Two Whittlesea locals are in the running to be recognised for their work in the community as part of Westfield’s Local Heroes project.
Sikh Community Connections president Gurinder Kaur and Northern Pride Netball Association president Ian Landy are separately up for a $10,000 grant.
Ms Kaur has spent years tackling family violence in the area through her group, and launched a food-relief drive in March last year as the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold.
Ms Kaur and the group began donating their time and money to provide culturally-specific food for the Punjabi community in Whittlesea, focusing on providing the cooked foods they were used to.
“We started collecting the culturally specific food – lentils and other stuff, whatever was required at the time. We also supplied that food to other organisations,” she said.
Sikh Community Connections’ background in family violence is still important for the group, and if it wins the Westfield grant, it will be a focus of its spending, Ms Kaur said.
“We’re considering 12 workshops for women from diverse communities … to build leadership skills, and of course preventative measures to prevent family violence,” she said.
Mr Landy helped to form the 400-player strong Northern Pride Netball Association after finding he had to travel to help his children play netball.
Mr Landy said the association would use the money to serve more families in the north, seeking to double the teams and players involved.
“We want to invest money in establishing new clubs, and giving more children the opportunity to play netball,” Mr Landy said.
Voting closes on August 30. Details: bit.ly/3CSerhp
Daniel Cook
