“Everyone finds time in their day to come by for a few hours to help serve the community.”
When you walk into the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation as they begin their weekly distributions, you’ll find volunteers eagerly awaiting the morning shipment of emergency food bags from United Food Bank. Walk in a little further and you’ll see volunteers packing fresh produce into boxes that the community can receive in addition to their food bag. More volunteers handle the operations of the organization, from registration to volunteer management. In fact, the Tzu Chi Foundation here in Arizona is completely volunteer-based, composed of retirees, working individuals, students, and other members of the community looking to lend an unconditional helping hand.
The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation is an international humanitarian organization with a mission to aid people in need and create a better world for all, focusing on four major causes: Charity, Medicine, Education, and Culture. Their chapter in Arizona is no different. Every Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday from 9:30AM to 4PM (with a brief lunch break from noon to 1PM) they offer food boxes filled with fresh produce and accompanied with an emergency food bag from United Food Bank. They also provide blankets made from recycled water bottles and jackets during the cold months to the unhoused neighbors in the community.
Once or twice a year, Tzu Chi takes a food normal distribution one step further by providing medical outreach to neighbors who stop by to pick up a food box. Neighbors can have dental work provided to them by the Arizona School of Dentistry who partners with the foundation, offering free services ranging from routine work to even extractions.
How do they do it, you might ask yourself? In addition to their amazing partnerships with organizations such as United Food Bank and the Arizona School of Dentistry, the organization hosts cultural dinners and fundraisers to raise money and continue providing these services. These fundraising efforts are a great way for the local community to take part in helping their neighbors, as the volunteers and organizers could not be more welcoming and excited to share their mission.
Tzu Chi’s mission originated with Dharma Master Cheng Yen, the founder of this international organization. Master Cheng Yen continues executing her vision of helping others and alleviating worldly suffering today, having been inspired almost 60 years ago. In 1966, she was a Buddhist nun with a group of 30 housewives as her followers. These housewives were living in a poor and rural area in Hualien, Taiwan. Master Cheng Yen encouraged the housewives to save at least a penny every day from their household expenses. They collected a small daily offering, which they could afford, and used these funds to help people in need, beginning her charitable mission. The initial goal was to provide aid to the less fortunate and support those affected by natural disasters and poverty.
Master Cheng Yen’s initiative has inspired people around the world, making a difference from the humblest of origins. To find out more about how you can help your community, check out unitedfoodbank.org.
Written by KC Raguay
