“They are incredibly eager to be here, and they have the drive to volunteer for a community that some of them are not even a part of,” said Justice Colbert, emergency management specialist at FEMA Region III. vaccination efforts as India’s COVID-19 case rates rapidly increase and its supply of oxygen tanks and medical resources decrease.

Now more than ever, Sewa and HSS volunteers are impassioned to invest in U.S. HSS has named their campaign “Sewa With FEMA.” Sewa is an ancient Sanskrit word meaning “selfless service.” HSS’s on-site coordinator, Sachin Dabade, said, “It involves acting selflessly and helping others without any reward or personal gain, based on their Hindu faith and motto, ‘The whole world is one family.’” Sewa and HSS have deployed 351 volunteers logging 2400 hours of support at the CCVC and 21 volunteers providing 98.5 hours at the Esperanza Community Vaccination Center. Sewa International and 25 organizations of the Indian American community in the greater Philadelphia region are working closely with HSS to offer support. It is the second federally supported community vaccination center in the nation to benefit from HSS’s assistance. This site is equipped to deliver up to 6,000 doses of the lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine each day. PHILADELPHIA, PA – Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), a non-profit organization that organizes values-based education programs and community outreach projects nationwide, has deployed a volunteer response team to support the City of Philadelphia, FEMA, and other government partners at the Center City Vaccination Center (CCVC).

Swayamsevak meaning