Over 500 Youth And Parents Participate In Drugs And Gangs Forum In Surrey

After months of hard work putting together their passion project – TARGETS – well known filmmaker and journalist R. Paul Dhillon’s anti-gang music video got a rousing community welcome at KidsPlay’s Gang Forum in Surrey in front of a packed house on Sunday. “People appreciated the powerful message TARGETS is trying to give and we hope that it makes a difference. I want to again thank Nanji Dhaliwal for his dedication to this project and our entire team including our talented editor-cinematographer Andrew Tran. Thank you everyone. We will be releasing TARGETS online and on TV next year so stay tuned,” said Dhillon.

SURREY – Gang activity, drugs, and violence continues to be of great concern to the residents of Surrey.  With over 200 shootings in the last three years, the community has seen an exponential increase of the drugs and gang violence epidemic since 2015. Furthermore, amidst a fentanyl crisis attributing to overdose deaths, a B.C. Coroners Service report states that Surrey is one of the three townships experiencing the highest number of illicit drug overdoses in 2018. The need for prevention and intervention programs remains incredibly high.

In an effort to break the cycle, Kids Play Foundation held a Drugs and Gang Forum on Sunday, November 25th at The Royal King Palace and Convention Centre in Surrey which was attended by over 500 youth, parents and anti-gang activists.

A very well received anti-gang music video by well known filmmaker and journalist R. Paul Dhillon appropriately called Targets” on the ongoing gang violence was shown to great response from the audience.

Jevan Dhaliwal is a youth volunteer with Kids Play who understands first-hand the importance of not going down the wrong path.

 “It is easy to get mixed up in the wrong crowd”, says Dhaliwal.  “Kids want to fit in and I am determined to give them a safe place to belong to at Kids Play Foundation with Kal Dosanjh and the rest of our team.

The speakers included Rob –  a recovering drug addict, an engineer by profession; Shenan – ex gangster and now life coach; Bilal – Muslim Association of BC and a former acquaintance of suspected gangsters; and, Gurkirat- a recovered drug addict who now runs a recovery centre. Student participants of the Kids Play mentorship program at Green Timbers Elementary school will also speak about why drugs are a danger to them and their generation.

Videos: A Stray music video by Abbotsford hip hop artist, Amrit Saggu. A raw and powerful and melodic piece, A Stray follows a young man as he’s seduced into the gang life, only to watch it turn around on him – leaving his younger brother an innocent.

A $1000 in scholarships was awarded to students present on that day.

Kids Play Foundation is founded by Law Enforcement Officer Kal Dosanjh and 2012 Canadian Olympian, now UFC Fighter, Arjan Bhullar.  Kids Play is a community organization that aims to keep B.C. kids away from the life of crime through its various sports programs.  Kids Play believes in building a better future for our youth, one game at a time. Wake up Surrey is a community driven organization that help a large rally few months back which was attended by thousands of Surrey residents at Surrey City Hall with the goals of creating awareness about the epidemic of drug abuse and gang violence.