Jasmyn Beauséjour
Collège Saint-Sacrement

“In 2006, when he was in Secondary 2, Jasmyn came to see me in my office to tell me he wanted to organize a blood drive at school. I said OK, we’ll organize one, but he cut me off, saying: “Well actually, I’ve already planned everything. Now, all they need is to meet with you. And I knew right away that the young man in front of me was, to say the least, very determined.”

The name of the student in question, who Mr. Luc St-Louis, the principal at Collège Saint-Sacrement in Terrebonne, can’t stop singing the praises about, is Jasmyn Beauséjour. Described as a brilliant, enthusiastic, innovative, hard-working and responsible student, Jasmyn, who is now in Secondary 5, is already an imposing individual because of his strength of character and his entrepreneurship. Héma-Québec has even confirmed that at the age of 14, he became the youngest person in his region to not only organize, but also initiate and help coordinate a blood drive. “From the very start, I undertook to turn the event into a long-standing tradition and to find a student who would take my place once I graduate. I kept my promise,” he admits with pride.

Moreover, the blood drive has always met its goal in terms of the number of donors (150 for the last drive) and this is undoubtedly thanks to Jasmyn’s perseverance. “One year,” the principal recalls “an hour before the end of the blood drive, we still needed a few donors in order to meet our objective and Jasmyn crossed over to the arena on the other side of the street, made his sales pitch and came back with four or five people. We attained our goal. Jasmyn is a born entrepreneur, a real go-getter.”

And as Jasmyn always tries to improve a formula, he came up with the idea of using the annual blood drive at the Collège to establish the “Double Don” project. The recipe is simple. For every blood donation, a company agrees to make a cash donation to the Fondation Bon matin, an organization with the mission of distributing healthy snacks to students in various elementary schools in the Terrebonne area. Jasmyn appeals to the donor companies himself and in two years has succeeded is raising $1,750 for the foundation.

Furthermore, Jasmyn has also turned his attention to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada (MSSC). As a saxophone player in the school’s Blues Band and Jazz Band, the young man convinced the school administration to donate all the profits from the sale of a CD recorded by the Blues Band to the Lanaudière chapter of MSSC, that is to say a total of $535. He also took part in a fund-raising show and was the master of ceremonies and saxophonist during the MS Walk last April. “The feeling I get every time I can let others benefit from my talents and my time not only allows me to grow, it encourages me to keep making the effort,” points out the young man who was the junior Québec and Canadian Taekwondo champion in 2005.

In addition to his participation in a humanitarian project in Guatemala, where he helped build the walls for a school and a soccer field, his support and guidance for Secondary 1 students during welcoming activities, his contribution to his school’s fundraiser and his involvement with TEAM (Tous les enfants de l’autre monde), an organization for which he helps organize fund-raising activities, Jasmyn has still managed to maintain an overall grade average of between 93% and 95% since he entered high school.

For the student at Collège Saint-Sacrement, the frenzy of social commitment is a continuous driving force and he seeks to transmit this passion to his peers. Next April he will be organizing a volunteer fair at his school that will enable everyone to find out about numerous organizations seeking volunteers.

“I believe that young people like me have tremendous power and that we have a moral obligation to help those around us. It is not a question of knowing where to start, it’s more a question of when to start. Every cause is important. You just have to find one that you truly believe in. That’s how I came up with the idea of organizing the volunteer fair. I hope that it will help encourage youth to get more involved,” Jasmyn says with conviction.

Jasmyn Beauséjour
Collège Saint-Sacrement