The Squamish Sikh Society donated blankets, winter jackets, warm hoodies and pants to the Squamish Helping Hands Society to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of the 10th guru of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh.
Sikhs all over the world are celebrating this month by doing charity work and serving free food to those in need. A spiritual master, poet, philosopher and a military leader, Guru Gobind Singh was the last living guru of the Sikhs.
The legend goes that when his father was beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, Guru Gobind Singh was installed as the leader of the Sikhs at the age of nine. He founded the Sikh faith Khalsa, founding a new warrior community in 1699. His magnum opus is Zafarnama, a searing letter he wrote in 1705 to the tyrannical Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb. Squamish Sikhs celebrated with a prayer and community gathering, but this time decided to contribute to the community by helping those who need, in the highest spirit of the Sikh faith.
“We will endeavour to work together with the community in any positive way we can,” said Makhan Sanghera, one of the organizers, adding the Sikh Societ welcomes the input and suggestions of the community. “Squamish is a great community and we look forward in 2017 to work closely with the community and contribute to inter-faith dialogue.”
