Manubhai C. Panchal, Trustee (2013)
It is with great honour that we present to you our sixth installment of “PRIDE OF PANCHAL SAMAJ”. In this special feature highlighting talents and acheivements of members of our SAMAJ.
Here is a real family man who has dedicated much of his life to bringing friends, family and Samaj members together, and enjoying the simpler things in life along the way. His name is MANUBHAI C. PANCHAL.
Born in Akoti in Gujarat, India in 1943, his parents were Mr. Chhaganlal and Mrs. Dhanuben Panchal. He married to Linaben in UK, in 1976 he immigrated to Canada. Soon after that, he began sponsoring his brothers and parents over from India. A true “Luhar”, he worked in the engineering field, specifically in custom steel fabrication. He always had business acumen, and so was a sole-proprietor in a printing enterprise, and also ran a Lottery store in downtown Toronto called Mr. Lucky.
Manubhai’s involvement in the Panchal Samaj began with its inception in 1986, as he is one of the founding fathers of our Panchal Samaj of Ontario. He takes part in Samaj activities whole-heartedly, with the full support from his family. In 2001, Manubhai had created a special seniors outing. This is an annual event where Samaj members aged 50 years and up, were taken to various places of worship. This event not only allows our seniors to visit various temples, but also crosses cultural and religious barriers, by taking the seniors to Sikh Gurudwaras, Buddhist Temples and various Churches. The senior’s outing has grown from a small group to now having the participation of almost every senior citizen in the Samaj.
The pride he takes in volunteering doesn’t stop there; after retiring, he began assisting Scarborough’s Centenary Hospital in the patient admissions department – a position he still holds to date. Other pastimes include taking his grandkids on long bike rides, doing mediation to start the day off right, and enjoying the company of his 3 grown children Bina, Vimesh and Nisha and their young grand children.
As a well-respected member of his community, the PANCHAL SAMAJ OF ONTARIO would like to wish Manubhai success in his future endeavors.