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Surrey student earns TD Community Leadership scholarship

Harjot Bal recognized for his One Blood For Life Foundation
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Surrey student Harjot Bal has received a TD Community Leadership scholarship. (onebloodforlife.com screenshot/Contributed photo)

A Surrey student was recognized this week for “outstanding community contributions,” with a scholarship valued at up to $70,000.

Harjot Bal, a Tamanawis Secondary grad, was presented with a 2020 TD Scholarship for Community Leadership on June 4.

The award – which provides up to $10,000 annually for tuition and $7,500 per year for living expenses, for up to four years – is designed to acknowledge the achievements of youth who are making a difference in their community, a news release states.

Bal established the One Blood For Life Foundation in support of under-represented ethnic minorities who have struggled to find blood and stem cell donations in a health crisis.

“Through this work, Harjot encourages youth to become life-long blood donors and has helped build a network of 440 volunteers, resulting in 3,550 blood donations and 1,540 new and ethnically diverse stem cell registrations,” the release states.

The scholarship is not the first time Bal’s efforts have been recognized.

In 2018, at the age of 15, he was named one of Surrey’s ‘Top 25 Under 25,’ a program that celebrates “the incredible initiatives of Surrey’s youth 25 years old or younger.”

READ MORE: Meet Surrey’s ‘Top 25 Under 25’ award winners

This year is the 25th anniversary of TD scholarship program. Since inception, it has provided 500 students with a cumulative $25 million in scholarship donations.



tholmes@peacearchnews.com

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Tracy Holmes

About the Author: Tracy Holmes

Tracy Holmes has been a reporter with Peace Arch News since 1997.
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