Pat Paruñgao, PCHC-MoM Director

For Heritage Week, Pat is sharing a family heirloom: a New Year Tray of Togetherness Pat’s grandmother brought from China in 1917. Though Pat never saw it used, she has learned about its beautiful symbolism - with eight sides for luck and nine inner trays for longevity. It's an incredible link to Pat's heritage and the traditions she carried with her.

Laura Molina

When Laura Molina emigrated from Mexico to Canada, she carried one precious heirloom: her mom's rosary necklace. More than just a piece of jewelry, it's a cherished lifeline to her past, each bead a memory of her family and traditions. Now, through her new family business, Flavours of Hope, she is able to share the rich tastes of her Yucatecan heritage, blending treasured memories with her new life and creating a sense of belonging through food.

Harbhajan Gill, President of PCHC-MoM (2016-2017)

This Heritage Week, Harbhajan is sharing how a stamp helped bring a painful piece of Canadian history to light. It commemorates the 1914 Komagata Maru incident, when 376 Punjabi passengers were denied entry to Canada. His grandfather, Rattan Singh, was a Vancouver resident who helped the passengers. For him, the stamp gave this untold story a rightful place in history and ultimately led to a national apology in 2016.

Joann Anokwuru, PCHC-MoM Secretary

Embrace the secrets of your traditions again. Inspired by the culinary legacy of her mother and grandmother, this Nigerian immigrant found a powerful connection to her roots through the art of cooking. She shares her journey of finding a taste of home in a new country and the generational legacy of spices that she is passing on to the next generation.

Andrea Dcruz, PCHC-MoM Director

For Andrea, life without spice is a life missing the taste of home. Growing up in an Indian household, spices were the essence of her childhood, but after moving to Canada, they became a poignant source of nostalgia and comfort. This is the story of how spices are more than a culinary delight; they are threads of memory weaving together family and heritage across continents.

Tāriq Malik, PCHC-MoM Director

Tāriq's family's heritage as fine metalsmiths in the village of Kotli Loharan goes back nearly a millennium. He feels a profound connection to this past through his grandfather's tools and a simple pair of glasses. As the eldest son, he is honored to carry on this incredible legacy.

A family's Ukrainian history was a puzzle with missing pieces - just a few words and a dramatic story of a great-grandma, Olga, who fled the KGB in the 1940s. For decades, the rest of her story was lost to silence and fear. Then one night, the past quite literally showed up on a great-aunt’s doorstep. Armed with nothing but a decades-old scrap of paper, a long-lost cousin named Olya finally found her relatives, ready to fill in the blanks. This is the story of how the family was reunited and the shocking history they uncovered.