Quarantined for Birthdays; Local Families Donate Funds for PPE
Published Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Pictured are (L-R): Ramneek, Harbinder, Harleen, Harnoor and Ajitpartap
Many people are finding themselves at home and unable to celebrate their birthdays with friends and loved ones. For Harnoor Singh, his 13th birthday happened to be in March, just as the province was beginning to shut down, and no party could take place.
“Harnoor is very well connected with his extended family and with friends on sports teams. It’s been hard to be apart,” said his father, Harbinder Singh.
However, Harnoor didn’t want his birthday to go by without any celebration and his cousin Harleen, who was also celebrating a birthday in quarantine, wanted to help as well. With the help of family they both decided to raise funds to purchase Personal Protective Equipment for front-line workers at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
With the support of family, friends and the Thunder Bay Sikh community, including the Sikh Motorcycle Club of Ontario, together they raised $1,100!
“April also happens to be Sikh Heritage Month in Ontario, and we celebrate the festival of Vaisakhi,” said Harbinder. “Making this donation helped us feel happy even though we’re not gathering with the rest of the Sikh community right now. We’re proud to help during this trying time.”
Harbinder concluded, “We’re hoping this will inspire other families to use this opportunity to help our Hospital and the people working there.”
Our Hospital is gratefully accepting donations of critical personal protective equipment (PPE) to support our response to COVID-19 and enhance our efforts to protect the health and safety of staff, professional staff, patients, and the community. While all PPE donations are appreciated, isolation gowns are currently the highest need at our Hospital. To donate isolation gowns (or equivalent) or to share information about others who may be able to provide a donation, please contact Tanya Niederer.