A class of Grade 7 students at Khalsa School in Newton are raising funds for COVID-19 relief in India.
Dale Cope, the headteacher at the school, said the fundraiser started in “response to the devastation of the current wave of COVID-19 in India.”
The fundraiser, he said, started with “students (who) have donated their own money to purchase items to resell, like cans of pop or bags of chips, others have made arts and craft items, and some have even sold their entire Pokemon card collection.”
Now, an online art auction is underway at 32auctions.com/artforindia, with artwork created and donated by the students. The auction runs until June 20.
Satnam Narwal said the group’s original fundraising goal was $1,000 but as of Wednesday (June 9), they were up to $3,600.
Divroop Kaur said the class wanted to do something for their last year at the school, “so we decided to do an arts and crafts sale and then the money we raised would go to India for their COVID situation because it’s really bad there.”
She added students and teachers have “a lot of relatives there, like our aunts and uncles and grandparents.”
Cope said many students and teachers have been personally impacted by this wave of COVID-19 in India.
“This strong personal connection and the emotional stories they are connected with have driven them to put in the time, effort, and their own personal possessions into this fundraiser.
The funds will go to Khalsa Aid, an international non-governmental organization “with the aim to provide humanitarian aid in disaster areas and civil conflict zones around the world,” according to its website.
lauren.collins@surreynowleader.com
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