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Philanthropist George Subraj passes on
The name George Subraj has long been synonymous with the word philanthropy. Of course this is understandable given the immense charitable work this Guyanese, who migrated to the United States in 1971, has done over years.
Dead: George Subraj
But the existence of this son of the soil who never failed to give back to his homeland in many developmental ways came to an abrupt end, yesterday. The 71-year-old passed away in New York.
According to reports, Subraj suffered a massive heart attack while exercising at a gym next door to his place of abode.
Subraj’s achievements, which were extensively highlighted in a November 2015 ‘Special Person’ article published in this newspaper, will undoubtedly be etched in the annals of history.
His recorded humanitarian work commenced in 1992 when he joined the Guyana Watch Medical Outreach Team which was founded by renowned local business man, Tony Yassin, of Guyana Stores Limited.
Guyana Watch has over the years facilitated the travel of medical volunteers to Guyana to offer medical care across the country with a focus on helping the less fortunate. Subraj was, moreover, an instrumental support to this venture.
However, he wanted to do more for his homeland. In so doing he paved the way for Guyana’s first kidney transplant to be conducted at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) in 2008. This service was conducted by reputable Kidney Surgeon, Rahul Jindal, of the Walter Reed Medical Centre in Washington D. C.
The Kidney transplant programme continued for a number of years at the GPHC before it was relocated to the privately operated Dr. Balwant Singh Hospital.
As part of his philanthropy, Subraj also donated wheelchairs to not only the GPHC but also to several immobile individuals. He even donated an elevator to a prominent community mandir – Prem Bhakti. The latter donation was strategically organized to assist the elderly worshippers there who are physically incapable of moving from one floor to another.
Subraj was behind the donation of a modern, state-of-the-art, computer training centre to the Saraswati Vidya Niketan Hindu Secondary School at Cornelia Ida on the West Coast of Demerara.
But since the area of health has been chief among his philanthropic passions, in 2010, Subraj took upon himself the initiative of sponsoring a team of surgeons and paediatric specialists to perform an inaugural bout of paediatric heart surgeries in Guyana.
His support in health did not end there as he also sponsored a visit of a team of eye specialists to perform corneal transplants at the GPHC, paving the way for successful corneal transplants to be completed.
Subraj’s charitable feats were not only demonstrated in Guyana but also in the US. He was essentially involved with innumerable health, education and cultural programmes.
Many will conclude that Subraj passed away satisfied that he was able to give back to many who were deemed less fortunate.
But his work was not without recognition. The soft-spoken Subraj was the recipient of one of Guyana’s National Awards, the Medal of Service, in 2011.
At the time of his death, Subraj was the President of the still thriving Zara Realty Holding Corporation, a home rental service, situated at Hillside Avenue, Queens, New York. He founded the rental service with his brothers Ken Subraj, Executive Vice-President, and Jay Sobhraj, Senior Vice-President.
Subraj will be remembered for providing comfortable and affordable apartments to thousands of people over the past 35 years, having acquired a large number of complexes to satisfy the growing needs of the community Hillside Avenue-Jamaica Estates neighbourhood.
Subraj is survived by his brothers, among them Harry, Haimraj, Steve and one sister and the late Rosie, Rooplall and Sookraj; his wife Gloria, four children Sandy, Dolly, Jasmine and Tony. There are also eight grandchildren.
Subraj was the fourth of 10 children born to his parents, Tatri and Subhraj, on February 27, 1945. He is slated to be cremated in the US on Sunday.
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