Sankirtan Continues Under Lockdown

     About two weeks ago, the stay at home orders had just begun in Colorado, but the state parks were all open, as long you maintain your distance from other groups.  We decided as a family to go out to Cheyenne Mountain State Park, just south of Colorado Springs where we live, since it was a nice day, and the kids had been cooped up in the house for a while, and the park has a huge network of beautiful hiking trails.

     When I parked the car, I noticed a little outdoor cabinet known as a Little Free Library.  “Great!” I thought, “I have a backpack full of books in the car, I’ll leave a couple in here.”  I left a Raja-Vidya and a Sri Isopanisad in that little book cabinet in a state park and left feeling pretty happy.

     Fast-forward a couple weeks and I was browsing the web absent-mindedly, as I’m sure many of us are doing lately under current conditions, and suddenly an idea popped into my head.  “I wonder how many Little Free Libraries there are in Colorado Springs where I live?”  Soon I was staring at a map of exactly 100 Little Free Libraries, probably all of them devoid of Sastra.

     I wrote to the email address for LFL, but they said they could not help me with data export, I would have to get the list myself off their website.  Off I set, clicking, copying, pasting into Excel…I would have the complete list!  Some of them only had latitude and longitude, not an address, so those went into a special worksheet.  You see, I work for a software company that specializes in route optimization, so the things I can do with a spreadsheet of addresses are actually a bit amazing.  Once I had all 100 locations uploaded to the software, I was able to break them up into routes which would take between 60 and 90 minutes to complete, just a perfect size for a couple of volunteers.  I had to go to my local devotee WhatsApp group to see if anyone else would help.  So far one other devotee in the area, Christon Goldsmith, has volunteered to help.

   

     My wife Pamela and I decided to run the pilot routes, before sending others out on this mission, so hopefully, we could encounter and overcome any preliminary obstacles.  Things went great for a time, we were getting into a routine where she would help me spot the Library, I would select 2 books, hop out of the car, take a picture, perform some basic organization of the bookshelf, and place the BBT books in an appropriately-prominent place.  I’d jump back in the car, and we’d be off to the next one.  On our eighth stop, we found a box with all the books removed and a small sign regarding the current global health crisis.  What to do?  I snapped a picture of it, including the LFL Charter # plaque on the front, this way when I got home, I could move it to a special “Closures” route for a follow-up sometime in May.

     All in all, we ran 2 routes on Sunday, April 12^th.  Out of 13 stops, 3 were closed due to health concerns, and we left 2 books in each of the other 10 Libraries, for a total of 20 books distributed.  During the week, Christon and I expect to run at least 3 routes, totaling another 16 Libraries visited, and 32 BBT books distributed.  In the coming weeks, we will visit all 100 Little Free Libraries in Colorado Springs, Colorado, leaving 2 books in each, and hopefully sowing the seeds for an expanded consciousness in the area. 

     In these strange times, where human beings are encouraged to maintain their distance from one another, I can think of no better way for us to continue Srila Prabhupada’s mission to spread Krishna Consciousness to the world.  One other line of distribution I’m considering is to call all the area nursing homes and see if anyone would like a book.  If the staff can make an announcement and distribute a sign-up sheet for books, then we could call back, assess how many books were requested, pack them into a box, and leave the box curbside at the nursing home, a contactless transaction.

     I encourage all devotees to think creatively to continue the mission of Sankirtan, even in these times of lockdown.  I am able to help with routing if you would like help coordinating a local effort.  Also, my company is offering its route optimization software for free until June 30^th, 2020, to help small businesses, so if your local temple would like access to this software, please let me know, I can help you get the access, and train you on how to use it.  Either way, you can reach me at RadhaKrishnaCOS@gmail.com, and I will be happy to help in any way I can.
     One final NOTE:  I understand that every country, state, and county is handling this crisis differently, so some of you may not be able to go and drive about your city, I understand that.  If anyone reads this and would like to stock books in their local Little Free Libary, I will help facilitate that effort in any way I can.  If however, you find yourself truly stuck in lockdown, I only ask that you do whatever you can, however you might, to serve Srila Prabhupada's mission to spread Krishna Consciousness throughout the world.  If you can't leave the house, then is there something you can do online?
     Thank you, and...HARIBOL!  HARIBOL!  HARIBOL!