Basant Motors continues to give back
SURREY CAR DEALERSHIP AWARDS $28,000 IN SCHOLARSHIPS TO 14 STUDENTS
Basant Motors may be thought of by thousands of satisfied clients as a premier pre-owned auto dealer; but increasingly to parents and teachers it’s also viewed as a major supporter of excellence in education – as evidenced on Oct. 5, when $28,000 in scholarships was awarded to 14 students during a ceremony at Basant’s Surrey dealership.
Jas Koonar, Basant’s operations manager, says, “Several hundred people attended the event along with the recipients, and we were honoured to present the scholarships because excellence is something we strive for and encourage in others.”
The recipients were: Veronika Copping; Malak Al-Karkhi; Bernadette Suleman; Saroj Shah; Simrat Binning; Inderpal Birring; Joud Alismaael; Adelaide Fuller; Yolanda Liu; Jing Yi Li; Romina Mahinpei; Navindi De Silva; Jason Sunardi; and Conner Buzza.
The scholarships are becoming a highly-anticipated annual event for regional school systems, and they are the brainchild of Baldev Singh Bath, who founded Basant Motors in 1991 with the deeply-held conviction that the success of his business was due to support from the community. It was therefore natural for his family and colleagues to involve themselves in giving back whenever possible.
Bath came up with the idea to stage a scholarship contest in conjunction with Basant’s 25th anniversary in 2016. During that ceremony, $15,000 was awarded to six students who had been selected from several hundred applicants by a five-panel committee of teachers. The following year, 350 students from across Metro Vancouver applied for $26,000 in scholarships (10 of whom were chosen as recipients), and Amrit Bath, Basant’s general manager, noted at the time, “We’ll increase the scholarships by $1,000 annually and down the road add more student recipients.”
As expected, this October’s ceremony was the biggest yet with many notable presenters including, but not limited to, Neil Dubord, the chief constable for the Delta Police, and Anita Huberman, the CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade.
The scholarships are not the only way Basant gives back to the community. Last year it staged Basant’s Cars for Compassion contest, which awarded Karen Moraes a free 2017 Nissan Sentra for her tireless volunteer efforts. In years past, the dealership became involved in a diabetes fundraiser that generated $70,000 to help combat the disease.
But the scholarships remain the most prominent outcome of Bath’s commitment to make philanthropy an integral part of his business, and his staff members are already looking forward to the 2020 event.
Amrit Bath is proud that the amount of applications has nearly doubled since the introduction of the scholarship three years ago. “It’s rewarding that so many young people participate in this event, as education is the key in helping grow communities,” he says. “In turn, we’re inspired to not only keep growing the scholarship but also find new ways to give back.”