Distributing Books Through the Smart Box Program in Houston
Hare Krsna dear devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
I have been blessed with the opportunity to engage in the wonderful Smart-Box book-distribution program in Hillcroft, the "Little India" of Houston, Texas. I had the chance to maintain the Smart Boxes there yesterday, and it was a very enlivening experience.
I have four locations in the Sugar Land section of Hillcroft that I maintain. Usually I say hello to the owner or workers, remove the laxmi, count the books taken, replace those books with new ones, write all this down in a notebook, thank the owner of the store or restaurant for his or her support, and move on to the next Box. Fairly businesslike.
But yesterday was different. I arrived at mid-morning, when most businesses were just opening; so most of the business managers were busy getting up to speed for the day. I introduced myself as a new volunteer in the area. Most people asked me about the temple — what we were doing or how the new construction was progressing. All very positive.
I went up to a hair salon that had one patron inside. I did my service there and was getting ready to leave but was asked to wait. An employee insisted that I take a donation from her, then another got her purse out to give another donation, and finally the customer also insisted that I take some laxmi from her as well. I thanked them all, gave them all a flyer about Gaura Purnima, and with a "Hare Krishna!" I was gone.
On the ground floor of that building was a restaurant with a Smart Box. Unfortunately the restaurant hadn't opened yet that morning, and so I started walking toward the next Box location. Then I heard "Wait!" It was the hair-salon customer, who worked in the restaurant, opening its locked door. She said, "The donation box is SO full! And there's only one book left!" So I filled the Smart Box up with books, removed the laxmi, and left some flyers on the table. Too much ecstasy.
Another location donated $8 (from a customer earlier, the cashier said) and a music-store worker offered me a Gita DVD, which I hope to share with others in the Sugar Land bhakti-vriksa program. Another owner told me how much he loved to see Manish Puri Prabhu each month and was happy to hear of his recent successes with the Motel Gita program.
Overall, it was a wonderful morning of Smart Box distribution, and all as a result of Srila Prabhupada's books and Lord Krishna's mercy! Now if next time I can just remember to bring some prasadam to offer the people in the businesses, so that Prabhupada's "secret weapon" can melt their hearts and make them even more receptive to the message in the books.
Your eager servant,
Bhakta David
