Sikh volunteer Amar Singh, whose charity work has helped thousands, has just been named the 2023 NSW Local Hero.
Whether it be catastrophic fires, floods or a pandemic, Turbans 4 Australia has been there throughout it all. Founded by Mr Singh in 2015, the charity specialises in providing emergency goods to people in need regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity.
Recently, Mr Singh was announced as the recipient in the Local Hero category of the 2023 NSW Australian of the Year award series. The award acknowledges the extraordinary contributions made by Australians in their local community.
Speaking to Parra News, Mr Singh said he felt “numb for a couple of seconds” when he found out he won the award.
“I was thinking wow, they’re reading my name! I really felt that one of the other women that were finalists with me deserved it more than I did,” he said.
“To be in the company of so many awesome Australians who have done so much for the community and the country is an absolute honour for the ‘average Joe’.”
Operating out of their Clyde warehouse, Turbans for Australia was born out of a need to promote multiculturalism and religious tolerance after Mr Singh experienced racial slurs due to his turban and beard.
“I founded this charity just to address the inequality in our modern society about people’s perceptions of people from different faith – especially our faith where the men are spotted by their turbans and their beards and always have to justify their existence in the Australian society,” he said.
But not even Mr Singh said he could envision the charity to be where it is now. Every week, Turbans 4 Australia package and distribute up to 450 food and grocery hampers to people experiencing food insecurity in western Sydney.
The team of volunteers, who Mr Singh describes as the “backbone” of the whole operation, have also delivered hay to farmers experiencing drought, supplies to flood victims in Lismore and bushfire-impacted people on the South Coast.
Mr Singh said even through disaster he has seen the best of the “human spirit.”
“We’re all equal no matter what colour, what religion, what nationality we come from, we can all chip and make this society better for our future generations,” he said.
“When we go out to help somebody they don’t care that you’re Sikh, they just like that somebody is there.”
Now, he’s urging the NSW Government to change how they respond to disasters and to speed up funding for charities to help them assist more people.
“We have to rethink the whole strategy of disaster and emergency relief, it can’t be given to people sitting in high offices and then expect to dribble down to the community at the grassroots level – we’ve got to empower the community,” he said.
Learn more at http://www.t4a.org.au.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.