Salmon Arm's 'Samosa Kid' raising funds for Ukraine in delicious way
A Salmon Arm youth, known as the Samosa Kid, is selling authentic samosas in a fundraising project for Ukraine, by donating 25% of the sales.
Armaan Dhaliwal is only 11 years old and successfully raised thousands of dollars to date for local and international causes since starting his entrepreneurial journey in March, 2021.
For every samosa sale, 25% is donated to the Ukrainian fundraiser, and as of April 11, the initial goal of $5,000 was met. Due to so much interest from the community, the project will continue until the end of April.
Armaan’s mom, Prab Dhaliwal said her son is gaining much greater value out of the experience beyond earning money, and giving back to the community runs in the family.
“Armaan’s father and two amazing grandfathers all love to give,” Prab said. “They do a lot of fundraising in their communities as well. Both grandfathers grew up in poverty and they talk to Armaan about it, that it’s about being thankful and giving back.”
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Prab said her son is learning a lot of skills kids his age don’t always get the chance to, like public speaking, public interactions and showing respect.
The samosas come from a family connection in Surrey. Armaan sells packages of 10 for $18, with chutney on the side.
“We wanted to bring some more authentic Indian cuisine to Salmon Arm,” Prab said. “The samosas are authentic and yummy. People really enjoy them and are very supportive.”
Customers place orders to Armaan through message and text. Being a grade 6 student who does a lot of sports, doing business on the side takes commitment.
“He schedules customer pickups for Mondays and Wednesdays so he can fit all his activities in,” Prab said. “He is big into several different sports.”
In the past year the Samosa Kid has raised money for the Shuswap Hospital Foundation, raised $5,000 to buy ventilators for India during COVID, and done giveaways on special days of the year.
“He was laying low for a while,” Prab said. “Now with Ukraine suffering he thought why not try and help again. We have a friend from Ukraine who gave us a reliable source to send funds to.”
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Armaan said he intends to keep the Samosa Kid fundraising project going for as long as he can, because there are so many good causes to donate to.
“My Ukrainian fundraiser was supposed to end a few days ago but we changed it because so many people want to donate,” he said. “I am going to keep it as a side thing so I can keep helping the community.”
When asked if he might start a restaurant one day, Armaan wasn’t sure.
“My dad wants me to run his furniture store so maybe I will do that but keep selling samosas on the side.”
The Samosa Kid operates his business after school until 7:30 or 8 p.m. Orders can be made by texting 236-412-9145 or through Instagram @thesamosakid.
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