With a great turnout of applications, choosing this year’s scholarship winners was a challenging decision. Students created many unique and successful organ donation and transplant campaigns in their schools.
The calibre of applications was so high, BC Transplant awarded an extra scholarship this year, for a total of five scholarship winners. These five students created exceptional projects that went beyond their school community and demonstrated a deep understanding of the purpose of the scholarship.
Congratulations to Kimran Boparai, Simone Duifhuis, Malia Kumar, Narmaya Sternberg and Niharika Yadav!
Thank you to everyone from across B.C. who applied for the scholarship. Your passion for generating change and raising awareness for organ donation and transplant is truly inspiring.
Kimran has personally experienced the power of organ transplant through her brother, a kidney recipient. This inspired her to give back by raising awareness in her school community.
Kimran says, “The singular choice of organ donation changed the course of not only my brother’s life, but my entire family’s lives as well. Though Daya was lucky enough to match with a donor, there are still countless individuals in British Columbia, and around the world, waiting for transplants that could alter the course of their lives for the better.”
She organized Green Shirt Day and a creative fundraiser at her school where students could nominate a teacher to get “pied” by donating to support transplant research. At that fundraiser, Kimran also spoke with participants about the importance of registering their decision on organ donation. The event created a lot of conversation, which resulted in the school district sharing a story about Kimran and her campaign.
We admire how Kimran found a fun way to connect with her fellow students, and kudos to her for convincing teachers at her school to get a pie in the face. Amazing job, Kimran!
Simone’s initial interest in organ donation and transplant started in grade six when she heard about the Humboldt Broncos bus crash and Logan Boulet’s legacy. As a hockey player herself, she was especially inspired by his story. In her application, she even shared a video of a grade six project on Logan!
Simone wanted to continue her advocacy with her Churchill Secondary School community. With her connections in sports, she started her awareness activities in the school athletics department. Simone organized a Green Shirt Day event at Churchill and promoted it on social media with her own creative posts on their athletics page. She also created a
video to raise awareness and interact with students and staff to educate people on myths and facts of organ donation and transplant, reaching more than 2000 people across the community.
One of Simone's Instagram posts on her Athletic department's page.
Simone adds, “I just hope my peers and fellow students at school have realized that they can be part of something bigger, potentially saving someone’s lives.”
Thank you to Simone for her efforts. We love how she has been a champion of organ donation awareness since grade six!
Malia was inspired by her mom Anju, who became an organ donor when she suddenly passed away in 2019. Anju was a registered organ donor and saved seven people’s lives. Malia wanted to share her mom’s story with her Sullivan Heights Secondary School community and beyond to inspire others to register as organ donors.
“My desire for this campaign was to spread awareness to people who were unaware of BC Transplant and encourage them to register to become a donor. I want people to understand how important it is to give others in need a second chance in life.” Malia says.
Along with the support of her dad, Malia arranged for a BC Transplant volunteer and transplant recipient to speak to her school, her dad’s office and a local bank. Malia and her dad did not stop there. The family is long-time season ticket members with the Vancouver Whitecaps so they reached out to the soccer club to see if they could work together. Malia and her younger brother Noah (pictured on the right with their dad) were chosen as the kid captains at the Whitecaps home game on April 6, 2024. The Whitecaps produced a video that was shown on the Jumbotron highlighting their story. They also invited BC Transplant to help raise awareness at the game.
Malia reached more than 15,000 people with her campaign, which is truly commendable. Her family’s passion to raise awareness about organ donation is incredible, and we hope to see her continue her efforts.
Narmaya decided the best way to encourage her fellow students at Sands Secondary School to participate in her Green Shirt Day campaign was through treats. She set up a booth at her school to speak with students about organ donation and transplant, with baked goods on offer. Narmaya also visited 20 classrooms at Sands, sharing her presentation with more than 400 students.
Narmaya at her information booth on Green Shirt Day
“I hoped to start a conversation. When students came home from Green Shirt Day, I hoped they were inspired to talk about it with their parents, who would then share with their friends,” explains Narmaya. “This way, eventually my entire community would know the importance behind registering to be an organ donor.”
Her hope was to create a ripple effect through the community. This is especially important because ultimately, the family will make the final decision on organ donation.
Thank you, Narmaya. We appreciate your efforts and dedication!
A slide from Niharika's presentation to her peers
Niharika organized a Green Shirt Day event at Queen Elizabeth Secondary School, creating a presentation on organ donation for students and making announcements school-wide. But she recognized there was a knowledge gap within her own South Asian community.
“I found out that organ donation is considered a taboo topic in my community,” explains Niharika. “I thought it was interesting considering Hinduism and Sikhism teachings encourage everyone to do selfless acts. Being an organ donor is a selfless act, yet I do not think people see it that way.”
So, Niharika decided she wanted to make a difference. She set up information tables at a temple for two events. She also created a radio ad on RED FM, a popular South Asian radio station. She worked hard to help dispel myths and create more awareness, speaking with many community members.
We applaud Niharika for taking her project outside of the school and directly into the heart of her community. Great job, Niharika!
