Manpreet Kaur of South Ozone Park will be honoring her late father, Gurpaul Singh, in a memorial tribute to Queens families who lost loved ones to COVID-19.
Kaur is part of a committee that is organizing Queens Covid Remembrance Day, which will take place on May 1 at the Bandshell in Forest Park. Four hundred empty seats will display yellow hearts bearing hand-drawn portraits and names of COVID victims that will be supplied by the Yellow Hearts Memorial. Additionally, there will be a unique artistic creation designed by Kristina Libby made from fresh flowers donated by 1-800 Flowers. A special tribute will also honor essential and frontline workers who put their lives at risk to care for the community during the pandemic.
The event will also honor COVID-19 victims worldwide.
Though they have received 150 submissions so far from Queens residents and 350 outside of the borough, Kaur says the group is still working on obtaining a permit from the city and is planning to livestream the event, since they’re undecided about attendance at the location. The diverse committee is reaching out to all groups in the community through social media, Kaur said.
“A lot of people don’t realize how many of us have been affected — there are so many different stories and people,” Kaur said. “Personally, my mom has a lot of friends who lost their husbands and they don’t post about it, or their kids aren’t as open to discussing it. So, we are hoping that if they see something like that, they will want to tell their stories.”
The committee wanted to honor their family members since Queens was heavily hit by the virus, according to Kaur, who joined the COVID-19 support group that helps people cope with the loss of a loved one.
Kaur’s father came to America at a very young age with the hope of supporting his family back in Punjab. He worked as a yellow delivery cab driver in New York City for over 25 years to put his three children through school. For Kaur, there are many memories she shared with her father that she will never forget, she said.
“I used to suffer from anxiety and depression and I would stay in my room for a few days. No one would actually take the time to make sure I’m okay, but [my father] would bring a cup of chai tea for me,” Kaur said. “He was always so good about not judging and making sure I ate and checked in on me.”
The last time Kaur saw her father was on March 27, 2020, when she went to visit him at home before he was taken to Jamaica Hospital. Singh was experiencing cold and flu-like symptoms, Kaur said.
“The moment he found out he was sick, he never left the room,” Kaur said. “I said, ‘Dad, you need to come out of the room and sit with me.’ He sat on the couch and said he’s in so much pain.’”
During her last phone call with her father at 2 a.m., Kaur said he was sitting in the hallway at the hospital for more than 14 hours waiting to be seen by a doctor.
“I called the hospital saying someone needs to do something,” Kaur said. “He was freezing and didn’t have a blanket. The next day, my mom informed me that they had put him on a ventilator.”
While in the hospital, Singh had turned 62 years old on his birthday, April 1. He died of COVID on April 15 and his loss was felt immensely by the Sikh community. A year later, Kaur says her family is on the road to recovery after losing Singh, who managed the household’s finances such as paying the bills and mortgage. Suddenly, they had to figure out the logistics of it during a stressful time period.
“It was hard on us. My brothers have never dealt with loss. For me, it’s nothing like losing a parent, but I’ve lost a grandma and a few friends and I’ve kind of dealt with it. But for them I can tell they were really struggling,” Kaur said. “But through grief therapy, we’ve been talking to each other more about things and it’s definitely getting better in that sense.”
As a pharmacist at CVS in Long Island administering the COVID-19 vaccines since December, Kaur was eligible to receive the shot. In honor of her father, Kaur brought a sweater with his portrait on the back when she recently went to get her second dose of the vaccine, she said.
While the committee began to work on the memorial, Kaur says they didn’t expect to get a lot of media attention and calls from people about it.
“People are different in grieving and we weren’t sure if people wanted to make it a public thing,” Kaur said.
The group is receiving support from local elected officials Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar and Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr., who have been helping their constituents for the past year conducting local food drives, mask donations and providing additional resources for support.
Rajkumar has introduced a resolution in the state Assembly establishing Queens COVID Remembrance Day in the state of New York. The assemblywoman thanked Addabbo, the Senate sponsor of the resolution, and the Queens COVID Remembrance Day Committee for their hard work in bringing the community together.
“This day will recognize all of those we loved, cherished and adored — our friends, neighbors and family members — whom we lost to this deadly disease,” Rajkumar told QNS. “As a physical representation of the loss, 400 empty park benches will carry an artist’s portrayal of a Queens resident who died of COVID-19. These images will be custom made by the ‘Faces of COVID Victims’ project.”
In a statement to QNS, Addabbo said Queens Covid Remembrance Day is an “appropriate and thoughtful initiative that will connect hundreds of families from across the borough that lost a loved one due to COVID-19.”
Addabbo will be presenting the committee with a proclamation from the New York State Senate thanking them for organizing the event.
“It is an honor to take part in this somber event to remember the lives of those Queens residents that have died during this pandemic,” Addabbo said. “I am encouraging all those that have lost a loved one to COVID to reach out to the QCRD group so their memory can be acknowledged during this event.”
To submit a loved one’s name for recognition, visit queenscovidremembranceday.com.
