NEW YORK: The cool brisk morning of Thanksgiving on November 24 saw a smile on the faces of hundreds of hungry and’ homeless people at Manhattans Grand Central Terminal. A group of Sikhs who had come all the way from New Jersey fed over 200 people with donuts and hot coffee. The gesture and the deed underscored a characteristic rather pronounced in the Sikhs, that they think of mankind as a whole and not only of others within their creed.
New York has thousands of homeless people a number of which “live in at the Grand Central Terminal especially during the cold season. Since last year the Sikhs have been feeding them on Thanksgiving and Christmas Days. The whole thing is organized by a few self-effacing families in New Jersey.
When asked their representative said that he was impressed by president elect George Bush’s message of a thousand lights contributing towards doing more towards the society. This is what the Sikh Gurus beginning with Guru Nanak Dev Ji, whose birth anniversary fell just a day before Thanksgiving, had taught their followers to do more than five centuries ago.
The gesture was appreciated by a number of people present at the Terminal. As one who identified himself as John said, “Most people shun us and these men are giving us coffee and donuts, God Bless them!”
Another lady while sipping her coffee said, “Many people give us long talk and sermons, they just quietly came and gave us food.
Before coming to the terminal the group had distributed food and coffee at the Penn Station to a slightly smaller number of people. ‘As the day dawned and people started streaming into the terminal the group cleaned up the empty cups into garbage and packed up to leave. As they were passing through the Dunkin Donuts where they had bought innumerable cups of coffee the Manager hollered, “God Bless You all!”
Article extracted from this publication >> December 2, 1988
