
May 4, 2023 · 0 Comments
By Brian Lockhart
It was an incident in his own home that inspired Rajvir Khanuja to raise money for local hospitals to support health care and health care workers in the province.
“One night I was sleeping and woke up to sirens,” Rajvir explained. “My Grandpa was being taken to the hospital by paramedics – that shook my heart. We kept checking on him every day. When he came back to us in fine health, I thought about giving back to health care workers since they were working hard, especially during the time with COVID.”
The incident happened at the start of the pandemic, and Rajvir and his family couldn’t visit the hospital, but the staff at the hospital called them every day to provide an update.
Rajvir, a Grade 10 student at King’s College School, decided he could start a walk and get sponsors to raise money for the cause. He and his family have already walked and raised funds for Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus and Brampton Civic Hospital.
On Feb. 20, they took a 10 km walk through Orangeville to raise funds for the Headwaters Health Care Centre.
Rajvir has dedicated every long weekend and Remembrance Day to a walk. He calls the walk the 100 Kms Walk Club.
“Anybody can be involved, even from home, you can do the 10 km walk on a treadmill or just on the sidewalk around your home,” Rajvir said.
The Hospital Foundation uses the funds for the highest priority needs. For this walk, Rajvir raised $1,006.
Giving back to the community is a family tradition. Rajvir’s father, Dr. Raj Khanuja, has a dental practice in Orangeville, and every year donates free dental services for one day for people who can’t afford to visit a dentist. He provides the same free dental services at the other clinics he owns.
“It’s a chance to get some fresh air and spend time with the family,” Dr. Raj explained of the walk. “It’s a good thing, and there are seven more weekends to go. It’s all been worthwhile. It makes you feel good that you have done something that has made a difference to someone else. He did it out of the goodness of his own heart. It’s a great way to spend a weekend.”
You can learn more about upcoming walks and register by visiting online at www.100kmsclub.com.