The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was founded by his divine grace Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad. They practice bhakti-yoga, which is the yoga of devotion. They have a temple in SoHo, where they served food until the pandemic when all restaurants closed.
Since the pandemic, they’ve been serving food out of Krishna Castle. Food For Life, the charity’s name, runs six days a week, serving food to anyone for free, including the homeless and people in food poverty.
The project was founded after Swami Prabhupad witnessed children fighting dogs for food. His divine grace started crying. He vowed that no one in a 10-mile radius of a Hare Krishna temple should go hungry from that point onwards. The charity feeds more than 200 people a day.
In the video, one volunteer does say they feed more than 5,000 people a day, but this was a mistranslation.
The project is run by anyone who can spare time. Their volunteer base has changed significantly since the pandemic began as some of their older volunteers have had to start shielding. The crew is made up of young professionals who aren’t working due to covid.
Featured image by Mike Finn.
Edited by Giuli Graziano.