THE officers of Ontario’s Peel Regional Police, Division 21 “F” Platoon, participated in their annual Cram-A-Cruiser for Vaisakhi, collecting over 2100 lbs of food for the Seva Food Bank’s Malton location.
Held on Sunday, April 5, volunteering officers asked community members to help them ‘cram’ a police cruiser with non-perishable items. Seva received three cruisers full of food delivered throughout the day amounting to more than 2100 lbs.
Organizer Sergeant Bob Nagra volunteers his time to do this event three times a year. “I wanted to do this not only for the whole community but to get involved with my own Sikh community. It is hard to express it but it’s nice to show how we are great contributors to the overall make up of society,” said Nagra.
Other officers who assisted by volunteering their time were Constables Cleland, Ivkovic, Klair, Khatra and Delmar. The event took place in front of a Sobey’s grocery store and was supported by store manager Bali Singh. Officers and volunteers also enjoyed fresh made Punjabi snacks throughout the day thanks to the staff from Pappu’s Sweets who volunteered their own time during the event.
Seva will also be coordinating the delivery of half the food collected by the Peel Police Officers to Open Door Square One. “Seva Food Bank is always looking to partner with other community groups and organizations that are doing great work against poverty and hunger reduction. When we partner up like we did with Sgt Bob and his team, then great things happen just like this,” said board of directors’ member Harb Kahlon.
Seva volunteers Manjeet Singh and Barjinderpal Singh assisted throughout the day collecting and sorting the 2100 lbs of food at the warehouse. Spending a day with the police officers gave some of the seniors volunteers who are interested in a career in the police force a great opportunity to work with and spend time with the officers and ask questions.
The Seva Food Bank provides safe, nutritious and culturally-appropriate food to low- income families living in Mississauga’s L5B, L5C, L4V, L5S, L4T, L5T, and L5P postal codes through our Wolfedale Road and Slough Street, Malton locations. An initiative of Sikhs Serving Canada, a registered charitable not-for-profit organization, their mission is to positively impact local communities by acting on the basic Sikh tenets of sarbat da bhalla (the well being of all) and seva (selfless service).
