To promote environmental protection and the “Veggie A-Plan,” the BLIA Chicago Chapter organized a six-week vegetarian charity sale from early May to June 14. This event, coinciding with Buddha Day and the traditional Dragon Boat Festival, allowed hundreds of participants to pre-order vegetarian meals online, cultivating blessings and health while celebrating sacred traditions.
“Adopting a vegetarian diet can nurture compassion and help stabilize the world during the pandemic,” remarked Head Priest Venerable Jue Lin. She expressed gratitude for the community’s support, noting that the positive feedback has boosted the team’s confidence in vegetarian cooking. Under her guidance, volunteers designed weekly menus, while Superintendent Venerable You Heng successfully introduced specialty pastries like apple pie and butterfly crackers, which received wide acclaim.
BLIA Chicago President Mai-Ping Chou shared that being vegetarian is not only for health and environmental reasons but, as FGS founder Venerable Master Hsing Yun taught, “to nurture our heart of compassion.” The event featured vegetarian zongzi (rice dumplings) and over twenty traditional FGS “temple-style” dishes, offering the authentic “fragrance of vegetable roots” to the public. Volunteers prepared and packaged each meal with respect, equality, and joy.
Event Coordinator and Vice President Hsing-Ming Li explained that to encourage more people to try a plant-based diet, the team maintained strict control over ingredient selection and food quality. Despite limited time and space, they produced exquisite dishes that received enthusiastic responses. Volunteers reflected that they learned “cherishing blessings” through washing vegetables, “meditative concentration” through cutting, and “harmony” through wrapping zongzi.
The logistical effort was immense: every Thursday, volunteers tallied orders and prepared ingredients; on Fridays, they engaged in the intensive process of washing, cutting, stir-frying, wrapping, and steaming. Chapter President Cai-Ling Chen of the First Subchapter spent entire days standing in the kitchen, yet returned each morning with renewed energy, embodying the Humanistic Buddhist spirit of “putting others first.”
Director Fang-Yuan Xie, who assisted for several consecutive weeks, described the heart-warming scene of the temple filled with the aroma of bamboo leaves and rows of freshly wrapped zongzi. Each meal was a container for the monastics’ compassion and the volunteers’ warmth. Every Saturday, as the team packaged the fresh food for pickup, they felt they were sowing the seeds of joy in every corner of the world.