By Denisia Murat
A humanitarian organisation which is distributing food to homeless people in Leicester is calling for more volunteers to join in order to spread help and kindness.
Go Dharmic was founded by Hanuman Dass in 2013 who started a campaign to help and feed the homeless around London. The organisation is named after Dharma, which is a key concept with multiple meanings in the Indian religions, among others.
The organisation aimes to tackle food poverty but also to help with environmental issues such as food waste and psychological ones including mental health.
Since starting the Feed Everyone programme, Go Dharmic says on its website it has delivered more than 22 million meals globally, and runs a frequent stall next to the Clock Tower in Leicester City centre.
Savan Shah, 44, the Northampton lead volunteer for Go Dharmic, said that the organisation enjoyed great success.
“We’re now doing 15 weekly distributions around Leicester and other cities,” he said.
“We give out free meals to the homeles but also to the members of the public.”
At the moment, Go Dharmic has 18 food distributions around the world including eight across the UK in Central London, Luton, Queensbury, Wembley, Walford, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Leicester, plus others in different countries including the USA, India, Poland, Ukraine and Romania.
Go Dharmic is also participating in a programme that aims to plant two million mangrove trees by 2026. So far, it says, 200,000 trees have been planted with the help of donations and local villagers, creating the Dharma forest which is located in the Sundarban region of West Bengal.
For every £1 donated, Go Dharmic will plant a mangrove tree in the Dharma forest and care for it until it is established. This initiative can help reduce the effects of climate change while creating a great habitat for wildlife.
“Our mission is to get 1 million volunteers to help serve the organisation,” added Savan.
The community is open to anyone to join or to make a donation, and organises events for people to take part in.
Their next event, called Peace in Nature, will take place on Sunday, July 2, in Wales. Anyone interested can email events@godharmic.com .
Those who wish to join or find out more can access Go Dharmic online or email info@godharmic.com .