Sai Centre: Winnipeg
Peace Days Celebration
Peace Days was inspired by the Rotary World Peace Partners in 2010. Peace Days grew out of a desire to celebrate the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, designated as September 21st each year. In 2010, Winnipeg celebrated with a Concert for Peace, where music was the medium to communicate the importance of working toward a more peaceful and compassionate society. Peace Days evolved, and in 2015 became a two week-long festival with community events spanning from September 11 through to the International Day of Peace on September 21. Last year, from September 11-21, 2018, Peace Days celebration included a diverse, stimulating program of events throughout Winnipeg to appeal to all ages.
Siloam Mission Service
The Winnipeg Sai Centre has been carrying out this service activity for several years, both initiated and sustained by two devotees at the Sai Centre.. The service is held once a month on every Saturday. The task is to cook and serve a warm meal at the Siloam mission. In general, the cooking is carried out in the morning over a three hour period. Typically, the devotees prepare macaroni and cheese, mixed vegetables, and beans. The items are stored in an oven until they are served at noon. Siloam provides additional items such as bread or buns, salad and dessert to the menu. This makes for a full warm and sumptuous meal for the under-privileged who frequent the mission.
Harvest Service
The Winnipeg Harvest service activity is on every Wednesday of the week and takes place in the basement of the Sai Centre. It starts with the receipt of food sent to the Centre by truck. The window of receiving can vary between 12 to 1:30 pm. It is quite challenging to receive and unload the food items as they have to be transported to the basement. We generally have a group of three volunteers, especially retired devotees, to carry out this activity. Once the food is received and arranged on the tables, this group of volunteers leave.
National Textbook Drives 2016
The Sai Young Adults conducted a National Textbook Drive in all regions as a Back to School service for students in need. This service project expanded beyond the young adults and included volunteers from Sathya Sai Centres across the country, with parents and friends bringing in old and gently used books for donation at their local Centre.
National Environmental Day 2016
Sai Young Adults across the country participated in a National Environmental Day by conducting various activities in service to Mother Nature. The young adults led the activities in all regions, with the support of adults and children.