In October of 2017, an estimated 50,000 people in Sonoma County evacuated their houses because of a raging wildfire. Firefighters took many days to contain the wildfire in order to save those people. Entire neighborhoods were completely charred to the ground with no memories left to hold onto. Even though many escaped physically unharmed, their hearts have been scorched by the devastating fire. A person’s home represents their identity, personality, and memories, so losing that can be shocking for them.
Not all hope was lost for the Sonoma County residents. Thousands of dollars were invested for the recovery and relief of Sonoma County. Essential supplies, such as toiletries, clothes, and food, have been distributed to the fire victims. The Salvation Army, Red Cross, and several other organizations have contributed for the fire victims by providing shelter, medical needs, food distribution, and emotional therapy.
We, The Sathya Sai Baba Organization, were involved with serving food to the victims of the Santa Rosa fire. We went to a Red Cross Station set up at a community center and set up the food. We had a menu of veggie chili soup, bread rolls, baked Russet potatoes, and cookies. We stood for two hours serving hundreds of fire victims as they were moving along. We also had some songs to sing for them and candy to distribute to everyone. Some people came by after finishing their meal to express their deep gratitude for us. Our Region’s SSE students enjoyed playing with the innocent, little kids there. One of the SSE student’s involved with this service project explained that she was very impressed seeing how all the children who survived this horrific incident were still moving on with big smiles on their faces inspite of going through such a big personal loss.
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None of this would have been possible without Swami’s grace. If we want something from our hearts, Swami can make it happen only if we work hard for it. Swami always leads his devotees on the right path of service and love. Being a part of this service project was in itself transformative for all of our volunteers. We all realized how we take so many of the things for granted. We were able to see how Swami worked through all of us as we went from planning to executing this massive service project in a matter of days. None of this would have been possible if not for the divine intervention of our beautiful Lord. This experience has definitely changed our perspective of serving and connecting with humanity.
