The congregations of five Sikh temples in the Lower Mainland came together this week to donate a truck load of food and other supplies for wildfire victims in the Williams Lake region.
Mayor Walt Cobb said he received a call from former lakecity resident Gian Sandhu that the truck was on its way Tuesday and was there to thank the delivery envoy when the truck arrived in the afternoon.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Cobb said was his response to the outpouring of generosity from the Sikh community. “The support we have been receiving from all over the province has been very much appreciated.”
Gian Singh Gill and Avtar Singh Sandhu from the Dashmesh Dar Bar Temple made the delivery.
Gill said Sandhu loaned his truck and time to make the delivery of the truck load of non-perishable food that included large bags of rice, boxes of cereal, canned vegetables and soup, snacks, juice, pop and and more, as well as supplies such as blankets.
He said the donations were made by the congregations of the Dashmesh Darbar Sikh Temple in Surrey, Khalsa Darbar Sikh Temple in Vancouver, Singh Sabha Sikh Temple in Surrey, Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Surrey, and the Sukh Sagar Sikh Temple in New Westminster.
As soon as the truck was unloaded at the donation centre set up in the former Lake City Ford building on Oliver Street, the drivers had to head right back to Vancouver, Cobb said, adding they made the trip despite having to detour around the Highway closures on Highway 97 due to the wildfires in the 70 Mile House/Clinton region.