Drawing inspiration from one of his favourite TV programs, a South Surrey youngster-turned businessman has raised hundreds of dollars for BC SPCA.
Knowing that he wasn鈥檛 able to operate a lemonade stand this summer due to the pandemic, Shlok Parkhi, 5, launched 鈥淧hoto Patrol,鈥� a riff on the children鈥檚 TV series Paw Patrol.
Armed with an instant camera, Parkhi and his parents walked the community鈥檚 streets and parks searching for people with their pets. Shlok would approach the pet-owner and ask if they would be interested in being photographed for $5.
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Starting in July, Shlok photographed more than 100 pet owners and collected $560. Of the money raised, Shlok donated $200 to the BCSPCA, invested $180 in stocks with the help of mom and dad, and used the remaining $200 to buy Lego.
Shlok鈥檚 mother Ketaki Patil described the project as a way to keep her son busy during COVID-19 restrictions.
鈥淭here鈥檚 was not much to do because they can鈥檛 meet with their friends or have sleepovers or play dates,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o we thought this would be a better idea to keep him occupied, at least for a couple hours.鈥�
The South Meridian Elementary student is a frequently flyer at the school playground at about 7 p.m., as that seems to be a popular time for dog owners to get together.
鈥淭hey have a little play-date, doggy play-dates. So it was fun to see all of them there. As well as we went to Whistler just for vacationing for a couple of days, we took the camera there as well and people loved it.鈥�
Patil said another beneficial aspect of the project is that her son spends five to 10 minutes speaking with the customers while the picture develops.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been amazing, the experiences. At times, people said no 鈥� of course 鈥� that they didn鈥檛 want to take a picture. But that didn鈥檛 deter him, that was another lesson. It鈥檚 been a learning curve for him, as well. He is a little bit of鈥� I wouldn鈥檛 say shy, but he doesn鈥檛 open up quickly. So it鈥檚 been really helpful to get him going and talk to people.鈥�
Photos from Shlok鈥檚 adventures can be found at
aaron.hinks@peacearchnews.com
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