Humanity Above All: Sikh Community Delivers Pizzas To Cops, Doctors, Firefighters At Frontlines

Coronavirus pandemic has brought out the best in some people who are leaving no stone unturned to help those less privileged and struck the hardest by lockdown measures. And then there are those helping our heroes at the frontlines.

Before the pandemic, Shalinder Singh served a community meal for 300 people or more at the gurdwara in suburban Detroit, U.S. Now, he's feeding people pizzas.

AP

Singh and his family have paid for and delivered hundreds of pizzas to hospitals, police stations and fire departments since the gurdwara suspended in-person services because of lockdown.

"It just popped up in my mind, this is the time to take care of the heroes in the front. I spoke to a couple of doctors and they said pizza is the best because they're working 12 to 16 hours and they don't have time to sit and eat,¡± AP quoted Singh, the 40-year-old owner of a pet products company as saying.

The Singhs, including 12-year-old Arjun and 14-year-old Baani, have delivered more than 1,000 pizzas since April, and they have no plans to slow down. Singh¡¯s business is classified as essential and the family drives up to an hour to deliver pizzas. "We're trying to go to areas that aren't getting much food," Singh reportedly said.

In New York, 25-year-old Japneet Singh, is also delivering pizzas to under-resourced hospitals and overworked, minimum wage employees.

AP

Japneet recently worked as a field supervisor for the US Census Bureau and drove an Uber on the side. When the coronavirus pandemic began, his work, like those of many others was shut down.

In the South Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, Singh saw staff at Elmhurst Hospital Center struggling and other hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19 too.

"I figured you know what, I'm sitting home. Food always makes things better, so I asked one of my friends who works at Elmhurst Hospital, what can we do? He was like, pizza would be great. Ever since then, we haven't looked back,¡± AP quoted him as saying.

AP

Japneet Singh began delivering pizzas in late March. He makes two or three runs every week to hospitals throughout the city, and to the others who need help.

"There's other people on the frontline, like grocery workers. We've been to a Walmart, police precincts, FDNY stations. We recently started feeding the homeless," he reportedly said.

It is people like these who are keeping our society going by attempting to take care of everyone.