Sangha Supporting Rishikesh
16 May, 2021
Our beloved community in India is facing a great challenge and needs our support. We are being called now to come together to support our brothers and sisters in this time of great need during the second wave of COVID being experienced there. We are humbled by your emails, letters and prayers that are just as important as donations at this time. We are also very grateful for the outpouring of love and support that is being directed to our dear Ma India.
Several Sattva Yoga Master Teachers reached out in late April to create a GoFundMe account. As of 16 May, the donations to that account have exceeded $45,000. Those funds that have been raised on the GoFundMe for Sangha Supporting Rishikesh are being managed by Sattva Yoga America, Inc. (a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization) to provide resources directly to the local community of Rishikesh in the form of medical supplies and care, food, clothing, etc. SYA, Inc. is working in collaboration with the Khushi Charitable Society to ensure these resources will support those with the greatest need.
Our first initiative was to purchase and ship several oxygen concentrators directly to Laxman Jhula. This is an urgent need. In just a matter of days, donations allowed us to purchase and ship 24 oxygen concentrators. Once they arrive in Rishikesh, they will be managed and distributed to the community as needed by Master Rishi Anand Mehrotra.
UPDATE 5/6: Our next initiative is to provide support to these local villages in the form of food, herbs, medicine, medical care, etc.
UPDATE 5/15: Some beautiful updates to share with you. We have been busy behind the scenes working to serve our family in India. Yesterday, supplies for the local villages arrived at Sattva Retreat center. Our team worked to prepare bundles of essential goods for distribution into the local villages. Bundles include rice, dal, wheat, salt and spices, cooking oil and fresh vegetables. Tomorrow, we will deliver to a village just down the river from the Sattva Center. We will follow this delivery with one to the nearby village of Jodiana. Because of your generous donations, we will continue in this way, ordering and distributing these valuable resources for as long as necessary in support of the full recovery of our community.
Our oxygen concentrators are still waiting to clear customs. We have supplied them with everything they have requested and are confident they will be released soon. We are eager and prepared to move them into service quickly once received.
While the virus may recede as quickly as it came, the impact of this crisis will not disappear overnight. As mentioned before, many households have lost their wage earners; some children are left without parents. Sattva and Khushi have announced that they will support the education of any children who have been orphaned during this time. We are all in it for the long haul as the lasting effects of this current crisis continue to unfold.
Thank you for your continued support of this initiative. We are humbled by your service – our actions are making an impact. As a global community, we will continue to work together to answer the need of the hour.