The Duggal Sisters

When Raveena and Diya Duggal saw their mom and dad giving away items from the home and money to perfect strangers, they wondered what was up. Makes sense considering they were just nine and six years old at the time. "My mom told me she likes to help people that are less fortunate than we are, and I got inspired to help other people, too. That is why my sisters and I started doing charity work," says Raveena, now 15.

Raveena, along with Diya, now 12, and their sibling Amisha, 8, are superstars in the world of donating their time and efforts to others. And they have influenced many of their friends to walk a similar path. "Our friends are really happy with what we do, and they have actually helped us in the events we have done — our garage and bake sales," Raveena says. The girls’ mother, Parveen, said they simply observed she and her husband, Dr. Rishi Duggal, doing good deeds and decided they wanted to help others, too. "I had somebody come to the door and I was giving them products I had bought, and the girls asked me what I was doing," recalls Parveen, 42. "I said it was for kids who don’t have enough to eat and don’t have enough clothing and some of them don’t even have parents. I told them I was helping people in need, and they asked what they could do to help."The girls started by doing charity garage sales and have also done work with the Women’s Interval Home, the Cancer Society, and Plan International among other things. "We raised more than $2,000 at an event and we spread the money out evenly among the children and let them decide what their amount would go to," Parveen says. "If one of the kids gave away $100, places like Scotia Bank and Royal Bank would match it by 10 times, so $100 became $1,000." The sisters say they absolutely delight in helping others. "We help a lot of people in our charity work, and it really makes me happy to see all those people happy," Diya says.

Amisha, a toddler when her sisters began their charity work, says they have been a great influence on her. "I saw my sisters doing something nice and I wanted to help them," Amisha says. "When I was five, I helped them with their garage sales selling clothes and toys and books. It made me happy to be able to make a difference in the world."

The Duggal sister's generosity has not gone unnoticed. Raveena and Diya were awarded the Governor General’s Sovereign’s Medal for volunteers for their ongoing contributions in 2021 as well as the Princess Diana Award which honours young people who work to improve the lives of others in 2019 and the Mayor’s Award in 2018. "They have worked very hard for quite a long time, and it is pretty impressive," says a proud Dr. Duggal. "I don’t remember doing anything like this when I was their age."

This story is brought to you by the Rotary Club of Sarnia.