Seva, one grocery box at a timeSeva, one grocery box at a timeSeva, onegrocery boxat a time

I live in Brampton, Ontario, in a house with a garage that has never held a car. Since 2020 it has held grocery boxes: lentils, rice, flour, oil, tea and whatever the garden gave us. Every Saturday a handful of neighbours and I pack them, load the hatchback and drop them at the doors of people who could use a hand.

Seva, to me, is just service: doing something useful for someone, without making a fuss of it. I learned it at the gurdwara, standing at the langar tables as a girl, and it came home with me. I also look after a community garden bed down the road, and what grows there goes into the boxes.

I write about the plain parts: how much rice goes in a box, who does what on packing day, what to do when the snow comes. I do not have a grand plan. I have a checklist, a planner and a lot of tea.

The planners, checklists and guides in the shop are the ones we use ourselves. If you would like to start something on your street, I hope they save you a few Saturdays of figuring it out.