STORY 3 ITEM 14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YOUNGSTERS of Amar Karma Organ Donation Society have been volunteering very passionately to prepare through their 4th annual Give a Heart event which is their way of celebrating Valentine’s Day by giving it a new dimension. The event is scheduled to take place at Bombay Palace on February 8 at 6 p.m. and will feature entertainment, raffles and awards for the volunteers.

“We want to change how we keep talking about giving hearts, and not practically give hearts, “says Lashika Katyal, a recent graduate from Sheridan. “How about many of those who are on the waiting list for hearts?”

There are more than 1,500 people on the waiting list for organ donation in Ontario, of which 61 are for hearts. One of them dies waiting every three days.

“How can we ignore this cause? It is just about caring and giving back. How is it so difficult to sign up to be organ donors especially when it is after we are gone?” Mandy Khurana asked while speaking about the importance of organ donation.

The team has been organizing one event each month to raise awareness about the urgent need for organ donation. Since the group of volunteers is not funded by any organization, all the expenses throughout the year are met by the funds collected at Give a Heart, the only fundraiser.

“I am proud to have joined this mission along with Amar Team, and living here in India, I will do everything I can from my end to contribute to this noble cause that our youth have opted for,” satirist / actor and writer Ranabir expressed in a video message exclusively for Amar Karma.

Loveen Kaur Gill, founder of Amar Karma, said, “We chose a subject that is least talked about in our community, but we are getting there. We have grown from one pioneer member to over 60 volunteers on our team. It is about constant talking and about normalizing organ donation just like anything else we do.”

Amar stands for eternal, and Karma is our actions. Amar Karma Organ Donation Society is the first South Asian organization in Canada to attempt raising organ donation awareness in a structured manner.

For more information, call 416-444-4803 or visit www.amarkarma.org