Expressions researched:
"food relief"
Hṛdayānanda: So there's nothing that we should do? (break) This food relief program that you started in India could also be used in other countries where there are also economic problems.
Prabhupāda: Why not? But prasādam, not ordinary food. From all our centers you can distribute food, prasādam, because that prasādam means they will gradually become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Otherwise if you give them ordinary food, they will get strength, and they will increase their sex desire, that's all, problems.
Jayatīrtha: The main point about that is that the GBC, we all meet together once a year...
Prabhupāda: Yes. And form all, what is to be discussed, what you are going to do, future. Just like you can discuss the German affairs, and find out how to defend ourselves. Of course, it is in the hands of the lawyer. Still, we can suggest...
Jayatīrtha: Take, for another example, there's the ISKCON Food Relief Program. Now, last year we discussed this, but no one was given any specific responsibility for it, and nothing really has been... Some money has been collected, but nothing major has been done. My idea would be that if there were a committee, say, of two, three men formed who would conjointly discuss and work on these projects, such as this ISKCON Food Relief, then more would get done.
Haṁsadūta: No, I think it's entirely an individual...
Jayatīrtha: All right. So that we'll discuss. The other thing we'll discuss is ISKCON Food Relief. And we'll also discuss the complaints about books in India.
Prabhupāda: Yes, that is the main...
Jayatīrtha: So these things we can discuss.
Prabhupāda: ...how these complaints can be stopped.
Jayapatākā: Everyone is saying that our society is actually simply doing sincere work.
Prabhupāda: As they doing (?).
Jayapatākā: This food distribution has been very important.
Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.
Jayapatākā: Now the price of rice has gone up by about eighty paisa. From two rupees to two-eighty. So the poor class of people, they are in a very bad situation. So now our attendance has gone up from twelve hundred to two thousand on that Saturday and Sunday, each day. So we have two shifts. So many people are coming that they come from ten o'clock in the morning and wait because otherwise they can't get a boat in time to cross the river. So then we were very surprised to read in a recent newsletter from LA that "They're going to restart the food relief." But we never knew it stopped. We never knew that they had stopped the food relief. We saw then that he said, "They're going to restart." But we never stopped, and we were very surprised to see that. And now they say...
Prabhupāda: Who said?
Jayapatākā: Rāmeśvara.
Gargamuni: To maintain this food relief from the centers only requires what? Fifteen hundred dollars a month. So little amount and so much service is done.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Gargamuni: So I know Tamāla, he was giving one thousand but he has stopped now. He was giving one thousand a month. And now he has stopped.
Jayapatākā: Rāmeśvara, you wrote him a letter that "Jayapatākā Swami should be sent money for ISKCON Food Relief." And he told me that "I am sending you. I have four thousand dollars, "which he sent. We had already been 36,000 rupees in debt because we had not received money for six months. But he wrote in a newsletter to the temples that "Prabhupāda has wrote me to send money to Jayapatākā Swami; and now we're going to start again ISKCON Food Relief." But that was making it appear that we had stopped. But actually we had never stopped.
Prabhupāda: Rāmeśvara? He did not know?
Jayapatākā: Rāmeśvara had stopped collecting from the temples. But we had never stopped...
Prabhupāda: Anyway, he'll collect. That's all.
Jayapatākā: Your program everyone is appreciating. When the newspapermen came out, at that time the black development officer he came there, and when the newspapermen were there he sat down with all the poor people and he took also and said, "This is very good. This is our national service." And they photographed.
Prabhupāda: "National Service"?
Jayapatākā: Yes, he mentioned.
Hari-śauri: There was supposed to be some man who was going to give five thousand or ten thousand rupees.
Gurudāsa: For food relief or...?
Prabhupāda: I do not know.
Hari-śauri: For something.
Gurudāsa: There's one man who paid for a tent, life member. And Gargamuni Mahārāja gave me ten thousand rupees for food relief yesterday. Now...
Prabhupāda: Oh. Then that... I was... He got ten thousand rupees.
Gurudāsa: He gave it to me yesterday. I have it right here.
Rāmeśvara: In America, say a music group becomes popular, very popular. Then automatically, every time they make their record album, one million people will buy it in the stores without any salesmen. Automatically one million. It's considered very popular.
Prabhupāda: Yes. So make records "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa."
Rāmeśvara: And for each record our profit is $2.50. So $2.50 times one million records becomes millions of dollars.
Prabhupāda: Spend it for prasāda distribution. Don't squander it. Every cent should be utilized for Kṛṣṇa, not for sense gratification.
Rāmeśvara: Now, some of the money could be sent to India for ISKCON Food Relief.
Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.
Rāmeśvara: That would be very good.
Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. That will make our movement very popular in India.
Rāmeśvara: They're always complaining that there's not enough money for food distribution in India.
Prabhupāda: So kindly send me as much as possible. Therefore these farming projects will be very nice.
Rāmeśvara: That'll be great, if we can use the money... Do you think I should set up a separate account for the records, so that all the profit is used for food distribution?
Prabhupāda: Why not? Very good idea.
Rāmeśvara: So that will be a special means of raising money for prasāda.
Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.
Rāmeśvara: In America, if we collect money saying we are sending it to India, if we tell them we are sending it to build a temple in India, they will not give one penny. They think "India has too many temples. They need money for food, for technology."
Prabhupāda: So we can take money for food. That is also our program.
Rāmeśvara: Well, I'm going to try to develop this record business. I think we can make a million dollars a year, profit.
Prabhupāda: And send it for our farms, and we invite, "Come here. Take prasādam."
Rāmeśvara: Oh, the farm communities. Oh, not just food relief, but also developing the farm projects.
Hari-śauri: That's food relief.
Prabhupāda: Now, my project is that we shall actually give them food, shelter and...
Rāmeśvara: Cottages, little cottages.
Prabhupāda: And cloth, whatever primary necessities and simple living, and let them chant.
Rāmeśvara: They chant and also work the fields.
Prabhupāda: So they, in the beginning, if they are not working... They'll work. We shall supply food, everything. And that... That is well beginning.
So I think this book department (indistinct) all right, you don't require to invest. But whatever income you'll get from this record business, spend it for giving prasādam. So we have got so many centers, they will feed.
Rāmeśvara: But they... That way a whole new...
Prabhupāda: Therefore I started Māyāpura this prasāda distribution. And it is coming to be successful. People are, politicians are appreciating that here is Hindu-Muslim unity.
Rāmeśvara: All the devotees will appreciate this then. That the records now, the money is going to be used for food relief.
Prabhupāda: Yes. And we can increase. The same thing (indistinct) in the farm, in the village, "Come on, any number, I shall feed you. Come here, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and take prasādam." And we shall increase the quality of the prasādam. They will be very much pleased to come and chant. That I want.
Rāmeśvara: Number two was Los Angeles with $87,000. Number three was Berkeley with $85,000. Number four was San Diego, $62,000. Caracas, 60,000, Brazil and England tied-$48,000. Germany 33,000; Denver 32,000; and Pittsburgh 30,000. And the medium temples weren't so outstanding, but the small temple, Houston, little Houston, $25,000. They only have about twelve men. I cannot understand how hard they worked to do this, very hard. Plus it shows Gurukṛpa's donation, ISKCON food relief donation. Then the outstanding zones for the month. Number one is Tamāla Kṛṣṇa, with $200,000. Number two was my zone. Actually it's your zone, but you've made me manage it a little. $182,000, very close to beating him. (Prabhupāda chuckles)
Satsvarūpa: Another resolution: A subcommittee be formed of the three GBCs for India as an ISKCON Food Relief Committee. They will make a proposal on how a food program will be conducted.
Rāmeśvara: That Prabhupāda said should have the Indian GBC and two others.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Rāmeśvara: He just said previously there should be five members.
Brahmānanda: No. He was talking about Hyderabad.
Rāmeśvara: Yeah, but this is that... This is in relation to that.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "15) Foreign temples will receive records for approximately 75 cents, while North American temples will pay one dollars. All profits made by the BBT for records will go to ISKCON Food Relief. Prices may increase if the costs rise.
Jayapatākā: We had a... Regarding the letter I had written, that ISKCON Food Relief has got some liability at Māyāpura.
Prabhupāda: No, that you discuss. Don't bother my head.
Devotee (1): Tamāla Kṛṣṇa was saying to me earlier on, Prabhupāda, last night, that it is very pleasing to you possibly if we can supply some ghee...
Prabhupāda: Oh, yes.
Devotee (1): ...from Australia. So I'm thinking that this might be good to do with any money that we have.
Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: What we have decided is that food relief money which Australia has to give, it's going to send it in the form of ghee.
Prabhupāda: That's nice.
Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: We had a meeting, Jayapatāka Swami, myself, and Bali-mardana...
Prabhupāda: Very good.
Gopāla Kṛṣṇa: ...that we'd sell to the temples, and then the temples would pay for it and that money would then go back into Food Relief.
Prabhupāda: That's nice.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He says, "However, the collections are poor. Only sixty-five rupees. I was wondering if we could also get some of the Food Relief money being sent to India to Śrī Lanka."
Prabhupāda: Why not? Oh, yes. America's money collect and send. So that is my proposal, American money and give this culture. They are squandering so much money. Channelize to spend through this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Their money will be properly utilized and our Kṛṣṇa consciousness will be spread.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "People say they have never had such wonderful tasty food. If we can get money from Food Relief, it should be sent directly here."
Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. First thing is you get ghee.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. We are already giving him one fifth of what Hari-śauri sends.
Prabhupāda: Prasādam distribution is going there?
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: At the farm?
Guest (1): No, Prabhupāda. So far, they haven't started. When you were there for a few weeks, one or two weeks they had done it.
Prabhupāda: Huh?
Guest (1): When you were there at Hyderabad, at the farm, for one or two weeks the prasādam distribution was there.
Prabhupāda: Hm. Why? Why they are not distributing now?
Guest (1): They have stopped it.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Probably they're not getting the funds from the Food Relief program. Just now the temples have started to send in money for Food Relief, so Jayapatākā must be sending them money.
| Page Title: | ISKCON Food Relief |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika, Alakananda, Visnu Murti |
| Created: | 19 of May, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=16, Let=15 |
| No. of Quotes: | 31 |