{"id":17141,"date":"2012-06-09T02:50:38","date_gmt":"2012-06-09T02:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelinkpaper.ca\/?p=17141"},"modified":"2012-06-09T02:50:38","modified_gmt":"2012-06-09T02:50:38","slug":"burnaby-community-volunteer-kehar-singh-aujla-makes-top-25-immigrant-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelinkpaper.ca\/burnaby-community-volunteer-kehar-singh-aujla-makes-top-25-immigrant-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Burnaby Community Volunteer Kehar Singh Aujla Makes Top 25 Immigrant List"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>BURNABY – Those who question the benefits of bringing in grandparents under the family class need only to look at Kehar Singh Aujla to see how one such grandparent makes Canada a better place. Aujla was recognized for his volunteer work as this year’s Top 25 Immigrants award.<\/p>\n

Aujla came to live with his son\u2019s family (which includes three of Aujla\u2019s 12 grandchildren) in Burnaby, B.C., when he was 63 years old. That was 16 years ago. And Aujla began contributing to Canada\u2019s economy immediately, first as a farm worker and then as a security guard until he retired about 10 years later in 2005.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad we stayed in India, we would have been away from our grandchildren. We liked to come here to be near them,\u201d says Aujla, who worked in India\u2019s coal mines for 40 years before immigrating.<\/p>\n

Today, the 79-year-old dynamo is officially retired, but is busier than ever before. He volunteers 40+ hours a week, with nine different organizations.<\/p>\n

Recently announced as Burnaby\u2019s Citizen of the Year, Aujla proudly serves as a surrogate grandparent with Burnaby\u2019s Volunteer Grandparents program, regularly visiting a family with three children without grandparents nearby.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s just the start. A different volunteer activity takes up each day of the week on Aujla\u2019s jampacked calendar. On Mondays, he volunteers with the city\u2019s citizen support services program. \u201cEvery Monday, we have the duty to take handicapped people to the shopping mall,\u201d he explains. \u201cI go by bus to the mall, and take the person around the mall and help them shop.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesdays, he spends the better part of the day at his Sikh temple (Gurdwara Sahib Sukh Sagar) in New Westminster. \u201cOn Tuesdays, I go there from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., when I look after the temple completely,\u201d he says with pride. He returns to the temple most other days as well, committing about 26 hours per week, helping with everything from \u201cpassing out pudding\u201d to \u201cguarding the holy book.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesdays, you will find him at the information desk at Burnaby Hospital, helping patients and visitors find their way. On Thursdays, he might be giving a tour at the Burnaby Village Museum to tourists and local schoolchildren, explaining in very good English what living in Canada was like in the early 20th century.<\/p>\n

On Fridays and weekends, he\u2019s at the temple, of course, but can also be found volunteering at festivals held at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts or canvassing for the Vancouver Breast Cancer Foundation.<\/p>\n

He also connects with other seniors through the Burnaby Seniors Outreach Services Society. \u201cWe actually help seniors who have got different types of problems, like depression, feeling outside from society, who lost their partners. We console them and show them there are resources and organizations to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why does he do all this and more? And travelling by bus to it all, to boot?<\/p>\n

\u201cI never put that question to me. I want to keep myself busy \u2026 not just sit in the house watching television,\u201d he says, with a chuckle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BURNABY – Those who question the benefits of bringing in grandparents under the family class need only to look at Kehar Singh Aujla to see how one such grandparent makes Canada a better place. Aujla was recognized for his volunteer work as this year’s Top 25 Immigrants award. Aujla came to live with his son\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBurnaby Community Volunteer Kehar Singh Aujla Makes Top 25 Immigrant List - Link Newspaper<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelinkpaper.ca\/burnaby-community-volunteer-kehar-singh-aujla-makes-top-25-immigrant-list\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Burnaby Community Volunteer Kehar Singh Aujla Makes Top 25 Immigrant List - Link Newspaper\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BURNABY – Those who question the benefits of bringing in grandparents under the family class need only to look at Kehar Singh Aujla to see how one such grandparent makes Canada a better place. 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