A Chatham couple has been named this year’s Chatham-Kent Seniors of the Year.
Inder and Jarnail Gahunia were honoured during a presentation by the Mayor Darrin Canniff and the Chatham-Kent Celebration of Older Adults Committee on Thursday.
The pair have been pillars of the Indian and Sikh community in Chatham-Kent for 45 years, and operated sports apparel store T’s & Sweats in the Downtown Chatham Centre for many years. They helped established the Kent Sikh Society, and are active members of the Chatham-Kent Asian Cultural Association and the Chatham-Kent Local Immigration Partnership.
The Gahunias are among 33 adults aged 60+ honoured this year for achieving significant goals and making outstanding contributions as volunteers within Chatham-Kent.
More than 1,000 Chatham-Kent citizens have been honoured since the award presentations began in Blenheim 36 years ago.
Full bio:
Jarnail & Inder have been pillars of the Chatham-Kent Indian and Sikh Community for more than 45 years. They have been running a business in the Downtown Chatham Mall for many years and have been friendly faces for lots of newcomers from the South Asian Community. For them, it all started with collecting canned food and other goods for Salvation Army, having a winter coat drive and raising funds for Paralympics through Jarnail’s employer (Dover Corporation), along with all the employees. They played their role to promote the Sikh way of life by supporting to build Gurudwara in Windsor. They established the Kent Sikh Society with other members of the Sikh Community, which has provided Gurudwara services and to meet each other monthly. The Kent Sikh Society, under their leadership, collected donations to send help for many countries that were hit by natural disasters. Jarnail and Inder are also very prominent and active members of the Chatham-Kent Asian Cultural Association (Inder serving as vice-president), volunteering numerous hours for charity bingos and helping with organizing its events. They are also members of the Chatham-Kent Local Immigration Partnership. In summary, Jarnail and Inder are model citizens of Chatham-Kent who are involved in many organizations and have volunteered numerous hours to support these organizations. In 2023, the C-K Asian Cultural Association (CKACA) honored them with a lifetime Achievement for their involvement in the community. They have done a lot of work for CKACA during the last few decades. They also provide donations to the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance from time to time, and during the Covid pandemic, the Kent Sikh Society donated $10,000 and another $5,000 Inder raised from her store and also gave it to the CKHA through the Kent Sikh Society. During this time, the CKACA also donated an additional $5,000 to the CKHA. During the earthquake in 2023 in the Middle East (Syria and Turkey), Inder donated new winter clothes that cost approximately $15,000 from her store, and the Kent Sikh Society sent another shipment of top-of-the-line heavy blankets, after receiving a thank you letter from Consulate General of Turkey. Inder & Jarnail also supported free eye checkups and operation camps in Punjab, India, along with Jarnail’s brothers’ contributions. These camps provide vision care to people who can’t afford to see a specialist due to financial conditions and they also provide medical treatment related to eye care. These camps are organized by Gahunia families in the U.K. and many non-resident Indians from last 28 years. Both Jarnail and Inder are active members of the Kent Sikh Society, with Jarnail serving as President. The money collected from donations by the Chatham Sikh Community is used for people in need, not only for Chatham-Kent residents, but across the world. The Kent Sikh Society is a registered non-profit, charity organization. They work very hard to make newcomers feel welcome and the Chatham-Kent Local Immigration Partnership showcased the diversity with its third Annual C-K welcome week, and Jarnail and Inder were part of this. The Gahunias are very worthy of being named Chatham-Kent Seniors of the year.
