Lord Krishna in the 21st Century
Chapter 22 - How To Create A Worldwide Disaster Relief Organization
"Let us try to make them Krishna conscious. That is our only interest. Because I love Krishna, I want to see all—everybody in the world to become Krishna conscious." (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada)
Because Shrila Prabhupada's mission has a global vision, Krishna Disaster Relief is also global in scope and this is not an impossible task to accomplish. Since one of the key points to the entire Krishna Disaster Relief concept is, “to show the world Lord Krishna coming to the rescue,” it is vital that when the media says we are providing disaster relief to a certain part of the world (because we told them we are), that this is, in fact, happening.
Again, this is not impossible to do. There is not a country in the world that Krishna Disaster Relief cannot reach within a matter of minutes. However, before telling you how, please let me remind you that it is "quality that counts here, not quantity." This is the guiding principle. Again, who criticizes the man who runs into a burning building but is only able to save two of the four children trapped inside?
On the international level, there are several things that can be automatically done to render immediate assistance. Again I want to say that over time all of this can be increased in amount. What I am about to point out is a legitimate, international framework to start from. Although on one hand this blueprint is simple to execute, it is nonetheless valid and very powerful. Let's call this a first step.
Furthermore, with Krishna Disaster Relief established as an active member of NVOAD & its United Nations counterpart, our presence on the global stage will be readily accepted. I cannot stress enough the importance of first establishing Krishna Disaster Relief's membership with NVOAD and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). This will open so many doors.
Furthermore, just as FEMA is America's lead organization for responding to our country's needs during times of disaster, within the United Nations there is another disaster-relief organization. Worldwide in nature, it is referred to as UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees).
With Krishna Disaster Relief's membership with NVOAD established as a starting point, it is totally conceivable that our membership with UNHCR is only a matter of applying. As you can imagine, this would open a much larger realm for Krishna Disaster Relief to participate in. This blueprint also includes the framework for Krishna Disaster Relief's international acceptance onto the global stage.
As mentioned, I would now like to describe what Krishna Disaster Relief should actually do on the global stage during disasters.
To begin with, in order to respond within minutes to a disaster anywhere in the world, a data base needs to be created and kept updated.
Yes, this will require a lot of work but it can be done. Computers can store vital contact information on every country in the world. This information can be obtained by having someone from Krishna Disaster Relief visit (preferably in person) all the various embassies that are located in Washington, D.C. Some countries may have their embassies located in a different location, such as New York City, so some research is required. But the general idea is to initially visit every country's embassy.
Regarding our visits to these embassies, here is a valid reason for Krishna Disaster Relief to walk up to a country's embassy and knock on the front door with something extremely worthwhile to talk about. Friends can be made, prasadam cookies distributed, and the contact information I am referring to created and maintained. On a yearly basis these records should be updated if necessary.
On Krishna Disaster Relief's initial visit we can explain the importance of keeping our records on them current & accurate. We can show them a copy of a questionnaire that will be sent to them every year to help us keep things current. Better yet, perhaps this entire updating process can be done by a simple e-mail. This can all be worked out with each country; whatever's best for them and for us.
Concerning this database, what Krishna Disaster Relief needs is a computer program to instantly store vital information on any country. I am referring to information about that country's disaster-relief structure. A detailed map of the country should be part of each country's folder along with any other important information (names, addresses, contact information, miscellaneous notes, etc.).
Below is an example of the type of information that needs to be gathered. Of course, this will apply to any country, but let's pretend that there is a massive earthquake in Italy. And remember that this database is going to give Krishna Disaster Relief the ability to legitimately respond to any worldwide disaster within minutes.
First, the data will be alphabetized by country. Using this program, Italy is entered into the computer. This open's Italy's "folder" and all their vital statistics are listed. Much of this important information has come directly from our visit to their embassy.
1. Pay To The Order Of: What we need here is the name that we are to write on our check. Perhaps it will be the name of the embassy. Perhaps Italy has its own disaster-relief agency (better) and that name will be written on the check. Maybe the check will be made out to a certain individual. Until we speak with the staff at the Italian embassy we will not know.
2. Where to Send the Relief Check: Does Italy want our disaster-relief check sent to their embassy or to an address in Italy? What address do we put on the envelope?
Using just these two facts, Krishna Disaster Relief can instantly respond to any disaster by pulling up the information from its computer; write the check out; put it into an enveloped and mail it. By the way, be sure that our check is from Krishna Disaster Relief; NOT a temple, NOT ISKCON, and NOT from Food For Life. As mentioned earlier, this means that a bank account needs to be set up in the name of Krishna Disaster Relief (5/19/25: this is coming soon). Our envelope and stationary must also say on it, Krishna Disaster Relief and we should have nice brochures available to mail out.
3. To Whom & To Where is Our Disaster Relief Package Sent: This will be discussed in just a moment.
4-A. The Name of the Person Inside Italy's Embassy Who Will Be Our Main Contact : (including his/her title, position and contact information.).
4-B. The Name of a Secondary Person: (in case the primary contact person is gone for some reason, we need this person's contact information). You can see why our records must be kept current and are so important.
5. The Name & Address of Italy's embassy in America: (and perhaps other standard information that I am not mentioning). After our relief check has been mailed, a photocopy of that check and a letter from Krishna Disaster Relief should be mailed to our contact person inside the Italian embassy. This should ensure that Krishna Disaster Relief receives from the Italian government an official letter of appreciation.
6. The Name of the Temple President and Address of ISKCON's main Italian Temple: (including all contact information). If there is not a temple located in a certain country, then we would want similar information showing us the nearest temple. (Note: Hopefully, during an actual disaster and all the urgency that such an event generates, a great working relationship with the affected temple authorities will take place ... again you can see how in this chapter, from the original draft of my book, how I was still eager to work with ISKCON. I am still not against this, at all.)
7. A Brief Description About That Country's Temple, or Temples: The number of devotees; do they have a Food For Life program; who is their Food For Life manager; do they have someone coordinating with Krishna Disaster Relief; the location of the temple, including maps; the nearest airport; who our contact person at their temple will be; who is the temple president and their contact information??? Also, include the GBC jurisdiction. This GBC individual may not live in Italy, but will need to be contacted. These records also need to be kept current.
8. A Brief Description about Italy's internal disaster-relief organization/structure: This is very important. Does Italy have a specific disaster-relief program? Who runs it? What is it called and its address, etc? Perhaps this is the organization that will receive our Krishna Disaster Relief check. If devotees want to enter a specific country to render aid, then all this information will be immensely valuable. Road maps for each country should be kept in each country's file.
The main idea is that people like to be kept informed and we also want to work with each country's existing authorities and with their own country's disaster-relief organization. Include specifics on Italy's participation with UNHCR, along with all the contact information that we might need. If a country has several disaster-relief agencies, then we want a brief picture of their chain-of-command. Who is the lead agency? Who activates who? Determine all of this from that country's embassy; which agency we should work with first?
Of course it needs to be determined how severe a disaster must be before Krishna Disaster Relief sends that country a relief check. We also need to consider types of disasters: natural or man-made. In any given country, on any given day of the year, there are disasters. A gas station explodes and kills three people. This is a disaster, too. In any event, some standard needs to be established. This point needs some discussion. Of course, this means that Krishna Disaster Relief needs to keep its "disaster-relief finger" on the world's pulse at all times. If not, a sudden disaster will happen without us even knowing about it. The Greatest Hero IS NOT that kind of a hero.
Here is the general outline: When a disaster does occur (in any country) all we have to do is go to that country's folder and write out a check and send it accordingly. The amount is another thing that needs to be determined. Whatever the amount, this is a legitimate response that can be made instantly by Krishna Disaster Relief and give us legitimacy.
There is one more thing that Krishna Disaster Relief can do for Italy. A very basic disaster-relief package containing actual relief items can be sent by air express. This large box could be standardized to contain pre-determined items. I'm sure that a little research would tell us what to include. But off the top of my head I would imagine that it would contain flashlights and batteries, basic medical supplies, a couple of teddy bears, blankets, prasadam in the form of dried fruits and other non-perishable items. This is just a partial list but it does give you the idea. In the large box that we send there can be smaller, individual boxes
By contacting the major airlines I am sure that the air freight charges will be free. All of this needs to be seriously discussed. Again, in the future all of this can increase in size. But here is a sincere and actual relief effort than can happen very quickly.
Finally, all of our relief efforts need to be documented and this documentation organized and stored. If at all possible, the temple president or somebody helping Krishna Disaster Relief should take plenty of photographs and videos.
(Note: In red are two new paragraph, added in 2025... Now with the advent and enormous popularity of YouTube and other social media platforms such as TikTok, there should be a Krishna Disaster Relief channel on all of them with uploaded pictures, videos and audio of all our activities. There is already a Krishna Disaster Relief Facebook page, but currently inactive. Soon we will add a Krishna Disaster Relief YouTube channel. Podcasts are now extremely popular and this is another feature that can be added to Krishna Disaster Relief where all kinds of things related to our disaster-relief work can be discussed. Interviews with other disaster-relief agencies can be part of our channel, etc.
Just a few days ago on Friday Night, May 16th, 2025 a massive tornado devastated much of London, Kentucky. Their local food bank quickly ran out of food. Interestingly, a famous TikTok personality noticed this and sent out an emergency appeal to his huge following and immediately, well over 5000 donations of various types began flooding into the food bank. As I will mention later, creating social media platforms is an excellent way for the younger generations of today to perform devotional service in a very meaningful way.
What I have given here constitutes the minimum framework for a valid International Disaster Relief Agency known as Krishna Disaster Relief, but again, a fully independent and non-profit organization. After a lot of hard work and once established, whenever there is a major disaster in the world, Krishna Disaster Relief can respond in the form of a relief check and a relief package. Even without directly going there we can honestly say that we did help. What we have here is Krishna Disaster Relief working on two separate stages: an American effort with NVOAD, and a global effort using the framework above. And remember, as I've said, everything on our end can be increased.
Finally, it has been pointed out to me that 48 years have gone by since the departure of Shrila Prahupada. Over these many years the number of spiritual groups and individuals who glorify God and openly refer to Him and worship Him as Krishna has grown immensely. The point is that we don't want to loose sight of our goal by limiting who we work with. By remaining independent we will be in a much better position to fulfill Prabhupada's dream. He once wrote that the first step in preaching is to simply make friends. This is the APPRECIATION that he spoke about. Appreciation & friendship are two sides of the same coin. Actually when you think about it, he said that they don't even need to read his books; they don't need to pray or come to the temple; eat prasadam, or even know who Krishna is. Rather, they simply need to appreciate and for Krishna Disaster Relief this opens unlimited doors for us to walk through, be kind, and make friends with whoever is on the other side. Disasters affect everyone.
Note: As you can see, this picture has some imperfections and is an Ai representation only.