Members of the Voices of Vedas Hindu Temple in Richmond Hill don't know the students at Marlborough Public School in Windsor, but they've made Christmas much merrier.
Student teacher Rishaal Lodhia mentioned to his mother that some of his students come from low-income families, and his mother took word of their plight to members of her temple. By Saturday, the congregation had filled a U-Haul truck with more than two tonnes of food, clothing and food destined for the Marlborough school community.
Lodhia says he was taken back by the poverty some students face. "We always heard in Toronto that Windsor isn't the most affluent of towns at times," he says. "To compare that with the wealth of privledge and abundance that I've been brought up in, it definitely shook me to my core."
Those families considered in the greatest need are invited to the school to collect what they need this season.
"It's just a matter of reaching out and calling upon members of the community," says Lodhia explaining his community's generosity. "When we realize the abundance that we are among there's no reason why anyone should go hungry."
Food donated to the Marlborough Public School community by a congregation in Richmond Hill, December 17, 2014. (Photo courtesy of Shaun Campbell.)