Grade 9 student from Ontario, HARNOOR GILL receives prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for outstanding contributions to his community

Harnoor Gill, student at Christ the King Catholic Secondary School in Georgetown, Ontario, proves that you are never too young to make a difference.  Harnoor was presented today with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for outstanding contributions to his community.  For the past ten years, he has volunteered with various local charities, and recently founded the Peace Welcome Club with a mission to ‘heal the community and to uplift migrant youth’ by encouraging them to volunteer and get involved with their local community.

Harnoor is no stranger to volunteering.  Before launching the Peace Welcome Club, he spent many hours volunteering for charities such as the Halton Children’s Aid Society, Spelling Bee of Canada, Willow Park Ecology Centre, P.O.W.E.R. (Protect Our Water and Environmental Resources), Georgetown Hospital Foundation and 820 Chris Hadfield Air Cadets.  During this time he participated in conferences, youth initiatives and many fundraising events.     “I use social media extensively – facebook, youtube, as well as news articles and even TV interviews – to get people involved or to encourage them to donate”, he adds.

When asked about what motivated him to set up the Peace Welcome Club, Harnoor replies “I was inspired to start this club by people telling me that I couldn’t accomplish anything because of my age – and that’s exactly why I like to get the message across that age is not a barrier.  Young people can make a difference and I want to encourage them to volunteer and get involved”.

Peace Welcome Club’s first project is a book drive – they are collecting like new/new books for First Nations children and teens in Northern Ontario to enhance literacy skills.  This is one of many initiatives lined up for the near future; others include Fan of the Week (promoting youth and youth groups),  Peace Builder in Making (highlighting youth or youth groups which are making a difference), Georgetown Breadbasket Drive, The Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up Campaign, and the Jean Green Drive.

How can you get involved?  Like the Peace Welcome Club’s facebook page  for updates on what they are doing, email us on [email protected] and subscribe to their youtube channel  to check out their videos.