Toronto Raptors superfan Nav Bhatia, a philanthropist famous for never missing a Raptors home game in over 20 years, helped Carleton celebrate an event for National Philanthropy Day on Nov. 15.
Bhatia talked about his experience immigrating to Canada from India, his life as a superfan, and the philanthropic work he’s been doing for the past few years.
“I was really blessed to get immigration to Canada which I can say is the best country in the world. If there is a heaven on earth we are all in heaven right now.”— Nav Bhatia, philanthropist and Raptors superfan.
National Philanthropy Day is a chance to bring the community and researchers together to advance positive change, said Paloma Raggo, an assistant professor of philanthropy and nonprofit leadership at Carleton, which is the first master’s program of its kind in Canada.
“If we keep striving to collaborate, I think we can achieve social change, which is really the goal of National Philanthropy Day,” Raggo said.
The event also served as a finish line for the Race for Good, which saw six teams of two compete in an Amazing Race-style competition across Ottawa to raise money towards their fundraising initiatives.
The winning team, We Are All Musicians (WAAM), comprised of Jesse Stewart, a professor in Carleton’s music program, and his son, Parker, a first-year student in aerospace engineering.
Jesse Stewart said the $10,000 prize will go towards buying parts to “build musical instruments for inclusive, accessible music-making.
His foundation, the Nav Bhatia Superfan Foundation, was made with the main focus to inspire kids and “give them hope.”
“Finding a job was very difficult for me. Nobody wanted to hire a guy with a turban and beard.”
“To me, it doesn’t matter what colour they are, what faith they are, what gender they are, what religion they are—every kid deserves a hope and chance,” he added.
Sephora Kabongo, a second-year child studies student and self-described Raptors fan, said she attended the event to find ways to apply philanthropy in her own life.
“I have a passion for helping people in this world and investing in young children. I strive to do a type of work in philanthropy in the future, so I came out to hear about what he had to say and to be inspired,” she said.
Kabongo added the event allows people to see Bhatia is more than just a superfan.
“It is clear that he’s not just a superfan, but he does more than that. He’s a philanthropist,” Kabongo said.
“Nav has been able to use his platform to extend his story to a wider audience, and he himself has had different types of journeys with philanthropy,” said Jenna Hobin, engagement strategy advisor in the department of university advancement at Carleton.
“[Bhatia] started out as someone who newly moved to Canada and was just trying to earn a living and that turned into him being able to turn his platform into a way to share his story and to encourage others to make the same positive impact.” — Jenna Hobin, engagement strategy advisor at Carleton.
Bhatia is currently a World Vision ambassador and is working towards combating the number of young girls dropping out of school in India due to a lack of access to washrooms.
Since the launch of the project in 2016, they have been able to build 100 washrooms in more than 33 schools across India.
“Poverty breeds poverty. Sometimes people say cancer is the worst disease or strokes are the worst disease—but to me, poverty is the worst disease in the world,” he said.
Philanthropy goes beyond just a transaction or fundraising, said Raggo.
“We need to share resources, distribute them. We need to share talents, the skills we have, our time; that’s sometimes really, really valuable,” she said.
“Philanthropy is also about social change, not just this transaction of ‘I give money.’”
Featured image by Saarah Rasheed.
