Toronto Sankirtan Story 2011 – EVERYONE Matters, Every BIT counts!

By Mahasundari Madhavi devi dasi

At the end of 2010, the Toronto Sankirtan Team set an ambitious goal to distribute a minimum of 35,000 books during 2011. This seemed like a tall task given that it was more than three times the number of books distributed in the whole of 2009! But as Srila Prabhupada emphatically said, “Impossible is a word in a fool’s dictionary.” Devotees in Toronto truly imbibed that mood and endured extreme weather conditions, personal challenges and other difficulties to go out and distribute the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to everyone they met on the streets.

Nothing could deter them extreme heat, rain, snow, freezing winds, extreme cold, smokers, drunkards, drug addicts. And this feeling intensified even more during the Prabhupada Marathon 2011 which ran from November 19th till December 31st. The goal for Marathon was 10,000 books, double the 2010 goal. Devotees took the challenge with gusto and wanted to please Srila Prabhupada by their intense endevour to distribute books. Vaisesika Prabhu and Nirakula Mataji’s visit in early December helped to inspire more and more devotees to go out daily. Devotees tried to approach every single person they met and leave them with a gift in the holiday spirita book, mantra card, a lollypop, cookies, or just a smile! The marathon slogan this year was “EVERYONE Matters, Every BIT Counts”. Staying true to the slogan, each and every member of the community participated by doing their bit. Devotees went out on sankirtan, made prasadam for devotees who went out, donated books for Sastra dana, devised and executed innovative ideas for book distribution, bought books as presents for their friends, provided rides when required, and much, much more. All these efforts were important contributions to the ever-increasing tally.

On December 25th, devotees were short of their target of 10,000 by over 300 books. December 26th marks “Boxing Day” in Canada, when thousands of shoppers hit the malls and stores to find bargains and annual sales. Devotees were not going to miss this opportunity – they were also out as early as 6am to catch the early bird shoppers. With each distributed book, the smiles on devotees’ faces grew, as the anticipation and excitement of meeting their target grew. At 5:30pm, by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, the 10,000th book was distributed. Devotees erupted into a loud and ecstatic kirtan, and thanked Srila Prabhupada for giving them the chance to share the beautiful mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu with everyone in the city. Sankirtan efforts continued all the way until the midnight harinama on December 31st at Toronto’s famous City Hall.