Back to the Streets!! More volunteers for KSK!!!
Our KSK or Kechara Soup Kitchen dept is really growing. Every month we distribute over 700 packets of food in the city to so many homeless. It is such a great priviledge to give back and do something.
Here is a picture (above) text messaged to me today that we have so many new volunteers who joined in to help pack and distribute food in Kechara House. Wonderful, kind, generous and compassionate people.
Justin Cheah is briefing them before they go into the streets to distribute food with alot of love, heart and soul.
I love this dept. Please read more on KSK here and here on my blog also.
Tsem Rinpoche
briefing by Justing before heading for the streets to deliver food.
Packing of the food. This is done every week.
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This is the first blog post on KSK that Rinpoche blogged on. The date was 4 April 2010. I was reading through earlier and reflecting on how much KSK has evolved since then.
It was 700 packets a week then but 1,800 packets a week today. We were using KH2 as our packing and meeting point but today we have our own building right in KL city. We were only serving the homeless then but today we serve poor families and share our resources with other charity homes. We were only serving food but today we have added so many more services like medical care and food bank.
None of this would be achievable if sponsors, volunteers and full time staffs of KSK did not share the same passion and mission. More importantly, without Rinpoche’s blessings, KSK would not have been able to get to this stage.
The moral of the story here is: we are all interconnected. If one element is missing, we will not be able to reach our full potential. So let us work hand in hand to bring KSK to greater heights. The destiny is in our hands.
The reason why I could not comment on the blog earlier is I do not have a laptop. Now I am learning to comment on Rinpoche’s blog. KSK is growing very fast. I help pack 700 packets of food for KSK every Sunday evening at 4.30pm. The people who come to pack and distribute are from different races and cultures and they are of all ages. There are also Muslim volunteers who go for distribution rounds. Many colleges and universities have also sent their students to Justin Cheah for Orientations. Before the renovation of new KSK building in Jalan Imbi. Orientations by Justin Cheah was
done in Kechara House 2 every Thursday. There are many people still calling wanting to volunteer to join KSK to distribute food.
A lot of the homeless people that we approached with a packet of food eat it instantly eventhough it is already way past midnight and i can never really forget their expression in the face showing how happy they were to have gotten something to fill their empty stomach before going to sleep. Besides giving out food, we also provide them with soaps, used clothes and most of all CARE. Here in KSK, volunteers are encouraged to talk to them with a view in mind of at least lend them a listening ear understanding their problems and regrets.
KSK has been getting more and more volunteers joining in the food distribution rounds now no thanks to the media for constantly highlighting the plight of our homeless clients to the generally caring Malaysian public. May many more come forward to help and may many more clients get help from KSK.
On one of the promotional videos of KSK, in it Datuk Dr Wee made this statement which echoes a lot of what Rinppche had been trying to instill into us. Take responsibility, do not leave this work to be done by someone else. That not only applies in a conventional sense but also most apt within the spiritual realm. Whatever we experience in this life we had a hand in it, so by taking responsibility we can heal.
Hence KSK does inspire many people to want to help, because the work that KSK engages in strikes a chord within people’s psyche. There is something within human psyche that needs to benefit others, needs to have a sense of community and a sense that we just don’t live our lives for ourselves but that we need to give back something to society, to be useful, to be beneficial to others.
Hunger is hunger, no matter what race, religion or colour you are. Hence that is why Kechara Soup Kitchen’s motto is Hunger Knows No Barriers. It is difficult to describe the ‘happiness’ that I feel when I see a homeless person open up a packet of hot food and start immediately eating on the spot, quietly and with focus.
It feels good to know that I have brought some measure of comfort to the homeless merely by handing over a packet of food on a Saturday night. At least I have done something useful with my time, far better than going out clubbing or to bars or hanging out with friends chattering idly over food and drinks.
Many people feel that way and that is why Kechara House is filled with so many people every Saturday night and Sunday evening, each person packing bread, biscuits, water, fruits, snacks and even a piping hot packet of rice or noodles for their homeless clients on the street.
The growth seen in KSK is something that provides great use in so many ways, it’s impossible not to see many benefits from whichever way you look at it.
That the department is now giving out even more packets of food to the homeless, as well as providing some light medical care, means that so many more homeless people are being reached, and full credit to the guys at KSK – no doubt the work’s a pleasure, but it must be hard graft, indeed!
With the growth also in the number of volunteers, how wonderful is it that so many people from varied backgrounds can come together to work so efficiently as a team in order to benefit so many. In my experience, it can be quite difficult to work within such a big team, but the people who help out KSK are clearly so focused and filled with enormous compassion.
KSK also demonstrates that there is no real differences between people – talk about concentrating on our common humanity! As Rinpoche says, it doesn’t matter who you are, what colour of skin you have, or what religion you follow – if you need assistance and support, you get it! What an incredible lesson the work of KSK teaches all of us!
Kind regards,
Sandy
An update, as of July: KSK is now giving out over 850 packets of food (check out the cute new counter on their website, which tallies the number of packets every week: http://www.kechara.com/ksk)
A special shout out must be made about Justin Cheah by the way (KSK superstar extraordinaire, lovely housemate and a friend that everyone should have). He works EXTRAORDINARILY HARD and with so so much passion to help those on the street. He really demonstrates what it means to have compassion in action. There is genuine care and concern for every single person that he meets on the streets: I’ve seen it myself when I’ve gone on rounds with him.
I’ve seen how he will remember every detail of every person he meets on the street. Some people don’t tell him everything at once, so he stores the details in his head and the next week, will talk to them more to find out even more… and eventually pieces the whole story together: their family background, how many kids they have, where they worked before, why they lost their job, how they ended up on the streets… it’s incredible.
on his days off, he scours the city to look for more places and routes with homeless people so they can feed more people.
It’s really just SUCH an inspiration to know that people like this exist. If everyone could adopt just a little bit of Justin Cheah’s care and compassion, the world would already see immense change.
I take my hat off to all the volunteers doing the KSK rounds many of whom are very young people whom you think had “better” things to do. But obviously they are much wiser and understands the priority in life. And Justin – he is so dedicated and I had the good fortune to go on one of those rounds with him. He is a really caring person. I am sure KSK will grow leaps and bounds with so many dedicated volunteers and under the guidance of Rinpoche.
And May the soup taste nice 🙂
May Kechara Soup Kitchen continue to reach out to those in our midst who need it most.
May we always root for the underdog.
May we always cheer for those falling behind.
May we always reach out to those who are ostracized and shunned.
May we always help those who no one else is willing to help.