Hindu Temple in St. John's serves hundreds of meals to raise money for Fiona relief

Volunteers at the Hindu Temple in St. John's spent their Saturday preparing meals and serving them to hundreds of Newfoundlanders.

Many volunteers began their day in the kitchen at 5 a.m. But knowing all of the proceeds from their meals would go toward helping the people of Port aux Basques made the busy day more than worthwhile.

"It makes me emotional," said Aruna Ralhan, the temple's chairperson, with tears in her eyes. "It's fantastic, the support we got from people, and it makes me very happy and yet emotional."

The temple hosted an Indian food takeout fundraiser to raise money for a Fiona relief program organized by the Canadian Red Cross. Before the event, Ralhan said she hoped to sell 500 tickets, each representing a six-item meal sold to customers for $20.

Ralhan said they more than exceeded their goal, selling around 580 tickets, and in total raised over $11,000, some of which will help pay for the ingredients.

She said they could have sold at least 900 tickets due to the demand they received from customers but they had to put a cap on their sales because it would be too challenging for the volunteers to make so many freshly prepared meals in one day.

The cooks at the temple aren't professional chefs but they do know how to whip up some delicious home style meals, said Ralhan. For the event, one lead chef was assigned to prepare each dish, with the help of up to five volunteers per dish.

Along with chana masala and samosas, the volunteers prepared other vegetarian Indian foods, including turnip curry and naan.

Tony Roberts's task was to carry the takeout containers from the basement of the temple, where the meals were being prepared, to the temple's entrance, where they were being handed out to customers.

Roberts, who was born in Port aux Basques and lives in St. John's, said the damage to his hometown caused by post-tropical storm Fiona was devastating to see, so he wanted to help out in any way he could.

"They're putting on this awesome fundraiser, so I just felt I could lend a hand … do a small part and contribute to what they're doing," said Roberts. "It's just amazing."

Bonding through food

This wasn't the first time the Hindu Temple shared its food with the community.

For decades, the temple has held an Indian food fundraiser at the Royal St. John's Regatta to raise money for the temple's operations and community work.

Although this fundraiser's mission was different, Mini Nair, a volunteer with the temple, said food is always a good way to help out people in the community.

"Newfoundland is our family now," said Nair, who has been volunteering with the temple since she moved to the province 13 years ago. "So we have to help people. There's no doubt about it."

As well as raising money, Nair says preparing traditional Indian dishes for Newfoundlanders helps the temple connect with people in the community.

"One thing is that we are raising good money," she said. "Second thing is they love our food, which makes us feel included and proud of our culture and our food."

After sampling some of the temple's dishes on Regatta Day with his wife, St. John's resident Chris Clancy said he knew he had to show his support after hearing of the fundraiser.

"Newfoundlanders pull together to help out their neighbours, and that's what we're doing here today," said Clancy. "Lots of people getting together for small things makes big things happen."

After weeks of preparation and long days in the kitchen, Ralhan said she has a lot of gratitude for the volunteers and customers who made the event a success. Now, she said, her only hope is that the money they raised goes a long way.

"We hope every single penny raised is put to the best effort by Red Cross because we are relying on them," she said.

"We have done our best to do our effort, put our heart and soul in it. So we just hope that … the money is given to the people who rightfully need it."

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