Sikh community in Los Angeles distributing thousands of meals, groceries, masks daily amid COVID19

The Sikh Community in the US city of Los Angeles is distributing thousands of meals a day and masks to healthcare professionals and people in need as the coronavirus outbreak continues to upend lives across the country.

A report in The Los Angeles Times said that the United Sikh Mission and the Sikh community of Riverside in the state first started out by distributing 175 meals from a drive-through created outside the Riverside Sikh Temple.

The community is now serving up to 1,400 meals a day at the Sikh temple, has provided thousands of masks to the local community and is handing out groceries on the weekend.

So far, the group has provided more than 40,000 meals over the past month to healthcare professionals and people in need.

We have seen more people every day, people that lost their jobs and wages and can't afford a hot meal for themselves and their families, COVID-19 coordinator at United Sikh Mission Gurpreet Singh said.

The Sikh community has also sent more than 1,000 meals a day to nursing homes in Moreno Valley and Riverside and has delivered meals to four area hospitals.

Over 15,000 masks, including more than 2,000 made by members of the local Sikh community, have been distributed locally. Additionally, they hand out groceries every Saturday and Sunday along with hot meals and masks. Last weekend, the lines for groceries were about a mile long, he said.

The report added that cooks and owners of stores in the area donate nearly 4-5 hours of their time daily to cook the meals to ensure people can be fed every day. Most of the money for the services has been donated by community members.

The coronavirus outbreak in California has infected almost 40,000 people and killed more than 1,500. It has left millions without jobs. Singh said the group wants to help anyone they can in their community.

No one should go hungry is the way we are approaching this, Singh said. We serve seven days a week because there are no days off for hunger.