Let this Christmas season be one of joyous sacrifice for one another.  Deny yourself many unnecessary things that others may have the necessities of life.  [Christ] will accept those gifts as personal offerings… made in the temple of your loving appreciation.

— Paramahansa Yogananda

“A Message From the Loving Heart of Christ”

The Second Coming of Christ

 

SRF Holiday Outreach Serves Mankind as One’s Larger Self

This Christmas Self-Realization Fellowship temples, centers, and meditation groups around the world are practicing Christ’s spiritual ideals of compassion and goodwill toward all through charitable service in their communities.  We would like to share a sampling of the many heartwarming and creative ways Paramahansa Yogananda’s world family is reaching out to others in need this holiday season.

Around the World:

This year the SRF Meditation Group in Rome, Italy, will be donating toys and clothing to impoverished children who live with their mothers in a women’s prison in Rome.  The group will also be giving books to the facility, as well as providing food to one of the larger public refectories of CARITAS, an international confederation of 162 relief, development, and social services which provide aid to the poor and oppressed.  The Rio de Janeiro Center of SRF in Brazil will be donating food and materials to two residences for the elderly in Rio: Clinica Geriatrica Sao Matheus and Asilo da Regiao do Bem.  The Sydney Center of SRF is contributing its Christmas hamper to an inner-city shelter sponsored by Mission Australia, a well-known charitable foundation.  Sydney members are also collecting cash donations for “Friends of S.T.A.R.T.S,” an organization that assists refugees in Australia.  Meanwhile, the Toronto Meditation Group of SRF in Canada will be countering the brutal winter with “Project Warmth,” providing socks, scarves, mitts, gloves, and hats to be distributed to the homeless in their community.  And in sunnier Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean, the San Fernando Meditation Group of SRF, which has a long-standing tradition of direct service to the needy in their community, will be donating to the SRF Voluntary League this year.

SRF Teen Groups Set the Standard:

Two SRF Teen Groups—at the Minneapolis (Minnesota) and Los Gatos (California) Centers of SRF—are reaching out to their peers in foster programs. 

           
The Minneapolis Center teens are for the ninth year organizing a foster gift program—this year for the Uber Gospel Mission (UGM) in St. Paul—in which the Christmas wishes of 35 youngsters (up to age of 18) are granted by members of the center.  The SRF Minneapolis Center’s sunday school children help the teens in wrapping the gifts, individually writing Christmas cards to each recipient, and putting on a party with cookies, punch, and a musical performance for the children of UGM and their parents the Sunday after the all-day Christmas meditation. 

The Los Gatos Center teens are organizing their third annual “Grant a Holiday Wish for a Foster Youth Project.”  With the help of the Los Gatos Center sunday school children, the teens have found sponsors for one to three gift wishes for each of 40 children enrolled in the Families First Agency that serves foster children in the San Francisco Bay area in California. 

SRF Temple Outreach:

In Pacific Palisades, California, the SRF Lake Shrine’s inspirational “Holiday Gifts for Foster Children Program” is in its 10th year of serving Los Angeles-area foster kids.  Each year over 800 foster children serviced by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in Los Angeles County receive gifts and stocking stuffers from Lake Shrine members.
           
The SRF Hollywood Temple will host a Christmas party with Santa, toys, and clothing for the disadvantaged orphans at the Jordan Mission in downtown Los Angeles.  Hollywood members will also be delivering their food drive items to the Union Rescue Mission, as well as donating department- and grocery-store certificates to families and individuals who need extra help during this time.  Additionally, the SRF Hollywood Temple Singers will be visiting two convalescent homes during the six Sundays preceding Christmas Eve.

The SRF Temple in Pasadena will host an annual Christmas party with dinner, caroling, and gifts for everyone at Path Achieve homeless shelter in Glendale.  Extra funds will also be donated for a new storage unit that is needed at the shelter.  The Pasadena Temple’s holiday food drive items will be given to the Northeast Mental Health Center in Los Angeles.

Members of the SRF Richmond Temple (in the San Francisco Bay area) will donate food, coats, and toys to the Bay Area Rescue Mission.  The SRF Fullerton Temple (in southern California’s Orange County) will give its holiday food drive items to FIES (Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Services), which directly distributes needed nourishment to impoverished families and the homeless in the area.  The temple also provides toys to the local fire department for local distribution as part of the county-wide “Festival of Lights.”

Members of the SRF Temple in Encinitas will deliver 1,200 pounds of food to the Encinitas Community Resource Center for the poor, homeless, and abused during the holiday season.  Meanwhile, Encinitas Sunday School children will give gifts to children their own age for distribution on Christmas Eve through a local charity called Kids-to-Kids.  Additionally, the SRF Encinitas Temple Singers will bring cheer and caroling to local assisted living and nursing homes in the area.  The SRF Temple in San Diego will donate meals to Special Delivery—an organization that serves individuals with life-threatening diseases.  The temple will also provide computers to Barrio Logan Day Care Center for disadvantaged children.

Monks of the SRF Monastic Order will again be caroling at the Los Angeles County Hospital, while the nuns will be bringing cheer to a nursing home in Glendale, California.

Spreading Christmas Cheer Across the United States:  

The youth of the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Meditation Group of SRF will organize a food drive for the Roadrunner Food Bank.  The Chicago (Illinois) Meditation Group of SRF will also be giving their food drive to a local food pantry.  In Denver, Colorado, the SRF Meditation Group will be sending their toy donations to Toys for Tots.  The Eugene Meditation Group in Oregon will continue its long-standing tradition of caroling at a retirement home.  Eugene members are also gathering food, clothing, and toys for Womenspace, a shelter for abused women and children. 

The Fort Lauderdale (Florida) Meditation Group of SRF is throwing a “Baby Shower” to assist child victims of abuse (ages 0-2) cared for by “Kids in Distress” in Broward County.  The Miami (Florida) Meditation Group of SRF will be caroling at the Pinecrest Nursing Home (a more than 25-year tradition).  Miami members will also be providing a monetary donation to feed 100 people during the Christmas holiday at the Camilus House, which serves the poor and homeless of Miami.  The Oklahoma City Meditation Circle will be bringing cheer to nursing homes and writing Christmas letters to troops in Iraq, who responded with some very touching letters last year.  Oklahoma City members will also be participating in the annual Red Andrews Dinner, which feeds thousands of homeless and poor families at Christmas.  The Princeton Meditation Group in New Jersey will donate food to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, a tradition of 15 years. 

The Sacramento (California) Center of SRF will be donating its Holiday Food Drive to a local school that serves low income families.  The San Francisco (California) Meditation Group has donated 125 pounds of food to the San Francisco Food Bank.  The Santa Rosa (California) Meditation Group will be giving its food items to a local food bank that distributes to shelters and families in need, as well as donating toys to local families through Toys for Kids.  In Seattle (Washington) the SRF Center is wrapping up shoe boxes full of personal care items for the elderly and disabled served by Catholic Community Services.  Seattle members are also providing clothing and toiletry items to the homeless and new parents (ages 18-24) through Friends of Youth.  And finally, the Tampa (Florida) Meditation Group will be donating food to Metropolitan Ministries.

SRF Voluntary League:

From its international headquarters in Los Angeles, Self-Realization Fellowship offers a variety of forms of material assistance throughout the year to alleviate the suffering of the disadvantaged worldwide.  The SRF Voluntary League collects and distributes items such as clothing, food, and toys for special needs that arise.  SRF also supports many local, national, and international organizations that provide food, clothing, shelter, medical attention, and educational opportunities to, among others, the poor and homeless, the elderly and disabled, and victims of natural disasters.  These organizations include the American Red Cross, L.A. County/USC Medical Center CARES Volunteer Service, American Indian College Fund, Doctors Without Borders, Mercy Corps International, the Los Angeles Mission, Union Rescue Mission, A Place Called Home, Children of the Night, Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation, and a number of others.