On May 1 st 2016, a wildfire broke out in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Over 90,000 residents were forced to evacuate their homes and were left with nothing. The town was left destructed and it will cost millions to rebuild which will only be possible through the help of community members.
Recently, Honorable Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan had an interview with Sikh Channel following the Komagata Maru apology and said some words about being confident and setting a goal for yourself that you know you will have to work very hard to achieve. He said, “ Anything is possible, be proud of who you are and be confident.” He also added, “Don’t pick a goal you know you can achieve or you might achieve, go beyond that.” Mr. Sajjan also said “There are a lot of people out there dealing with more difficult situations than we are … We need to be able to do more and go out and help others”. This statement really struck two Sikh Youth individuals in Brampton, Ontario who were extremely inspired and decided it was time to take charge and make a difference.
Almost 3 days into the Fort McMurray raging wildfire, Mansimran Kaur Anand - a grade 11 student at Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School and Avneet Singh Walia – a grade 11 student at Chinguacousy Secondary School, decided to act on the Sikh ethic of Selfless Service (Seva) and Sarbat Da Bhalla (Wellfare of all) to try and aid the citizens of Alberta. Mansimran and Avneet contacted the Canadian Red Cross and began planning a School vs. School fundraiser. They proposed a plan of events for a weeklong campaign to their schools. They began working immediately and tirelessly to get this fundraiser up and running in a short amount of time. They contacted key sponsors within their local community including Cineplex, Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), Roots Canada and more to help support their initiative. In order for this fundraiser to be executed, they were working with a small time limit in order to ensure all events run smoothly and maximum results are achieved. They raised money at multiple school events and collected donations in the mornings from parents and at lunch to involve the students as well. They held a raffle at both schools and used the donations their sponsors made.
Their aim was to promote the involvement of youth in the community while bringing together Canadian and Sikh values. Avneet says, “I always wanted to help those who are going through rough times and did not want to be held back from my ideas because of my age so I worked as hard as I could on this project to make a change and also bring out the aspect of Sikhs being dedicated individuals in the community who will not give up and work tirelessly to make a positive mark in the world.” Mansimran said, “From a very young age, my parents always instilled within me the values of Sikhism and taught me to help those who really need it as much as I could. They provided me with a foundation of keeping a balance between Simran and Seva to achieve maximum results in any community project. As stated in the Guru Granth sahib, ‘Centre your awareness on Seva - selfless service - and focus your consciousness on the Word of the Shabad (Pannaa 110, Line 1)’ I have always felt the need to carry out these teachings and show that as Sikhs and Youth in a Canadian community, we are able to overcome any hurdles and make a positive contribution to society.”
The fundraiser is currently in its mid-stage of the weeklong campaign and the results have been remarkable. All the money will be donated to Fort McMurray through the Canadian Red Cross. The two individuals, Mansimran and Avneet, hope to have inspired other Youth to voice their ideas and take initiative to create a society with youth leaders who will make a positive change in any project they part take in.