Every year, Dharmic and Indic organizations nationwide organize donation drives in celebration of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, by promoting selfless giving, or sewa.

Student organization Hindu YUVA at Iowa State is among those participating in annual SewaDiwali initiatives. This year, the organization will donate non-perishable food items, toiletries and essential goods to the SHOP in Beyer Hall Thursday for the SewaDiwali food drive.

Ankit Pratap Singh, president of Hindu YUVA at Iowa State and a graduate student in electrical and computer engineering, said while Diwali falls on a different date each year, the timing of the holiday and eligibility of organization volunteers allowed for the donation drive to be held at the end of November.

“[We do] the SewaDiwali initiative every year, and it is done across the whole United States where the different organizations or communities come together and they collect non-perishable food items and donate them after two or three weeks at places where people are in need,” Singh said.

Hindu Yuva donated 441 pounds of food and 120 of essential household supplies and hygiene products to the IMPACT Community Action Agency non-profit in Boone in 2022.

“Diwali means that service to humanity is the service to the community, that’s the motive behind it,” Singh said. “There are many people who are in need and it’s our job or duty to help them, so we do this drive every year in the month of November or October when the festival of Diwali happens.”

Donors can also drop off donation items this week at boxes located in the SHOP, the Schilletter-University Village Community Center, 104 Campus Ave and 3305 Roy Key Ave.