October 2007 Issue
The Two-Million-Dollar Fundraising Man
Being an engineer means being a leader, says Jatinder Singh Riat, P.Eng. And being a leader carries with it the responsibility to help others.
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RECEIVING FOR GIVING |
BY FRANCINE MAXWELL
The PEGG
It began with a $1,000 fundraising effort by a newcomer to Canada. Thirty-eight years later, Jatinder Singh Riat, P.Eng., is involved with fundraising efforts that top more than $2 million.
The funds are for projects all over the world and for all sorts of causes. No project is too big or too small.
It’s that dedication to doing well by others that earned Mr. Riat the 2007 APEGGA Community Service Summit Award.
Following a flood in his native India in 1968, Mr. Riat spearheaded an effort to raise money to send home from Canada to aid in the recovery. That was in 1969, just two years after he’d moved here. He hasn’t stopped doing good turns for those less fortunate since.
“It gives me a sense of satisfaction to know I’ve helped someone. Even if you can only help one person, you’ve done your part,” says Mr. Riat.
His part has included raising money on behalf of the Red Cross for tsunami relief in 2004. He’s fundraised for medical equipment for India, Pakistan and Zambia, and for earthquake relief in India and El Salvador.
Healing and Sharing
By far, his favourite project has been his biggest to date. Mr. Riat is the co-chair
for the Guru Nanak Dev Healing Garden at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute
in Edmonton. The name of the garden is for the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak,
who held human life in high regard. He also taught that we all need to take care
of each other.
“One of his teachings is that through sharing we heal. We owe everything to our society, we have to give back. That’s why this garden appealed to us,” says Mr. Riat.
The “us” he speaks of is the Guru Nanak Shrine Fellowship, a worldwide organization for humanitarian service. Mr. Riat is the fellowship’s national president, and as such led the community in raising $2 million to create the unique and tranquil environment for patients recovering from heart surgery.
The idea came about, in part, after a friend of his daughter died young from a heart condition. But mostly the garden is about being able to touch the lives of others and make them better.
“The healing garden was the most involved I’ve been and I went to so many places to raise funds and met so many people. It’s the people whose lives you touch you don’t forget. And all the people who gave money, some who couldn’t afford to give it — those are faces I’ll never forget.”
It gives me a sense of satisfaction to know I’ve helped someone.
Even if you can only help one person, you’ve done your part.
- Jatinder Singh Riat, P.Eng.
Badminton Versus Engineering
Fundraising for humanitarian projects is not the only passion Mr. Riat has. He
like sports. Badminton in particular. “I was drawn to the sport as a kid.
I played it a lot, and in the last 40 years I’ve played almost every week.”
Since 1980, Mr. Riat has been involved at various levels of the sport through his community. He has served as the director for Badminton Alberta, was the founder and president of the Fort McMurray Junior Badminton Club, coached badminton for the Alberta Summer Games in Wetaskiwin and was the vice-president of the Southgate Badminton Club.
“If I could have been anything other than an engineer, I would have been a badminton player,” Mr. Riat says. And perhaps he’d have made a good one. Mr. Riat hopes to play badminton at the World Masters Games in Sydney, Australia, in 2009.
Mr. Riat says, however, that he always wanted to be an engineer. What he
didn’t
know then was that being an engineer means leadership and that leadership comes
with charitable obligations attached.
“Oh yes, I always knew I’d be an engineer. My father was an engineer,
my grandfather was an engineer. Some of the community projects I’ve been
on came to me, but mostly I volunteered. You feel responsible to do something
when you’re a leader in your community.”
As an engineer, Mr. Riat has had a notable career so far. The Syncrude retiree has over 30 years of experience in the oilsands industry. Not content to just retire, Mr. Riat is now with CoSyn Technology, as senior associate, process engineer. Like his beloved badminton, he just can’t seem to give up being an engineer.
“I like the applications and the knowledge challenge of it. Every problem is different and you have to apply your own knowledge to solve it. And I’m never bored.”
The Community Service Summit Award is presented to members of APEGGA in
recognition of their outstanding contributions to society.