The first ever recipient of the Sharifur Rahman Memorial Scholarship has been announced.
A release from Community Foundation Grey Bruce shares that Shaan Banday has been awarded the first ever scholarship created in memory of Sharifur Rahman.
The scholarship fund was established in 2023 with funding from an anonymous donor to honour Rahman, a local business owner who tragically lost his life from injuries sustained in an assault outside his restaurant in downtown Owen Sound.
Rahman was passionate about his community and the scholarship reflects his values. The fund will be given annually to "support Grey Bruce students enrolled in full-time studies, with a strong preference given to applicants who, either themselves or their parents, are newcomers to Canada, as immigrants or refugees," according to the release.
Banday is completing a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He intends to return to the Grey-Bruce area to work and live.
As the first ever recipient of the Sharifur Rahman Memorial Scholarship, Banday says he feels a tremendous honour.
“Being Muslim in the Grey-Bruce area was something we shared in common with Sharif Rahman,” Banday shared, as his parents moved to Canada in 2005. "Our newcomer experience has made me learn to appreciate the opportunities Canada offers, and I am now glad to call this place my home.”
