S. OZONE PARK WOMAN HELPS ORGANIZE
‘QUEENS COVID REMEMBRANCE DAY’
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Manpreet Kaur of South
Ozone Park will be honoring
her late father, Gurpaul
Singh, in a memorial tribute
to Queens families who lost
loved ones to COVID-19.
Kaur is part of a committee
that is organizing Queens
Covid Remembrance Day,
which will take place on May
1 at the Bandshell in Forest
Park. Four hundred empty
seats will display yellow
hearts bearing hand-drawn
portraits and names of COVID
victims that will be supplied
by the Yellow Hearts Memorial.
Additionally, there will
be a unique artistic creation
designed by Kristina Libby
made from fresh flowers donated
by 1-800 Flowers. A special
tribute will also honor
essential and frontline workers
who put their lives at risk
to care for the community
during the pandemic.
The event will also honor
COVID-19 victims worldwide.
Though they have received
150 submissions so far from
Queens residents and 350 outside
of the borough, Kaur says
the group is still working on
obtaining a permit from the
city and is planning to livestream
the event, since they’re
undecided about attendance
at the location. The diverse
committee is reaching out to
all groups in the community
through social media, Kaur
said.
“A lot of people don’t realize
how many of us have been
affected — there are so many
different stories and people,”
Kaur said. “Personally, my
mom has a lot of friends who
lost their husbands and they
don’t post about it, or their
kids aren’t as open to discussing
it. So, we are hoping that if
they see something like that,
they will want to tell their
stories.”
The committee wanted to
honor their family members
since Queens was heavily hit
by the virus, according to
Kaur, who joined the COVID-
19 support group that helps
people cope with the loss of a
loved one.
Kaur’s father came to
America at a very young age
with the hope of supporting
his family back in Punjab.
He worked as a yellow delivery
cab driver in New York
City for over 25 years to put
his three children through
school. For Kaur, there are
many memories she shared
with her father that she will
never forget, she said.
“I used to suffer from
anxiety and depression and
I would stay in my room for
a few days. No one would actually
take the time to make
sure I’m okay, but my father
would bring a cup of chai tea
for me,” Kaur said. “He was
always so good about not judging
and making sure I ate and
checked in on me.”
The last time Kaur saw her
father was on March 27, 2020,
when she went to visit him at
home before he was taken to
Jamaica Hospital. Singh was
experiencing cold and flu-like
symptoms, Kaur said.
“The moment he found
out he was sick, he never left
the room,” Kaur said. “I said,
‘Dad, you need to come out of
the room and sit with me.’ He
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.22 COM | MARCH 19-MARCH 25, 2021
sat on the couch and said he’s
in so much pain.’”
During her last phone call
with her father at 2 a.m., Kaur
said he was sitting in the hallway
at the hospital for more
than 14 hours waiting to be
seen by a doctor.
“I called the hospital saying
someone needs to do
something,” Kaur said. “He
was freezing and didn’t have
a blanket. The next day, my
mom informed me that they
had put him on a ventilator.”
While in the hospital, Singh
had turned 62 years old on his
birthday, April 1. He died of
COVID on April 15 and his
loss was felt immensely by the
Sikh community. A year later,
Kaur says her family is on
the road to recovery after losing
Singh, who managed the
household’s finances such as
paying the bills and mortgage.
Suddenly, they had to figure
out the logistics of it during a
stressful time period.
“It was hard on us. My
brothers have never dealt
with loss. For me, it’s nothing
like losing a parent, but
I’ve lost a grandma and a few
friends and I’ve kind of dealt
with it. But for them I can tell
they were really struggling,”
Kaur said. “But through grief
therapy, we’ve been talking to
each other more about things
and it’s definitely getting better
in that sense.”
As a pharmacist at CVS
in Long Island administering
the COVID-19 vaccines since
December, Kaur was eligible
to receive the shot. In honor
of her father, Kaur brought a
sweater with his portrait on
the back when she recently
went to get her second dose of
the vaccine, she said.
While the committee began
to work on the memorial,
Kaur says they didn’t expect
to get a lot of media attention
and calls from people about it.
“People are different in
grieving and we weren’t sure
if people wanted to make it a
public thing,” Kaur said.
The group is receiving support
from local elected officials
Assemblywoman Jenifer
Rajkumar and Senator Joseph
Addabbo Jr., who have been
helping their constituents for
the past year conducting local
food drives, mask donations
and providing additional resources
for support.
Rajkumar has introduced
a resolution in the state Assembly
establishing Queens
COVID Remembrance Day
in the state of New York. The
assemblywoman thanked
Addabbo, the Senate sponsor
of the resolution, and the
Queens COVID Remembrance
Day Committee for their hard
work in bringing the community
together.
“This day will recognize
all of those we loved, cherished
and adored — our
friends, neighbors and family
members — whom we lost to
this deadly disease,” Rajkumar
told QNS. “As a physical
representation of the loss,
400 empty park benches will
carry an artist’s portrayal of
a Queens resident who died of
COVID-19. These images will
be custom made by the ‘Faces
of COVID Victims’ project.”
In a statement to QNS,
Addabbo said Queens Covid
Remembrance Day is an “appropriate
and thoughtful initiative
that will connect hundreds
of families from across
the borough that lost a loved
one due to COVID-19.”
Addabbo will be presenting
the committee with a proclamation
from the New York
State Senate thanking them
for organizing the event.
“It is an honor to take
part in this somber event to
remember the lives of those
Queens residents that have
died during this pandemic,”
Addabbo said. “I am encouraging
all those that have lost
a loved one to COVID to reach
out to the QCRD group so their
memory can be acknowledged
during this event.”
To submit a loved one’s
name for recognition, visit
queenscovidremembrance
day.com.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com or
by phone at (718) 260–4526.
Manpreet Kaur will honor her late father, Gurpaul Singh, at the Queens Covid Remembrance Day event
in May. Courtesy of Manpreet Kaur
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