SevaTruck celebrates 10 years of providing fee meals to local students
For the past 10 years, the SevaTruck Foundation has provided free nutritious meals to children in Title 1 schools.
To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the nonprofit hosted a family festival on April 18 at Braddock Elementary School in Annandale.
The event featured crafts and games for kids, balloon animals, giveaways, sponsor tables, community resources, a dancing llama, and, of course, free food from two Seva food trucks.
The trucks bring free vegetarian meals to a handful of Title I schools, including Braddock, Annandale Terrace, Bailey’s, and Sleepy Hollow. SevaTruck also delivers meals to the AUM Mission Center and Fairmont Gardens in Annandale, Food for Others, and other facilities that feed the disadvantaged.
A Seva truck visits Braddock every day to serve children in the after-school program. Other schools get a visit from a Seva truck less frequently.
The meals help the children stay engaged in learning, says SevaTruck founder Sonny Kakar. “Kids are happy knowing they can get a full meal.”
The meals include items like quesadillas, rice bowls, burritos, chili, soup, pasta salad, chips, and fruit.
Kakar, an immigrant from India who attended a Title I school and went on to found Sevatec, a federal contracting company, says the SevaTruck Foundation embodies the Sikh concept of serving others.
“There’s no way of appreciating your own blessings until you help someone else,” he says. The word “seva” refers to voluntary service performed with generosity and love for the community without expectation of personal gain.
SevaTruck provides 600 to 800 meals a day and 125,000 a year, Kakar says.
The food is prepared at a communal kitchen at the Lewinsville Senior Center in McLean. For years, the SevaTruck Foundation was self-funded, Kakar says; more recently, donations and an annual fundraising gala have helped support its work. The organization has an annual budget of $450,000.
By providing healthy meals to children, SevaTruck helps them succeed academically, Kakar says. “By partnering with schools, we’re investing in their education and building a pathway out of poverty.”