Awardees and their families at the Government House. Photo: Supplied.
By SAT News Desk
MELBOURNE, 1 December: Ten volunteers from the Sikh temple in Officer are now proud Volunteer Champions. These Volunteer Champions from the Siri Guru Nanak Darbar (SGND)- the Officer Sikh Gurudwara, Officer are among the 57 recipients of the 2019 Premier’s Volunteer Champions Awards who were honoured at Government House on 1 December 2019 for their unwavering passion, commitment and dedication to serve. The awards were presented by the Governor of Victoria, The Honourable Linda Dessau AC at the Government House.
While presenting the award, the group received a warm and commending mention which says, “Going beyond their mandate of ‘a place of worship’, the Officer Sikh temple has undertaken several social cohesion activities that have created bridges of trust between multi-cultural communities. This group has showcased how sharing and caring can win hearts”.
The recipients were Madhu Bhatia, Navpreet Dhanoa, Ramandeep Kang, Harjinder Kaur, Harjit (Ravneet) Kaur, Brijai Parikh, Randeep Saini, Avtar Singh, Manjinder Singh, and Ramneet Kaur Walia.
The ‘Officer Sikh Gurudwara’ has been active through its volunteers this year by providing free meals to BlazeAid volunteers, collecting donations for Bunyip bushfire relief and contributing hay to the Need for Feed movement, tree plantation, participating in different local and state functions, organising prayers for families affected by bushfires, Christchurch attacks and Sri Lankan church attacks, providing food donations to 4Cs and Baptist Church among others.
A media release from the Officer Sikh temple says, “To weave unconditional love in the very foundation of all the activities. Noteworthy is that SGND does not have any formal committee. It is run by a group of volunteers who work in diverse professions Most of these volunteers have young families and still manage to dedicate a significant amount of their after-work hours to help with every day running.”
The ‘Officer Sikh Gurudwara’ is situated at 33 Officer Road, Officer, Victoria 3809. And can be contacted at 0447028688 or info@sgnd.com.au. Website is – www.sgnd.com.au
