Feeding Hearts, Nourishing Community

It’s been said that the people who give you their food, give you their heart, and Harjas Singh Popli and Dr. Navneet Kaur Popli, the founders of Fateh Care Charity, are those kind of people. In fact, when I went to interview them for this story, they insisted on feeding me and my videographer a lovingly prepared authentic home-cooked Indian meal. Over a long, delicious lunch, I was deeply moved by their remarkable story and reminded of how food not only nourishes our body, but truly feeds our soul.

I first met Harjas and Navneet, the founders of Fateh Care Charity when they reached out to hire my video company to create a website video for their organization. When I asked Harjas about his budget, knowing he was a charity and that he was already giving so much to help others, he laughed and said, “Karen, we will find a way to pay you for your services, don't worry.” Within a few minutes of our call, I knew I had to meet this couple in person, and of course, when I mentioned this, Harjas said, “You will come to our home and we will make you lunch—do you like Indian food?”

The Fateh Care Charity story 
 

The Fateh Care story begins in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, which happened to be the exact same time Harjas and his family landed in Canada from India. They arrived in a city where they knew no one. They were new immigrants full of hope and promise—who found themselves alone, isolated and, after a few months, hungry. 

“My wife’s a university professor, and I am a human resources specialist, and we both planned on starting work and making a life in Canada, but we arrived the week that the borders closed,” says Harjas. Their savings were quickly diminished as the whole family contracted COVID and they found themselves housebound and in need of basic things like food and household items. When they reached out for help, they discovered there were no organizations or charities that offered a “mobile food bank” that could drop off items, as they were all home sick and isolated.

This experience inspired Harjas and Navneet to start the mobile food bank, Fateh Care. The vision was to create a charity that would respond to anyone who needed food and deliver it to their home. “When people reach out and share with us what their needs are, the only question we ask is, 'What’s your address and phone number?' They don’t have to worry about a registration process or proving they need help; they know they will simply receive the help they need. That’s the beauty of it,” says Harjas.

The story doesn’t end there. When I ask Harjas where he gets the food from and how he pays for it, he simply answers, “we buy what we can’t get from other places.” Since starting the charity, Fateh Care has partnered with non-profit organizations like the Mustard Seed Food Bank and other charities, but much of the food and supplies he delivers to people comes from their personal income.

“Our parents taught us to give ten percent of our income back to the community. Today we give much more than ten percent, and for us, it’s a privilege to give,” Harjas adds. When I ask how they handle the pressure to pay for all of their own monthly expenses and for all of these requests they get from people every day, Navneet simply says, “It’s never a pressure; it’s the opposite of pressure. If we are not giving, we would feel like we aren’t doing our part to help our community.”

Their motto: win hearts by caring
 

Fateh means “victory,” and this mobile food bank is not only victoriously caring for people all over greater Victoria, but inspiring others to do the same.

I asked Harjas if he could share any stories—and he jumped up, opened his laptop and said, "This message I just received is beautiful!” He went on to share with us that he saw they had a new monthly donor and he wanted to reach out to them, so he looked them up on Facebook and sent them a message to thank them for their generosity. He then reads us their response: "Thank you! You helped us when my family was in need and now it’s my time to give back. We don't have much but we will give what we can." 

There are many stories like this one. From helping seniors, to those with varying disabilities to young families, Fateh Care makes a huge difference. “I love seeing the impact Fateh Care has on the people we help. We don’t always meet the people we give the food to but when we do and we see the joy in their eyes, it’s wonderful,” Navneet says with a huge smile. “I remember one woman we met who had six children. When we gave her food she started crying and hugged us so much, and that’s the kind of impact that warms our hearts and the kind of stories that make you realize you actually made an impact in somebody's life—you actually helped somebody! There's this feeling that is beyond words, that's what keeps us going.”

Today, Fateh Care continues to receive requests every day for food. Even though both Harjas and Navneet work full time, they honour those requests and deliver food and supplies to those in need. While they now have a few volunteers and a few paid staff, they do most of the deliveries themselves. “Fateh Care, and those who are part of our charity, are trying our level best to make sure we are building the kind of caring community where people are accepted the way they are," says Harjas. "Asking for help is not easy, and we tell everyone who does ask for help, don't worry about it, you can relax—we will get you what you need. This is what we’re trying to build here.”