As the year 2020 comes to a close, we’re celebrating our winners of the Jeffrey Sherman Life-Changers Award – a prestigious BD award that recognizes associates who are making a lasting impact on those around them, both through what they do at work and outside of work. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing stories about our five 2020 winners and the incredible impact they’re having on those around them.

Here, we share the story of Life-Changers Award winner: Mandeep Singh Sandhu, who works as a Software Quality Engineer II in Chandigarh, India.

At BD, Mandeep’s nominators credit him for always working to build trust before initiating any task, and being honest, ever-true to BD values, humble, polite and sincere. They say Mandeep is a natural mentor – quick to share his knowledge and expertise with colleagues, and that he is always eager to take on new challenges.

Mandeep’s nominators also say that he is an inspiration because of the way he excels in all areas of his life, despite having to cope with a physical difference, which has left one arm shorter than the other, and one of his hands without function. Despite obstacles created by this physical difference, Mandeep continuously looks at life with complete positivity, and remains ever focused on serving people who are less fortunate around him.

Outside of BD, Mandeep’s nominators say that he is completely dedicated to caring for those who do not have resources to meet their most basic needs; and that he has worked tirelessly to form a team of BD volunteers to join him in providing hands-on education, healthcare and hygiene opportunities to local women and children who live in the most impoverished areas of their community through a local program he started, called “BD: We Care for You.”

Under Mandeep’s leadership, teams of BD volunteers tutor local students several days a week, with the goal of helping them gain acceptance into special “Navodaya” schools, which are the only opportunity most of the children they serve will have to pursue a quality education. Mandeep also leads a team of BD volunteers that teaches computer and technology classes to local children; and offers personal development programs at three local schools.

Mandeep has also led BD volunteers in conducting seminars to raise awareness of best healthcare practices to prevent or address common health issues; and in providing training to help economically challenged women earn money to support their families. He also regularly conducts volunteer blood donation drives, and volunteers with his wife at a local orphanage.

One of the most unique aspects of Mandeep’s service efforts is that they don’t just impact the most vulnerable women and children in his community – he’s also creating a sense of team, camaraderie and pride among BD colleagues who participate. 

As one of Mandeep’s nominators so perfectly put it – “Mandeep is a true example of the best of humanity.”

In honor of the life-changing impact Mandeep has on his colleagues at BD and the world around him, BD is donating $5,000 to the non-profit organization of his choice: The Gursidak Foundation, which provides students from impoverished backgrounds with financial support and career counseling services to empower them to pursue higher education.

Stay tuned for more inspiring 2020 Life-Changer Award winner stories, like Mandeep’s, on the BD newsroom.