Source: New York Daily News

http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/186383p-161452c.html

On April 23, 2004 New York Daily News reported, "From this afternoon until sunrise tomorrow, many Sikhs in Richmond Hill will stay up stirring simmering pots of rice, rolling dough and slicing vegetables. With 8 tons of food to prepare for tomorrow's Sikh Day Parade, there will be no time for sleep... The Sikh Day Parade, the largest in the nation, will begin at 1 p.m. at Times Square and end at Madison Park, which will be lined with tables of free homemade rice, curries and sweet tea. The volunteers will cook more than 1,100 pounds of rice, 300 gallons of milk and 400 pounds of flour. But the significance of the meal extends far beyond the ingredients. Sikhs see sharing food as an extension of their 500-year-old religion's founding principles of understanding and equality. Food, they believe, unites people across backgrounds."