outside.\u00a0And\u00a0doctors will come there\u00a0[to volunteer]\u00a0and basically give free advice based on those numbers.<\/p>\nMP:<\/strong>\u00a0So<\/span>,\u00a0why\u00a0and\u00a0how it\u00a0originated? In our\u00a0community,\u00a0parents\u00a0and relatives\u00a0come from India\u00a0to visit their families in the U.S.\u00a0and many\u00a0of them\u00a0do not have medical insurances. So,\u00a0we thought,\u00a0\u201cHow can we help them and also others who cannot afford Insurance?\u201d\u00a0Something like\u00a0this\u00a0for them,\u00a0with the help of\u00a0community\u00a0doctors,\u00a0will be of a great help. Hence,\u00a0HSNC started\u00a0this\u00a0medical camp every\u00a0year. It\u2019s a big event\u00a0for us.\u00a0Doctors and\u00a0medical practices around voluntarily assist with only one principle:\u00a0giving\u00a0back\u00a0to the community (Sewa). Now anybody from\u00a0the community can\u00a0take advantage of\u00a0the medical camps. These camps\u00a0are going\u00a0on for the last 15+\u00a0years.\u00a0Earlier it used to be\u00a0an\u00a0HSNC-only event\u00a0but\u00a0now this is\u00a0a\u00a0unique combined event by all the temples in the RTP area.<\/p>\nSG:<\/strong>\u00a0Every year we do this. That has been going on very successfully and by doing that, just because there are so many unemployed people or even if they’re employed, they don’t have insurance. Anybody who wants to come in, so we used to get 1,000 people to come in<\/span>,\u00a0all the doctors will come there and basically give free advice based on those numbers and help the community.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n