Charitable Activities

 

TCA’s Charitable Activities

 

Tamil Catholics Association of USA is a non-profit organization, registered on February 7, 2004. The desire and intention of the Association is to bring the Tamil Catholics, living in USA, together to persevere , cherish and promote the unique heritage of our culture and tradition to the coming generation and to promote fellowship and oneness in helping and supporting the needy , through fund raising and charitable work.

The Tamil Catholics Association of USA thanks all the members, donors and well wishers for the charitable act of fund raising for the Tsunami victims of affected countries. We, as an Association, extended our helping hand, by your generous contribution, to the most needy, through the following Relief Organization actively doing relief efforts in the affected areas.

Madras Social Service Society, Madras
Pondicherry-Cuddalore Social Service Society, Pondicherry
Tanjavur Social Service Society, Thanjavur
Kottar Social Service Society, Kanyakumari
Valliyur-Thuthukudi Social Service Society, Thuthukudi
Sri Lanka Social Service Society

Missionaries of Charity, Newark NJ

TCA Volunteer Event

 “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” Acts 20:35 Throughout the entire year, our TCA community has been focusing on the idea of getting more involved in our community. The TCA youth group goes to multiple volunteer activities throughout the year and works together to give back to our society.

On Sunday August 4th, Thirty TCA kids and adults volunteered in the Missionaries of Charity, Newark NJ. Missionaries of Charity in Newark serves food for people daily. Food is received through daily donations from benefactors and volunteers.

Our TCA team donated 5 trays of chicken fried rice, 3 trays of spaghetti and meatballs, 3 trays of vegetable salad and 3 trays of fruit salad. Everyone arrived in the morning at around 10 am to set up the kitchen/cafeteria and later served lunch to members of the community. Younger Children prepared the fruit salad bowls.

Not only did enjoy the work, but they also understood the importance of giving back to our society and helping others. Many people showed their excitement about maybe doing similar activities in the future. 

At the end of the event, One of the Mother Teresa Sisters talked to all of us regarding the importance of respecting our parents and being grateful for everything that we have. Worldly possessions are temporary and especially nowadays, we are never satisfied with everything that we have.

Everyone was enthusiastic and ready to help. When it was time to serve the lunch, Mother Teresa Sisters did a prayer, with a bible reading, a homily and a song with the people who came to dine. Then the volunteers prayed for a few minutes to ask God for his assistance to serve the people.

TCA volunteer team served the food to the people. While part of the TCA team served the food, the rest of the team washed the plates and cleaned the kitchen. Once the lunch was over, the team cleaned up the dining room, putting away the chairs and tables, mopping the floor and cleaning the kitchen area. The team participated together and did it with kindness and joy.

However, there are people who have nothing and still need necessities. Additionally, she talked about embracing our culture. Although we have been brought up in the US, we should never forget about our background or our original roots. It’s all a part of our culture and something we should be proud of.

Overall, we all agree that going to the Mother Theresa soup kitchen was a huge eye-opener and that we should continue doing this throughout the year. It is a humbling experience: a lot of people don’t have food and this activity allows us to take the time to stop and think about people who are less fortunate. 

New Jersey State Triathlon

TCA Volunteer Event

The New Jersey State triathlon has been voted one of the top 5 tri’s in the nation and best triathlon of 2016 by Competitor magazine. It has sold out to 3,500 triathletes every year since inception.

TCA youth team volunteered in this event second year in a row. On July 20th, 2019, twenty five members of our team volunteered in this event. This year, we were assigned the task of cheering the athletes in the finishing chute cheering and encouraging the athletes to the finish line and the second task to open the gates to the swimmers in the start line. Our team was there both in the start and the finish line. Our TCA family had the wonderful opportunity to welcome the winner in finish line the among the 3500 participants.

 

It was one of the weekends with heat wave announced and temperatures soaring high up to 100 degrees. TCA members kept their cheerful faces and encouraged the athletes to the finish line. As it was very hot, the athletes were not able to reach the finish line, but our team kept encouraging them to move “a little more… to the finish line” and that encouraged the athletes to finish the race. Some of the athletes were 70+ years. We had the opportunity to witness the determination and the passion that these athletes show and it was thought provoking to our young TCA team as well to show dedication and passion towards what you do.