The ” Living Room Food Seva” is a regular feature of the Coquitlam Sai Centre’s Seva activities. The Centre has been offering this meal service seva activity since the early 2000 and is conducted about 4 times a year. A sumptous 4-5 course vegetarian meal is freshly cooked on-site at the Powell Street Getaway, formerly known as the “Living Room Drop-In Centre”, and served to about 150 to 200 patrons at this facility. The Powell Street Getaway, a Mental health and Substance Use Community Resource Center funded by Vancouver Coastal Health, provides safe hang-out space and consumption site, peer-lead programs, meals, activities and supports for the homeless, needy and under-priviledged.

On Saturday October 27 last year, a group of 9 ladies from the Coquitlam Sai Center organized the “Living Room Food Seva” as part of the Centre’s Ladies Day celebrations. Their treat for the 200 plus “guests” that day was a hearty menu consisting of Creamy Broccoli and Pasta Soup; Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Hash served with Parmesan; Garlic Bread Rolls and Apple Cobbler Crumble topped off with Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert. The meal prep started days before the seva with a few ladies putting together the menu and sourcing for ingredients. The team of 9 gathered at the facility by noon that day and after a short prayer invoking Swami’s Blessings and offering gratitude for this opportunuty to serve,  got on to work swiftly with each one assigned a specific task; from washing and cutting vegetables, to cooking and baking. The entire prepping and cooking took about 3 to 4 hours and the plated meal was ready to serve by 4pm. While one team filled the plates, another group went out to the dining hall to serve the guests with a personal touch. The food was a hit with many returning for second and third rounds. The word quickly went around the block and more than the expected crowd turned up at the doors for a share of the food. Needless to say, Swami’s unseen hands kept the food supply going until every last person who turned up at the door was fed. As much as the ” guests” lavished the food, the ladies went home with a full heart, knowing well that the ones that received the most that day were themselves!