Despite unprecedented COVID19 times Basant Motors a well known Indo Canadian auto dealership held its annual scholarship giveaway a few weeks ago on October 3rd. On the dealership's 29th anniversary it generoulsy handed out $29,000 in scholarships to the best and the brightest students in the lower mainland.
Keeping the health crisis in mind Basant Motors made a point to recognize the contributions of any students who had worked as front line workers in B.C. in their efforts against the fight in the COVID19 pandemic.
Jas Koonar, operations manager, emphasized that the scholarship is eligible to anyone attending a post secondary institution but also wanted to give it to the one student who was also involved on the front lines in health care during the global crisis. The winner was Gurniwaz Gagar of Surrey, who attends Kwantlen Polytechnic University and also holds down a job as a bank teller.
Gagar, whose goal is to become a lawyer, also founded the Sunshine Society, a non-profit organization devoted to tackling humanitarian issues. Nine other post secondary students received scholarships: Anokhi Amaradasa; Robin Yadav; Ryan Arnouk; Hargun Mujral; Manreet Kang; Isabel Huang; Jasmine Kaur Atwal; Harshvardhan Shaw; and Ella Yu.
Baldev Singh Bath, the founder of Basant Motors, created the scholarship program and since the very first scholarship giveaway they have attracted numerous applicants and become highly sought after my schools in the lower mainland.
The scholarships are Basant’s signature cause. The scholarships are bumped up by $1,000 every year and Koonar and his staff members are already planning the scholarship giveaway for 2021.
Photo courtesy of Basant Motors.