The Sikh community have rallied together to prepare and deliver more than 800 hot meals to European truckers currently stranded due to border closures.
Gravesend Gurdwara and Khalsa Aid deliver hundreds of meals to stranded truckers in Kent
The Sikh community rallied together to make sure truckers, currently stranded due to border closures, don’t go hungry. More than 800 free hot meals were made on Tuesday (22 December) afternoon by the Gravesend Gurdwara who turned around the massive order in just under three hours, KentOnline reported.
volunteers rallied to make 500 chickpea curries and 300 mushroom and pasta dishes.
Volunteers rallied together at the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara’s Langar kitchen in Gravesend to prepare the dishes at short notice. They worked with Sikh humanitarian relief charity Khalsa Aid to come to the aid of lorry drivers currently trapped due to the closure of the border in France.
According to local news outlet KentOnline, temple leaders received the call around midday and sprung into action as part of a collective effort with local authorities including Kent Police and Kent County Council.
Spokesman for the Guru Nanak Darbar Jagdev Singh Virdee said: "They [Khalsa Aid] got in touch this morning about 12 o’clock and by 2.30pm they came to collect the food.
"We made some phone calls to get volunteers together because we are already doing Langar, where we deliver to vulnerable people."
Together, volunteers rallied to make 500 chickpea curries and 300 mushroom and pasta dishes.
Khalsa Aid founder Ravinder Singh then arranged to pick up the meals from the Gravesend Gurdwara and deliver them to the hungry truckers with the help of a Kent Police escort.
The act of kindness comes as more than 1,000 HGVs are parked in the county, filling laybys and roadsides as well as the 4,000-capacity airport site.
Meanwhile talks continue with the French government to reopen the border as more than 1,000 lorries remain stranded in Kent, amid fears the new coronavirus strain is out of control.
Source: KentOnline
Hundreds of lorries are also sat on the M20 after Operation Brock went live
All freight and passenger traffic has been banned from entering France with hauliers redirected to a makeshift lorry park at Manston Airport and plans being drawn up to test drivers before they cross the Channel in a mass programme co-ordinated by the military.
Hundreds of lorries are also sat on the M20 after Operation Brock went live.
The coastguard was today seen driving down the M20 in between rows of queueing lorries and handing out bottled water.
Kent County Council, with the help of Kent Resilience Forum agencies, distributed snacks and drinking water on Monday ahead of drivers being able to access welfare facilities at Manston as part Operation Brock planning.
At Dover Wednesday morning, drivers were bursting with frustration and honking horns as they approached the port only to be turned away with nowhere to go.
Source: KentOnline
MAKE A DIFFERENCE: IDEAS FOR HELPING OTHERS
A how-to guide to helping others and changing the world. Life isn’t about possessions and accomplishments. It’s about what you’ve done with those things – what you have given back. It’s about caring enough for others and seizing the opportunity when you have the chance to do some good. So, how can you help? Here's some inspiration for the Australian Red Cross.