An Okotoks family has made a large donation to help expand a facility, which helped expand some minds over the years — including the Poonjas.
The Poonja family, owners and operators of the Okotoks Bottle Depot, donated $10,000 on March 15 to the Okotoks Public Library for its proposed expansion in 2021.
“Okotoks was a smaller community when we first started (in 1998) ” said Ali Poonja. “I know personally for me, when I moved up here to study at STS (Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School) I would come down here to study.
“Even when I moved to Calgary to go university, I would still come down here (to the library) to study... It has a nice special place in my heart, a place I like to come back.”
The library was a place that helped get Poonja where he is today — a radiology resident at the University of Alberta.
He pointed to a foyer, where the DVDs, books on tapes are now kept in the library, where he successfully studied for his Medical College Admission Test to get into the U of A med school.
“It wasn’t the most exciting time, but that is where I used to sit and study,” he said with a laugh.
Bottle depot owner Zahir Poonja said the family values education, which made the library expansion an ideal fit for its philanthropy.
“We value education and when my father (Shamshu) decided to retire, this was one of the places we decided to make a contribution,” Zahir said. “When they decided to expand the library, the thought came to our minds we should invest in the community where we lived for so many years.
“We made the contribution in the name of our parents.”
Library board chair Pat Coe said the donation will be used to pay for furniture, fixtures and equipment.
“We very, very appreciative of what the Poonjas have been able to do for us,” Coe said. “Taking part in the community is really important because the library belongs to the community.”
She said fundraising has slowed due to COVID.
At present the fundraising efforts are at $67,000 out of a goal of $225,000.
The library has re-opened for in-house use since March 6.
It is tentatively scheduled to open its expansion in July of 2021.
Zahir Poonja is glad the family can help.
“We believe this is a place where people can gain knowledge and that is what this is all about,” Zahir said.
Some changes were made to original due to an error.
