Happiness lies in making others happy, in forsaking self-interest to bring joy to others. If each one would do that, then everyone would be happy; and all would be taken care of.
Paramahansa Yogananda
As we celebrate the joy of the holiday season with those closest to us, we can make that joy even more meaningful through compassionate giving to those in need. Paramahansa Yogananda taught that true happiness comes when we live for others, offering help in whatever way we can. This selfless spirit transforms our lives and deepens our connection with the Divine.
Self-Realization Fellowship temples, centers, and groups strive to embody this ideal of service throughout the year — and especially embrace the opportunity to give generously during the holidays, sharing light and hope with their communities.
Here are some inspiring examples of charitable activities carried out by SRF groups during this season of giving.
Belo Horizonte Meditation Group
Members of the Belo Horizonte Meditation Group in Brazil collected donations of diapers and milk for Núcleo Assistencial Caminhos para Jesus (Pathways to Jesus Assistance Center). The meditation group donated 312 boxes of milk, 24 boxes of powdered milk, and 25 packs of diapers. Núcleo Assistencial Caminhos para Jesus provides shelter and care for children with cerebral palsy.
San Diego Temple
The congregation of the San Diego temple reached out to help others through two charitable organizations. For Thanksgiving, they held a food drive and collected about 70 bags and boxes of groceries as well as monetary donations for Special Delivery, a neighborhood food bank that provides groceries (“love in a bag”) to those in need.
At Christmas, the temple’s toy drive benefited underprivileged children at Rodriguez Elementary School. The temple members made sure toys were given to 100 children through purchased toys and donations toward gift cards for parents allowing them to buy gifts for non-school age children.
SRF young adults collected donated toiletries, food, clothing, and more, as well as handmade Christmas cards, and assembled them into 70 “care packages” which were delivered to Alpha Project, a local nonprofit that helps the homeless achieve self-sufficiency.
Encinitas Temple
The Encinitas Temple held its seventh annual Holiday Drive and collected items used to assemble backpacks filled with winter essentials such as blankets, flashlights, toiletries, and other essential items, along with cash and gift cards, for donation to the Community Resource Center (CRC). The goal was to fill 60 backpacks, and temple members provided more than 4,000 individual donated items — so the extra goods were used in the CRC’s “dignity of choice” shopping experience for its clients. Established in 1979, the CRC provides not only basic needs for low-income and episodically homeless families but also programs to help them attain greater stability and self-sufficiency.
Phoenix Temple
The congregation of the Phoenix Temple held their annual Thanksgiving food drive, which benefits The Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Each Sunday in November members brought grocery bags filled with canned vegetables, boxed cereal, pasta, soup, beans, peanut butter, and various packaged items, which resulted in a total donation of 995 pounds of food. The donations will help feed families in need in the Phoenix area.
The temple’s Sunday School and Teen Group dedicated a Friday evening in November to the annual Hope Filled Holiday event benefiting the organization Feed My Starving Children. They helped to pack thousands of instant meals designed for malnourished children, which will go to impoverished areas all over the globe.
Glendale Temple
Devotees at the Glendale Temple held a food drive for families in need and delivered approximately 60 grocery bags to the Northeast Mental Health Center in Los Angeles. The congregation also raised money for a donation to Ascencia, a charity that provides housing and services to the homeless across Los Angeles County.
Fullerton Temple
Fullerton Temple held holiday food and toy drives with members donating hundreds of pounds of Thanksgiving staples to the Pathways of Hope pantry and contributing to their Christmas toy and gift card drive for local children and families.
Escondido Center
The Escondido Center conducted a Thanksgiving food drive where members donated non-perishable food items for five weeks before Thanksgiving. Each week the food was taken to a food bank run by Interfaith Community Services where it was distributed to those in need. Interfaith Community Services empowers people in need to stabilize and improve their lives through programs including food assistance, housing support, employment services, addiction recovery, mental health care, and more.
Hollywood Temple
At Thanksgiving, the Hollywood Temple partnered with Covenant House preparing care packages of personal items for youth facing homelessness in the Los Angeles area. They collected more than 100 pairs of socks, as well as hats, gloves, toiletry and hygiene items, and holiday candy, and also provided 65 gift cards for local grocery stores and eateries.
Greenfield Center
Members of the Greenfield Center along with nuns from the SRF Greenfield Ashram and Retreat held donation drives for food, clothing, and toiletry items, which were provided to the Front Royal/Warren County Congregational Community Action Project (C-CAP) for distribution to those in need in the community. They also made snack mixes and ornaments with a Christ-themed quote from Paramahansaji for the 50 volunteers who help run C-CAP.
In further efforts to spread holiday cheer, they knitted 42 hats and donated them to a senior care facility; and they baked and assembled platters of cookies which they delivered to the local public library, building and planning government offices, and sheriff/emergency services office.
Seattle Center
The Seattle Center held a Thanksgiving food drive and collected 715 pounds of non-perishable food, which was donated to the Hopelink Shoreline Food Bank. Since 971, Hopelink has provided stability-building programs for people experiencing poverty, immigrants and refugees, and people with disabilities in North and East King County, Washington.
Atlanta Center
The Atlanta Center had a Thanksgiving food drive during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. Donated food items were provided to MUST Ministries for distribution to those in need in the Atlanta metropolitan area. MUST Ministries provides access to basic human needs like food, clothing and shelter, and gives people a path toward independence.
This Christmas season, the Atlanta Center joined Clark’s Christmas Kids in giving toys and gifts to children in foster care. For 34 years, Clark’s Christmas Kids has had the mission of ensuring that every child in the Georgia foster care system has at least one gift on Christmas day. SRF members at the Atlanta Center gave gifts online through the charity’s website, and brought toys to the center for distribution, and made monetary donations.
New York City Center
This year, SRF members at the New York City Center coordinated a Holiday Food Drive in November and December to benefit City Harvest, a nonprofit that distributes food to families in need.
Detroit Center
For the holiday season, the Detroit Center collected food and personal items for Lighthouse Ministries, an organization that provides emergency food assistance through their pantries, emergency shelter for families and individuals experiencing homelessness, and other related services.
Los Gatos Center
The Los Gatos Center held a gift drive this year, supported by teens in the congregation, as part of the Family Giving Tree’s annual Holiday Wish Drive. Members provided 50 gifts as well as monetary donations. Family Giving Tree is a Bay Area non-profit group that organizes the annual gift drive and distributes the donated gifts to those in need. Since 1990, they have served over two million recipients.
Fort Lauderdale Meditation Group
Members of the Fort Lauderdale Meditation Group held a four-week food drive to benefit The Pantry of Broward, collecting non-perishable food and other items as well as monetary donations. The Pantry of Broward serves seniors in need living on low, fixed incomes and grandparents raising their grandchildren.
Bay Area Temple
Throughout the past year the Bay Area Temple collected food donations and delivered them every three months to the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Counties. With an annual donation of about 560 pounds, the food went to individuals and local nonprofits in need.
Tampa Bay Meditation Group
The Tampa Bay Meditation Group conducted a food drive and provided a monetary donation for Metropolitan Ministries, and also gave food donations to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Metropolitan Ministries offers comprehensive services for at-risk and homeless families in the Tampa Bay area. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul serves people in need in Hillsborough Country, Florida.
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