Selfless Sikhs keep on giving: Volunteer group hits 189 consecutive days of making free curries to deliver to needy families across Melbourne
A group of selfless Sikh volunteers have reached nearly six months of consecutive days donating hearty meals to families in need in Melbourne.
Sikh Volunteers Australia on Tuesday reached 189 consecutive days of donating free curries to disadvantaged people across the city.
The volunteer group posted a video to their social media channels on Monday showing chefs hard at work in the kitchen getting their food deliveries ready for the day.
Five volunteers are seen in the footage packing dozens of containers filled with rice, salad and curry as they listen to music in their industrial cookhouse.
Sikh Volunteers Australia have been donating food to Melbournians in need for 189 consecutive days in the coronavirus pandemic
Volunteer Coordinator Manpreet Singh told Daily Mail Australia the organisation's 189-day donation streak had happened organically.
'We started on the 18th of March for two weeks due to government lockdown announcements and it slowly increased to more days and just happened continuously,' Mr Singh said.
'We've had continued support from our community and volunteers so we kept extending our service out to nearly six months.'
The organisation was launched in 2014, with their food delivery service starting in 2017 in honour of Sikh First Master Guru Nanak Dev Ji, who started a free food service in the 15th century to help people in need.
They began serving food to homeless people twice a week, but have grown into their full scale daily operation in response to COVID-19.
More than 260 volunteers have participated in the organisation during the pandemic, including up to 35 people every day to help with food preparation, cooking and delivering meals.
At their peak the organisation deliver up to 900 meals per day to six councils around the city
Their meals are given to the elderly, unemployed, health workers and COVID effected people
Ten vehicles transport food using contactless delivery to six councils around Melbourne, including City of Casey, Frankston, Dandenong, Monash, Mornington Peninsula and Kingston.
The organisation celebrated their 100,000th meal delivery on September 16, with daily delivery numbers fluctuating with the pandemic.
Mr Singh said the group peaked at 900 meals per day in the first lockdown.
'At the moment we have 450 meals going out every day,' he said.
'Our food is going out to elderly people, single mums, the unemployed, international students, health workers and people facing hard time due to COVID-19.'
The organisation delivered meals to thousands of residents stuck in lockdown across Melbourne's housing commission towers in July.
'When the news came out, we received a few messages saying people needed help,' Mr Singh said.
Sikh Volunteers Australia food delivery service runs in honour of Sikh First Master Guru Nanak Dev Ji, who started a free food service in the 15th century to help people in need
'We didn't have much information, we just loaded up our food vans and went and served there for seven days.'
Sikh Volunteers Australia operates through donations of time and money from people and businesses in the broader community.
Mr Singh said community generosity is what has allowed their service streak to continue, with no sign of slowing down into the future.
'The response from the community has been overwhelming,' he said.
'Within six months we have received so many messages from people who are so thankful for this service.
'A lot of people have lost their jobs in the pandemic and it will take a long time for everything to go back to normal, maybe even years.
'We will keep this service running because people are still so effected.'
Volunteer Coordinator Manpreet Singh told Daily Mail Australia the organisation are currently donating 450 meals every day