BAPS Charities

[1][5]: 165–67  During times of famine and plague, Swaminarayan marshaled the resources of his followers from different parts of Gujarat to meet the relief needs of those areas hit by the disaster by setting up almshouses.

He educated the masses on rules of personal cleanliness, human waste disposal, and avoiding water contamination that improved sanitation and contributed to ritual purity.

[5]: 162  He preached against the harmful effects that addictions such as tobacco, alcohol, opium, other intoxicants, and gambling have on the mind and asked society to give up these activities.

As of 2011, the organization supported 14 hospitals, clinics, health care centers, and 11 mobile medical vans serving over 600,000 people annually worldwide.

[1] In the de-addiction campaign, approximately 10,000 children contacted over 800,000 people to raise awareness of the health consequences of addiction and convinced 312,000 individuals to give up drugs and violent behavior.

[10][11] In North America, it organizes health fairs run by volunteer medical professionals where visitors can undergo screening tests, participate in consultations, and receive treatment.

[15] BAPS Charities also runs a health awareness initiative in the United States focused on educating parents and children on benefits of a vegetarian diet.

[30] US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy praised BAPS Charities for hosting vaccination clinics at mandirs which increased accessibility for the elderly.

Volunteers across the world have raised ecological awareness and promoted conservation by employing energy-efficient technologies, such as solar power and biogas[34] and organizing large-scale tree planting campaigns and recycling programs.

[1][36] The organization has established paper and aluminum recycling programs in the UK, USA, and India and used funds generated from this to support other charitable activities.

[1] In South Asia, the group has supported organizations carrying out relief activities of providing medical care, medical supplies, warm food, drinking water, clothes, and shelter after natural disasters like the 1979 Morbi Dam Failure, 1993 Latur earthquake, 1994 Surat Plague Epidemic, 1995 Malda Floods, 1996 Andhra Pradesh Cyclones, and the April 2015 Nepal Earthquake.

[40][41] Following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the group supported organizations working in affected areas of India and Sri Lanka to provide 174,000 hot meals, 12,000 food packets, more than 60 tons of grains, and fresh water tanks to the homeless in 51 villages.

[1] In addition to centers, the organization operates mobile health vans, scholarships, student hostels, and literacy campaigns to serve these communities.