In a remarkable spirit of preserving our Vedic Hindu traditions and Hindu inspired cultural heritage, the Indian American community has made strides in addressing various religious and cultural needs through temples and regional associations, a needed first step in the adaptation process. At first we worked towards transplanting our culture and religion to our adopted land. Now as we, the New Americans, mature and root ourselves further in the sacred and secular landscape of America, we need to build national and local organizations focusing on serving -- with Seva Bhava -- contemporary needs of our growing community and the community at large. 

 Seva/service is an integral part of our culture and traditions.  Many individuals and organizations volunteer and serve in soup kitchens, shelters, health camps, disaster relief, etc.  But few Dharmic (Hindu/Jain/Sikh/Buddhist) institutions have the capacity to provide social services and do seva as is prevalent in other faith based institutions in America. Our Dharmic institutions need to understand the reality that the responsibility for  community development and service is carried out largely through not-for-profits and faith based institutions – churches and synagogues -- in America.  A transformation within our community’s temples and non-profits is needed to bring us on par with other established traditions and at the government policy levels as we, the New Americans, integrate in the communities in which we reside and provide needed services. 

 Transformation at the grass-roots level requires a mental paradigm shift to bring access to the services our communities need in contemporary America and to articulate our concerns at all levels of government and with various stakeholders.  To really bring about a change, we need public recognition and acknowledgement of our issues and to address them effectively. Some temples/faith based institutions provide services with in-culture understanding. We need to foster establishment of Seva Centers connected with faith based organizations/temples to address social needs

During the summer of 2009, temples and ashrams across the country held seva projects in response to President Obama's Call to Service..  They hosted many events including health awareness and health fairs in July/August/September, with a focused coordinated event on August 1-2. Hindu American Seva Charities is facilitating the summer seva events.  The Hindu American community did 1001 seva projects between June 22 to Spetember 11, 2009.

Hindu American Seva Charities (HASC) is affiliated with Hindu Collective Initiative a registered not-for-profit organization (EID 68-0625497). HASC is a collective initiative formed to mobilize talent and resource to address contemporary social services needs collaboratively.  It aims, as a coalition of "Seva Centers" within temples, ashrams and service based organizations, to promote the development of social services for our growing community.  HASC was developed with the guidance of Ofice of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (OFBNP) and is a service partner with the Corporation for National & Community Service. HASC is an American organization.