As of October 2021, Saanjh Sikh Scholarship has been renamed after a beloved member of the Saanjh community, a inspirational young Sikh, a stellar student, a diligent lawyer. Bhavreet died in a hiking accident in October 2020, leaving a legacy of love, friendship and saanjh (beloved community). He exemplified what the Saanjh Sikh Scholarship stood for: closing gaps in educational access for bright and committed students.
Mission:
The Saanjh Sikh Scholarship provides humble scholarships to students in the U.S. in order to achieve their higher education aspirations. Most of our limited resources are committed to first-generation college students with demonstrated financial need.
APPLICATIONS
Please send your resume and cover letter to contact@saanjh.org. We accept applications on a rolling basis. Scholarship are up to $2,000 per award.
HISTORY
The Saanjh Scholarship Program was launched at the Saanjh retreat in 2009 as a scholarship for Sikh high school students in California. In the 2009-2010 year, the Scholarship team awarded 4 scholarships.
The following year, the Scholarship project opened up its program to Texas, in addition to California, and awarded a total of 5 awards to Sikh students of both states.
In 2011, the Scholarship went national, opening up its application to Sikh students of all 50 states. The Scholarship also absorbed a similar initiative from the East Coast – the Sikh Youth Scholarship, combining efforts on the East and West Coasts. The team went on to award scholarships to 8 Sikh students entering their undergraduate studies.
We continue accepting scholarship inquiries on an individual financial needs-basis. Our efforts and achievements could not have been possible without supporters from community members like you!
To donate to the scholarship fund: http://saanjh.org/donate/
A Glimpse into the 2022 Bhavreet Singh Gill Scholarship Awards
5 Scholarships Awarded in 2022
- One awardee is a domestic violence victim-survivor who has returned to college
- One awardee is gathering her emotional and financial strength after her father passed in the first COVID wave
- One awardee is a first-generation immigrant student who works from 4am-7am stocking items at a department store before coming to school; he is an honor roll student.
- One awardee is a first-generation immigrant daughter of a single mom headed into a healthcare career; 1 awardee works 3 part-time jobs
- One awardee is navigating the challenge of his mother’s cancer diagnosis that has decreased parents’ ability to pay at all for his college.
BHAVREET SINGH GILL
Bhavreet Singh grew with Saanjh retreats, and we all grew with him. Bhavreet Singh was motivated, curious, intelligent, grounded and gentle. Ever smiling, he worked extremely hard and yet always made time for his sangat. He overcame considerable personal challenges to achieve great academic success at UC Berkeley and subsequently Columbia Law School. He was a beacon of pride for his family and remains a source of inspiration for so many first-generation students—some who knew him and many who will only know of him. Our community is stronger because of Bhavreet. Our scholarship honors his loving memory.
