Buddhist Temple Provides Food for Community, Nepalese Students
February 21, 2021
People receive free food from the United Sherpa Association s weekly food pantry on Friday, January 15, 2021, in Queens, New York. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
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A Buddhist
temple in Queens, New York, is helping the local community by providing healthy foods to those in need.
While monks lead religious ceremonies in front of a golden statue of the Buddha, people outside the temple wear face masks as they wait in long lines to get basic food items.
The United Sherpa Association, which is based in the temple, started the food program last April when the coronavirus was at its worst in New York City.
UpdatedThu, Feb 18, 2021 at 12:37 pm ET
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People receive free food from the United Sherpa Association s weekly food pantry on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarsk)
ELMHURST, NY Inside the temple in Queens, monks clad in maroon robes chanted and lit incense and candles at an altar before a golden statue of Buddha.
Earlier, on the sidewalk outside, people with face masks, shopping baskets and reusable bags stood in a socially distanced line stretching two city blocks, waiting to cart off badly needed rice, fruit and vegetables to get them through hard times due to the pandemic. It s really a big help because you get all fresh, organic, said Jyoti Rajbanshi, a Nepalese nursing student at Long Island University who has lost work and resorted to running up her credit cards and relying on the weekly pantry. And then at least you don t have to spend some money on buying the groceries.
Lifestyle
A Buddhist temple food pantry in New York comes to the rescue of Nepalese students struggling amid the pandemic
16 Feb 2021
Gulf Today Report
In a Buddhist temple in the New York City borough of Queens, monks clad in maroon robes chanted and lit incense and candles at an altar before a golden statue of Buddha.
Just moments earlier, people with face masks, shopping baskets and reusable bags gathered on the sidewalk outside, maintaining social distance in a line stretching two city blocks.
Those assuming they are people waiting to offer prayers are highly mistaken, for the queue is formed to fetch free food from the temple pantry.
Inside the temple in the New York City borough of Queens, monks clad in maroon robes chanted and lit incense and candles at an altar before a golden statue of Buddha.