Oakville resident Amarjit Sanghera hosted Oakville's first-ever 'Family Fun Day' last Saturday to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society and the Upper Credit Humane Society. Amarjit and her fellow event organizers hope this is the beginning of many more community events like this to come.
Amarjit, a local realtor, is one of six sisters whose family was impacted by cancer years ago. They have made it their mission to give back as much as possible to organizations that support their local communities.
"My mom passed away in 2016 from breast cancer, which rattled my whole family," said Amarjit. "Every household has been impacted by cancer in some way or another. That's why we chose cancer as the biggest beneficiary of our funds today."
Amarjit and her sisters contributed to Saturday's event in various ways. One of her sisters, 20-year Police Constable Jasvir Sanghera, brought her police cruiser to give attendees an up-close look. "As a police officer for so long, we strive to connect with the community," said Constable Sanghera.
"Cancer affects everyone regardless of your occupation or where you are in life," she continued. "Family is the foundation of everything I do. I see that reflected in the people we work with in the community, and any way that we can help people helps their families as well."
Saturday's event featured a barbeque, bake sale, activities for kids, demonstrations from Oakville Fire and Halton Police, and substantial assistance from local high school volunteers.
Many volunteers drew attention to the event with signs at the intersection of Dundas Street and Sixth Line. Amarjit says their involvement was critical to the event's success.
"I think the young volunteers are the life of our future," she said. "They're bringing such a positive spirit to the event, engaging with the public. It helps them learn about different causes and get outside!"
The event had 125 to 150 people attend throughout the day. In just four hours, Family Fun Day raised $2,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society and just over $500 for the Upper Credit Humane Society.
"We actually found a stray kitten on our property," said Amarjit. "The Upper Credit Humane Society is a no-kill shelter, so as soon as we visited them, they took her in, took care of the cat, and they took a space in my heart too," she continued.
"I wanted to tap into both (Canadian Cancer Society and Upper Credit Humane Society) and give back."
Two of Amarjit's sisters at the event, Dr. Parmjit Sanghera and Dr. Sarbjit Sanghera, are psychologists with Spring Psychology and Wellness Centre who helped donate towards the bake sale and various other event needs. Reflecting on her sisters efforts, Dr. Parmjit Sanghera said "That's part of wellness, it's not isolating at home, it's about being connected to other people and things that are bigger than yourself, and everyone has a story about cancer."
According to co-organizer of the event, Yvonne Sinniah, "This is the type of community event we would like to continue year after year to bring community together around a worthy cause while building community connection and belonging."
Halton businesses that supported this year's event include:
- Spring Psychology and Wellness Centre
- Marlin Travel Oakville
- ComForCare Home Care
- Atelier Mortgage
- AtlanticKBF
- Shoppers Drug Mart Prince Michael
- Oakville Rehab
- Wellspring Cancer Support Centre
- Halton Police
- Oakville fire department
- Starbucks North Oakville