American Sikh Community Raises Over $175K For Boy Who Lost Entire Family In Head-On Car Crash

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Yashveer Singh, whose family lived in Carteret, New Jersey, was traveling with them in Virginia when they got into the deadly crash last Thursday. His parents, Gurmeet Singh, 44, and Jasleen Kaur, 38, were both killed, as was his 6-year-old sister.

NEW YORK – The Sikh community in Carteret, New Jersey, has rallied around an 11-year-old boy — raising more than $175,000 for him and his future — after he lost his entire family in a head-on car crash last week.

“In this immensely unfortunate moment, while we all get together to pray to almighty to rest their souls in peace, we are also praying for the speedy recovery of Yash,” a description reads on young Yashveer Singh’s GoFundMe page.

“While nobody can ever fulfill the void in Yash’s life, as friends and family, the least we can do is to come together and contribute our share for the medical expenses of Yash, funeral expenses of the family, and more importantly, contribute towards the future of Yash. No contribution is big or small.”

Yashveer, whose family lived in Carteret — a borough in Middlesex County — was traveling with them in Virginia when they got into the deadly crash last Thursday. His parents, Gurmeet Singh, 44, and Jasleen Kaur, 38, were both killed, as was his 6-year-old sister.

“Gurmeet Singh (of Milton Distributors) was a man of few words but many smiles,” says Yashveer’s GoFundMe page description. “He and his family met with a tragic auto accident in Virginia on August 15th. The extremely unfortunate accident took away the lives of Gurmeet, his wife and their 6 year old daughter. Yash Singh, their son has survived, and is hospitalized with Pelvic Fracture and a few other injuries.”

Friends of the family provided an update on Monday to NJ.com, saying Yashveer had been released from the hospital and was recovering at a relative’s home.

Rosa Diaz, superintendent of Carteret schools, said the entire borough was torn up about what happened to him.

“As expected, this has been an extremely difficult time for our community,” Diaz explained. “Our district has lost a member of our school family and we are working to support [Yash] as he learns to adjust to a life without his loved ones.”

The school district has decided to also accept donations to support the youngster, in addition to his GoFundMe page — which was started by people close to the Singh family, who describe themselves as “Gurmeets Friends Family.”

“Thank everyone for your overwhelming support,” an update said Sunday. “With God’s Grace, and your extremely benevolent contributions, we have collected over $110k in less than 36 hours of starting this campaign.”

By Monday night, the amount had reached nearly $180,000.

“We are setting up a Trust Fund that only Yash can withdraw from in installments once he’s 18, and nobody else will have access to that [fund],” said the GoFundMe organizers. “Will post the specifics once we work out the details with the attorney & CPA in the next few weeks.”

The Singhs were reportedly regulars at the Gurdwara Dashmesh Darbar temple in Port Reading and were memorialized on Sunday at a “condolence meeting.”

Three hundred people attended the event, even some who had never met the Singhs.

“Not everyone knew them,” organizer Veenu Gil told NJ.com. “But everyone came to support [Yashveer].”

Friends of the family said it was unclear who will take custody of the boy, since his grandparents live in India. They were reportedly planning a trip to the US to deal with the tragedy.

Gurmeet came to America from New Delhi as an adult and worked as an independent wholesaler, NJ.com reports.

A former neighbor said he and his wife had lived in Carteret for about 10 years. Their children went to local schools and reportedly had loads of friends.

“They used to play right over there,” said neighbor Pinal Singh, who is unrelated to the family and spoke to NJ.com outside the Gurdwara temple. “I’m still thinking (they) will just show up.”