NEW WESTMINSTER – Harbhajan Singh Athwal, a pillar in his community since his arrival to Canada in 1968, has been honoured with a 2021 Community Award by the City of New Westminster.
After retiring from his role as a sawmill laborer, where he worked for over 38 years, Harbhajan Singh took on a volunteer position as President of the non-profit Khalsa Diwan Society Gurdwara Sukh Sagar in 2006.
Through this society, Harbhajan Singh contributes to the spiritual, educational, and social services available to the New Westminster community. In 2007, he spearheaded the creation of the Guru Nanak Free Kitchen program, providing meals for the homeless community in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Over the past 14 years, volunteers have been preparing and distributing meals to this community and others every week.
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Through his work with Guru Nanak Free Kitchen, Hem Juttla says heâs had hundreds of experiences that would bring a tear to the eye.
Juttla told one story about a woman who came to the kitchenâs usual Sunday food distribution last winter with a baby in a stroller.
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Juttla said he looked at the child and noticed they had red feet and a red nose. One of the volunteers offered to drive the woman home. It turned out she had walked five blocks in the cold to collect the food.