Congratulations to Aditi Kini for being awarded the 2021 Medal of Good Citizenship. Aditi is one of only thirty-one people from throughout B.C. that has been honoured with the Medal of Good Citizenship, which recognizes a person’s outstanding contributions to the well-being of their community.
In the past year, Aditi has implemented more than 17 service-related projects and raised around $50,000 to help hundreds of individuals and families in the Black, Indigenous and People of Colour community, Indigenous youth in Northern B.C., school districts, the SPCA, hospitals, homeless shelters and single moms across B.C.
Examples of her efforts include starting a sandwich making initiative at Seaquam Secondary to provide meals for the homeless, and partnering with a local SPCA location to help accommodate an increase in abandoned animals during the pandemic. For the SPCA initiative, she mobilized a team of youth who worked tirelessly to purchase quality food and other items, and find suitable storage sheds to prevent food wastage.
When Aditi learned that hospitals were not allowing visitors to see patients due to COVID-19, she designed, purchased and delivered entertainment care packages consisting of puzzles, sudoku, word searches, amongst other things, to help keep patients in the Royal Columbian Hospital entertained, which helped to positively impact their mental health and recovery. Also, Aditi set up a not-for-profit organization, the New Horizons Foundation. Her first global initiative was to raise funds to provide e-learning opportunities and basic sanitary supplies to 12 schools in Southern India to promote girls’ attendance in schools.
Aditi currently mentors and guides youth to identify opportunities to make a difference and connects them with organizations that require support. She is a role model for servant leadership, exceptional attitude and perseverance.
“This award is so well-deserved,” said Vlad Nikic, Vice Principal, Seaquam Secondary. “Aditi works tirelessly to help others and embodies the school district’s values of compassion, responsibility, integrity, creativity, diversity and resilience. We are so proud of her and the positive impact she has made so far, and continues to make, locally and globally.”
