Humanitarian organization feeding international students in Sudbury

A 25-year-old humanitarian organization that is currently working with displaced Palestinians in Egypt has also begun feeding hungry international students in Sudbury.

Khalsa Aid Canada has been providing free, biweekly bags of groceries to between 75 and 100 students since late June.

Students who came to Canada on a legal study permit within the last four to six months, who have no job and who are experiencing food insecurity can sign up for the service. They can then visit the local Sikh temple to pick up packages of flour, bread, milk, spices, condiments and other essentials, according to Karan Badhesha, the regional director for Sudbury and northern Ontario. 

"We have a lot of community coming from Nepal, Bangladesh and different other regions of the world," Badhesha said. 

"What we found is that a lot of these kids are not getting proper diet and are sacrificing a lot on their food when it comes to saving money … and the grocery [prices are] like, skyrocketing right now."

Khalsa Aid runs a variety of initiatives in northern Ontario, Badhesha said. 

It also collaborates with the Go-Give Project in Sudbury to provide snacks to vulnerable community members on a nightly basis.

The group has worked with women's shelters and food banks, and it will soon hand out around 100 backpacks – along with lunch boxes, school supplies and other essentials – to children in need heading back to school. 

But it decided to support international students because many local food banks and charities do not, Badhesha said. The government of Canada requires international students to prove they can financially support themselves before studying in the country. However, the guidelines on its website suggest that students can live on less than $21,000 per year, not including tuition.

"At the end of the day, they are humans too," Badhesha said. "So if they are struggling, we're going to help humanity out."