NEW ORLEANS, USA, September 4, 2005: United Sikhs issued the following press release:
Whilst food has finally started to arrive for refugees, the United Sikhs’ team reports after visiting the centers yesterday, “We found a demand for hot meals, which we believe will lift the hunger and spirit of the refugees,” said Gurvinder Singh, United Sikhs director who brought yesterday a truck full of supplies from Houston to the United Sikhs base camp in Baton Rouge. The tradition of langgar, started some 500 years ago by the Sikh Gurus as a free Sikh community kitchen which feeds all regardless of status. It not only feeds the hungry but serves as a means to foster a community spirit. “We also hope to distribute langgar at the refugee centres in Houston from next week. We have been informed that it will be some time before the refugees in the centres can be moved to proper homes where they could cook their own meals. Therefore we will supply daily langgar for at least two weeks and, if necessary, longer,” he added.
During the visit to the refugee centres in New Orleans, the United Sikhs volunteer team was requested to supply blankets, sheets, pillows and towels for 6,000 refugees. Sikhs who own trucks have offered to transport the supplies from Houston which cannot be bought locally. “We call upon the public, especially the Sikh sangat congregating at Gurdwaras today, to start a donation drive and to send us the funds. “We need to raise some $100,000 this weekend to meet the cost of langgar and other supplies. This is our opportunity to help fellow Americans,” he added. The United Sikhs volunteer team comprising members from Texas, New Jersey, New York and Kansas joined other members of the team at the base camp in Baton Rouge yesterday. More volunteers from California and Malaysia are expected to join the team in the near future. “The Unification Church has generously agreed for us to use their kitchen facilities to prepare the hot meals. The sevadars from United Sikhs and the local community will prepare the langgar,” said Sumir Kaur.
“The New Orleans Gurdwara Sahib is submerged under flood waters and we have not been allowed access to it,” said Sumir Kaur, president of the Gurdwara. She is coordinating the relief efforts with United Sikhs from her home in Baton Rouge, which has been turned into the United Sikhs base camp. “We have appealed to President Bush and our local congressman, Bobby Jindal, to help us remove the Sikh Scriptures from the Gurdwara,” she added.