Young Canadian Crusader: GURINDER SINGH GILL
Loveen Kaur Gill
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
While majority of people here are busy with their hectic schedules, a group founded by a young Sikh-Canadian woman has a purpose and that is to spread awareness about organ donation within the Sikh and other South-Asian communities here.
To achieve this, the group Amar Karma Organ Donation Society, founded by Loveen Kaur Gill, is leaving no stone unturned to persuade people to get involved in organ donation. The group carried out an awareness march in downtown Toronto, last weekend to spread their message.
They held their 2nd annual 'Save & Share' walk in the hub of downtown Toronto with activists holding banners and placards and drummers chanting slogans in favour of organ donation.
"We have come a long way, and now are a team of 63 people, where we just began with one," Loveen Kaur said. "The enthusiasm in the team is tremendous, which conveys our confidence in the success of our mission".
The parade ended at Harbour front, and the drummers attracted a lot of attention from many people around Ontario Place and Lakeshore, many of them even joining the parade.
Across Canada, more than 4,500 people are on waiting lists for organs and tissue. However, in many places donor registration rates have stagnated and some traditional (e.g., driver's licence renewals) sources of sign-ups have been starting to dry up.
Loveen lost a childhood friend who was waiting for a kidney transplant. After several encounters with people who suffered from the lack of available organs for transplant, she decided to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation by involving communities and families.
The group is said to be Canada's first such organisation within the communities hailing from the South Asian subcontinent dedicated to creating awareness of the need for organ donation. The group organises various events such as seminars, walks, and speech competitions on a monthly basis to educate the community about organ donation.
Loveen says: "There is a global shortage for organs, and we must not ignore this thought as diseases come around without a notice. I or my loved ones can be on the wait list one day, who knows? Death is inevitable and we do not choose disease, it comes our way. I aspire to connect the youth throughout the world to pool in the energy to normalise the concept of recycling ourselves to benefit the entire human race.
"Everything in this world has a potential to be recycled, why should we hesitate to leave a legacy after us? I see no reason as to why humanity should suffer when we all have help at our hands; the process is very simple, just to register yourself as a donor."
The group also encourages Canadians to go online or to go to Service Ontario to volunteer their organs, and promote recognising those who do, and their families.
Their message is 'Don't take your organs to heaven as somebody needs them here'.
[Courtesy: Hindustan Times. Edited for sikhchic.com]
July 28, 2012
Conversation about this article
1: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), July 28, 2012, 4:16 PM.
Loveen is a beautiful human being!
2: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), July 28, 2012, 7:00 PM.
Loveen, you are a crusader par excellence for this vital seva. With Waheguru;s blessings may you go from strength to strength.
3: Kuljeet (Malaysia), July 29, 2012, 12:19 PM.
May God bless you. You have done a wonderful thing. Keep going!
4: Aryeh Leib (Israel), July 30, 2012, 4:13 AM.
The idea is a truly noble one, and deserving of wide support. That said, one must be wary of the slippery slope of being prematurely dispatched to heaven because, "your organs are needed here". Organ transplantation has become a very lucrative business - just ask those governments that sanction removing healthy organs from people deemed "undesirable". Even with the best of intentions, the fact remains that organs rapidly lose their potential for transplant following the death of their original owner. If a doctor has been promised a large sum of money in exchange for a viable organ, who is to say that he or she will do everything possible to save the life of someone whom he/she views as a potential "donor"? Safeguards need to be in place.
5: Amar Singh (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), July 30, 2012, 2:03 PM.
Loveen is indeed an inspiration for youth. A multi-talented girl, I respect her a lot.
6: Gurjeet Kahlon (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada), July 31, 2012, 10:15 AM.
She is superb! Whatever she does, she is best at it. I heard her speak at a gathering, truly thrilling. She makes me proud, and every Sikh and Canadian proud.
7: Sandeep Kaur (Canada), July 31, 2012, 10:29 AM.
I am proud of her. She is an example and inspiration to youth and women. I read her columns and articles in papers too. She is wise for her age and a splendid personality.
8: Simmi Sidhu (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), July 31, 2012, 10:30 AM.
Aww ...I love her. She is awesome.
9: Pinkal (London, Ontario, Canada), July 31, 2012, 12:14 PM.
Loveen, you are truly an amazing person. While most of us are busy trying to work full time and think about ourselves and our families, you have taken it upon you to "find" organs for people whom you may not even know, by increasing organ donation awareness. You are a true soldier who is fighting to save people from dying of preventable causes. You are a true hero. God bless you.
10: Amy (Canada), July 31, 2012, 1:56 PM.
Good work, to serve others at such a young age. Keep it up, girl. Proud of you!
11: Supan (Canada), August 01, 2012, 1:53 AM.
She is popular for her leadership in her campaigns. Loveen is bold ... I like her.
12: Priya Chohan (Canada), August 01, 2012, 4:15 PM.
Well deserved! She is the pride of all Sikhs and Punjabis, indeed all Canadians.
13: Jaswant Zafar (Ludhiana, Punjab), August 01, 2012, 11:45 PM.
Surely Loveen has a heart of a poet, brain of a great thinker and actions of a mega activist. Salute.
14: Amrit (Faridkot, Punjab), August 05, 2012, 10:48 PM.
Great job. Proud of you, Loveen bhain.
15: Nupur Saanjj (Canada), August 06, 2012, 12:39 AM.
A great human being, full of energy and passion for people.
16: Danny Parukh (Australia), August 07, 2012, 2:43 PM.
Loveen is making history. She will be very big one day. I m proud of her.
17: Sandy (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), March 25, 2013, 8:45 AM.
Way to go, Loveen, so proud of you : )