TANA’s act of kindness overwhelmed the homeless in Spokane, Washington

As Mother Teresa said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”, Telugu Association of North America (TANA) seems to be in a mission towards that goal with a great act of kindness. TANA donated $2800 to the Blessings under the Bridge (BUTB) of Spokane to serve food for needy and homeless families. The funds donated to BUTB will serve hot cooked meals to the needy for four Wednesdays. These funds were contributed from TANA ART Summer Camps fundraiser. TANA ART Summer Camps were conducted by our 12 years old young volunteer Sindhu Surapaneni from Imaginations2Creation. She is a very passionate Art trainer and likes to serve the needy.

Blessings under the Bridge serves cooked food by preparing dinner at their local kitchen every Wednesday. On Wednesdays, BUTB serves food for 500 people and offers clothing. The amount of compassion and empathy that the volunteers of BUTB have for this homeless can’t be expressed in words. We could learn a lot from these volunteers on how to treat every human. Most of them address the homeless as sir/madam to make them feel valued as some of them feel very embarrassed to come by for food or to have a conversation with us while we serve.

All the volunteers are supposed to talk to each one while serving food. We must look into their eyes and converse with them before we serve. They thank every volunteer while we serve and are very grateful for us. It makes us feel humble and grateful for what we are blessed with when we volunteer. We have already served two Wednesdays September 1st, and September 8th and we will be serving another two Wednesdays. There will be one in October and November Thanksgiving Wednesday.

BUTB appreciates this kind gesture by TANA and conveyed heartfelt thanks to TANA President Mr. Anjaiah Chowdary Lavu, TANA Community Services Coordinator Mr. Raja Kasukurthi and the entire TANA leadership for wonderful initiative and sharing blessings with the less unfortunate. Thanks to TANA North West Regional Coordinator Padma Bhogavalli, Devendar Lavu, Sowmya Surapaneni, and Srinivas Abburi for coordination and support.