A group of University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) students spent the last days of their summer vacation collecting donations for the Abbotsford Food Bank, which they hope will be only the beginning of their community contributions.
Navneet Dhaliwal and Ravneet Gill are beginning their first year at the University of the Fraser Valley. Maninder Gill, is a third-year UFV student, and Gurinderpal Gill, is a second year student.
They recently created a group called Youth Engaging Youth, which will team up with organizations such as the Abbotsford Police Department and local schools to help get local young people engaged.
With school out and the project still in its infancy, they decided to do the first project on their own.
“We heard that the food bank was lacking food, so we wanted to do something to help the community… so we decided to start off with this,” said Dhaliwal.
They canvassed their friends and family members for donations, then bought food to donate.
Once classes start, they hope to work with young students to run food drives in local schools.
Maninder Gill said the goal is to help young students make good choices and instil good values at a young age.
“We know that not all kids have the same support that we have.”
The group is supported by the Khalsa Diwan Society, which helps them organize their projects. Jaskarn Singh, a member of the society, said they are looking for more members – motivated young people of university age – to help with Youth Engaging Youth.
For more information, call Maninder at 778-292-2113 or Navneet at 604-832-1053.