Narinder Singh Parmar and hiswife Kulwant Kaur Parmar spendhours going through their neighborhoodlooking for cans and bottles.They store everything in theirgarage which has turned into amini recycling depot. The collectionis delivered to the recyclingdepot and exchanged for cashwhich is then delivered to charity.Their latest donation total was tothe Nanaimo Hospice Society for$1500 which very much appreciatesthe donations. “Every cent helps,$1500 to us is a significant amount.It touches our heart”.
NANAIMO – Five yearsago a retired Sikh-Canadian couple walkingtheir dog through theirneighborhood stumbledup a brilliant idea. Theydecided to not only helpclean up the neighborhoodbut also help charity.Narinder Singh Parmarand his wife KulwantKaur Parmar started collectingpop cans andbottles. At first Mrs.Parmar felt embarrassedat this new endeavor“some people, even ourrelatives laughed at us”. However, they keptat their project and worked hard. Soon theywere rewarded and they could see the differencebeing made. “It’s a lot of work, it’salmost a full time job”, she stated. Whatabout the people laughing? “We don’t care, we do a good job, weknow that, we know we did something(good) for somebody”. Every day thecouple spends hours going through theirneighborhood looking for cans and bottles.They store everything in theirgarage which has turned into a mini recyclingdepot. When it starts to overflowthey spend many more hours sortingeverything out, bagging and filling uptheir pickup truck. The collection isdelivered to the recycling depot andexchanged for cash which is then deliveredto charity. “I don’t need this money.I got enough money of my own to liveon. So I said well, (let’s) clean the streets(and help) the environment and use thismoney for a good purpose”, statedNarinder Singh. Their latest donationtotal was to the Nanaimo HospiceSociety for $1500 which very muchappreciates the donations. “Every centhelps, $1500 to us is a significantamount. It touches our heart”.Perhaps the motivating factor for thiscouple is that they have faced hard timesof their own and now in retirement theyjust want to give back to society and helpothers. The Parmars recall their earlydays when they first arrived to this country,“I had a hard time when I came toCanada so now I have everything and(we) just want to help”. Not only istheir hard work a great service to societybut also keeps them busy and healthy “Ialways have a bag with me, I take my dogfor a walk, I’m retired, (and there’s) nothingelse to do”. Therefore, the goodwork will continue and many more willkeep benefitting.
