Students of the University of Michigan who are back in Ann Arbor after their summer trip to the Golden Temple, where they spent part of their summer learning how to pull off a logistical miracle, feeding 60,000 people every day with a staff of volunteers, will be cooking chickpeas, chutney and salad in shifts with help from the community at Gurudwara Sahib.
"The food will be packaged by hand into a tortilla wrap and served on the Diag all day Friday, September 19.
Any leftovers will be donated to a shelter," a media release said.
"American society needs spaces where rich and poor, people of all races and beliefs can come to share a common space.
Also Read
This university langar can provide that medium," said Jasprit Singh, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science who led the students' summer trip to India.
While at the Golden Temple in June, the 13 undergraduate students got up early every morning to do "seva," or work.
They chopped and cooked vegetables, washed lentils, made bread, cleaned dishes and learned sustainable nourishment at the Golden Temple.
Michael Jordan, director of Centre for Global and Intercultural Study (CGIS), said that the Golden Temple program is a model of what GIEU does.
"By contributing their own time and having learned from their experience, the group is now bringing that tradition back to U-M," he said.
"This trip was about humility and inspiration," said Jessica Eller, a junior at the Ford School of Public Policy, was part of the group, adding that it has widened her perspective about who's a volunteer and who is a recipient.
"Everyone received the same service," she said.
Sarah Marshall, a junior studying environment and international studies, said she will discuss the love and compassion she received at the temple.
She chose to make rotis (Indian bread) as her seva and soon formed a community with the women there.
"I didn't speak the language, but I could see their eyes light up every morning when I came," she said.
"It was a comfort to see familiar faces every morning."
"Community is very important in the Indian culture," she said.