On today’s episode Reporter Ana Maria Higuera takes to the corner of River and Oak Streets in Regent Park to meet Khuram Aftab, the owner of Sam’s Food Store.

We learn that from the very beginning in 2016 when Khuram took over the convenience store at 175 River St.  he was motivated by the notion of wanting to serve the community that he found himself in. Feedback from his customers allowed Khuram to make adjustments to the products and services that he carried. When customers reached out to Khuram about the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables, he brought them in. When customers indicated that they needed a local solution to repairing electronic devices, Khuram opened the Tech-Corner - listening to the suggestions of his customers, is the path to success, says Khuram.

In the Regent Park location, the first thing you notice when entering Sam’s is that it has a very prominent food section, carrying a wide array of prepared dishes that reflect the diversity of his customers. The menu  includes items from Indian, African, Asian, Italian and Greek cuisines. Always sensitive to the needs of his community Khuram has instituted a program of providing free food for those in need, “everybody should eat, so they should not sleep hungry,” Khurtam Aftab.

When the coronavirus pandemic first hit, Khuram’s initial response was to close down, but it was the realization that his customers were begging the employees to stay open: “please don’t close … we are old people, where will we go, where will we take our groceries?” It is at this point that Khuram describes how staff decided to take their own lives at risk and stay open for the customers.

Khuram Aftab has taken the model of a local convenience store and elevated to be so much more. “If you have the passion to help the people … and I have the passion to help people as much as I can, I try my best to do it, we need to support each other, Regent Park is my community, its my family are here, friends, friend’s families, everybody is here. I am so happy to spend my time in Regent Park, I love Regent Park.”