For the fourth year in a row, students at L.A. Matheson Secondary have raised thousands of dollars for the Guru Nanak Diversity Village long-term care facility, bringing in $2,000 for the 2024 campaign.
The annual fundraising drive is part of L.A. Matheson’s Sikh Heritage Month initiative and was started in 2021 to support community seniors impacted by COVID restrictions.
“Our Punjabi language students were looking for a way to celebrate the ideals of Vaisakhi by giving back to your community and uplifting others during a time when we weren’t able to take part in the traditional celebrations,” said Gurpreet Kaur Bains, L.A. Matheson languages department head.
“While the celebrations have since returned, we wanted to keep this going.”
For the fundraiser, students solicited donations from their own networks and communities, reaching out to family, neighbours and local businesses.
“We started out with an initial goal of $700, and in the four years since, we’ve raised a total of $15,508,” said Bains.
Set to open later this year, the Guru Nanak Diversity Village is named after Guru Nanak Dev Ji. and will feature 125 care beds. The facility will have a unique focus on incorporating South-Asian values, traditions and beliefs into a senior care environment, something Bains said was very near and dear to her students’ hearts.
“A lot of our kids live with their grandparents and they saw first-hand how the social isolation caused by COVID had a negative impact,” said Bains.
For their efforts, students were recently recognized by Premier David Eby at a PICS fundraising gala.
“He acknowledged them for their work, which was really special,” said Bains.
