Photograph by Jalani MorganO
N A CRISP spring morning in a
neighbourhood near Toronto
Pearson International Airport,
Sophia Niro* awaits a delivery of free
groceries. The septuagenarian is
expecting a couple of crates—a frozen
turkey for Easter, milk, eggs, fresh fruits
and vegetables, dried pasta, tomato
sauces, soups and beans, as well as
flour for making her own bread.
Dressed elegantly in slacks and
a beaded sweater, Niro has one weak
leg and uses a cane to walk. She’s
clutching it as she stands at the backdoor of her brick low-rise to let in
Vishal Khanna; she doesn’t want him
or the two volunteers accompanying
him to have to lug 40 kilograms of food
from the parking lot around to the
main entrance at the front of the
apartment building.
Khanna, co-founder of the Sai Dham
Food Bank, tried to convince Niro to
wait upstairs in her home, but he
knows not to argue. A former palliative-
care nurse, she is proud—she doesn’t
even rely on her own children. Her first
husband died after the family
immigrated to Canada from Italy in the
1980s, and she took care of her secondReader’s Digest
EVERYDAY HEROES
By Claire Sibonney18 september 2019
Sai Dham Food Bank provides
direct-to-your-door services to seniors and
people living with disabilities in Toronto, Canada
Special Delivery
*NAME HAS BEEN CHANGED.