PAST EVENT

VT Seva youth volunteers participate in “Letters to sign” every month. Volunteers sign up every month to write up to 4 letters and mail them to the specified address which then reach the seniors. Volunteers write a letter or make cards following guidelines provided on their website. VT Seva has been participating in this activity since 2021 and seeing increased participation from youth volunteers every month. This activity is about providing support and making elders happy by writing letters to them. In this activity, volunteers take a few minutes, sit down and write a letter. They tell them a joke, share a riddle, share how their day went and let them know they are loved. It brings a connection to the person where the letter gets mailed and makes someone feel good when they receive it.

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Our City is an urban forestry non profit organization that helps provide low income residents with lower cost trees. Many independent homes in Santa Clara county require owners to have a tree planted in front of their houses, the cost of these trees can become very expensive, which is why Our City Forest brings in volunteers to help in their nursery. Which will then be picked up by homeowners to plant in front of their homes. Our VT Seva volunteers go to the nursery monthly and help with plucking weeds, planting seeds, and mixing soil!

PAST EVENT

𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 $𝟴𝟬𝟬 & 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝟲 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗮𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 & 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 & 𝗵𝘆𝗴𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗻 & 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝗞𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟭𝟬𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝟰.𝟯𝟬𝗽𝗺. The Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (𝗗𝗥𝗠𝗠) 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗧𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗔𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗳 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀, 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀, 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝘆𝗴𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀, 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲. Our youth volunteers and adult volunteers showed a great volunteering spirit throughout their shift slots reaching out to all customers, distributing the flyers, spoke about VT Seva Detroit and explained the reason behind this drive. Everyone did great job in their customer friendly skills and approach. There were times where we had a tough time in not so responsive customers however, they never gave up and continued throughout with same zeal and smile. 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲.

PAST EVENT

JaiSrimanNarayana, Today, 3/19/2022 at Franklin food bank following VT SEVA NJ volunteer kids and parents sorted cases of donated food items into plastic bags and arranged them for distribution. Anjali Vellanki Rithika pathuri Sahasra Pabba Saanvi Nalamada Shraddha Kiran Pabba & Raja Lakshmi Pathuri Thank you all.

PAST EVENT

RAFT’s mission is to help educators transform a child’s learning experience through hands-on education to one that inspires the joy and discovery of learning. It's vision is to inspire the next generation of innovators, by providing educators with stem based resources. Volunteers will help sort and package materials for use by teachers for hands on teaching purposes. By volunteering with RAFT, organization skills, communication skills, and social skills are gained.

PAST EVENT

On March 13th, 25 Atlanta VT Seva youths and 5 adult volunteers participated in the ‘Meal By Grace’, a food ministry that sorts, packs and delivers food to the needy in Forsyth County in northern suburbs of Atlanta. Lambert School youths and other VT Seva youths worked on Produce, Breads and Load teams. As part of Produce team, they sorted produce, cut fruit and loaded boxes with variety of fresh produce - salad mixes, vegetables such as onions, potatoes, squash, fruits such as bananas, strawberries, herbs and eggs. The bread team loaded bags with different kinds of bread, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls and other desserts. The load team helped unload the pantry truck, put frozen meats in each box for the needy families and then, loaded the boxes in cars for delivery to the families. Our group delivered food to 5 families at the end of service. This personal experience of helping someone in need directly was enriching and gratifying for all the volunteers.

PAST EVENT

VT Seva Detroit conducts it's very successful 5th Annual Public Speaking Workshop. Mr. Raju Brahmandhabheri the distinguished Toast Master facilitated the workshop. With the tips and tricks learnt on this session, students presented their speech to the judges to get feedback. Mr.Brahmandhabheri, MS Alison Jolliff & Mr Raghuram Samudrala were the judges.

PAST EVENT

Adopt a Creek is similar to another event Bay Area VT Seva hosts called Street Cleaning. In Adopt a Creek volunteers go together to a creek, and clean up the nearby area. This is a new event bay Area VT Seva is bringing.

PAST EVENT

JaiSrimanNarayana, kids and parent volunteers sorted cases of donated food items into plastic bags and arranged them for distribution. Thank you all.

PAST EVENT

On March 6, 2022, a few of our youth volunteers went and participated in an event led by Durham Rescue Mission. During the event, we went to the Women and Children’s Campus and helped serve food and prepare lunch for those that were living there. We had 6 youth volunteers and 2 adult volunteers participate in this event. Some of the tasks we did included washing, drying, and organizing kitchen utensils and dishes, setting up the salad bar and the food for serving to the residents, cleaning the kitchen, and more. Durham Rescue Mission works to help the lives of families that are experiencing tremendous challenges. They provide housing, food, and basic necessities to restore peoples’ lives.

PAST EVENT

Health Services webinars are hosted in order to educate participants on nutrition, diseases, and health. This will be done by having guest speakers talk about their expertise of a certain health subject or by having a fitness session to keep everyone's body healthy. Our March Health Services Event was about spreading physical and mental wellness for kids through Ayurvedic Lens. Mrs. Manju Kolli is an Ayurvedic practitioner based out of San Francisco, Bay Area. She is the founding director of Ayurhitam, an Ayurvedic wellness clinic. Mrs. Manju helped students understand the importance of taking care of our bodies through sleep, treatment, exercise, and diet. The 17 volunteers who attended learned a lot, and hope to spread her teachings to others!

PAST EVENT

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟱𝘁𝗵, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗼 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗛𝘂𝗯, 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟵 𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝟭.𝟯𝟬 𝗽𝗺 Gleaners Community Food Bank is a community where children and families thrive and have access to healthy food and an array of services that improve their overall quality of life. The mission of the Mercado Food Hub at the Ford Resource and Engagement Center is to alleviate hunger among families who reside in the neighborhoods of Southwest Detroit by providing access to food, service referrals and advocacy for basic needs. 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝟴𝟴 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁.

PAST EVENT

VT Seva Atlanta conducted a webinar on ‘Plant Care For The Beginners’ on March 5, 2022 at 2:00 PM EST. Last year, Atlanta VT Seva youths participated in ‘April Cool’ seedling project in which children sew more than 500 seeds, natured the seedlings, and later donated the plants and raised $2000 funds for the Covid relief aid. To go an extra mile this year in regards with plants and funds raised, we organized a plant care webinar for youths to learn the dos and don’ts of planting. Two SME (Subject Matter Experts) were invited to share their insights of start to finish of plant care from buying the seeds, using organic fertilizers, temperature control, watering, sunlight, and much more. The webinar started with the welcome note by Dr. Madhu Nemani, VT SEVA Director in which she welcomed Ashwin Kattula, owner of Kattula Farms, Mr. Sreenivasulu Naidu, farmer, Kiran Kumar, Chaitanya, and Ashwin’s daughter Tanvi. This webinar was organized by April Cool leads, Malathi Apparala and Shoban Abhireddy. Shoban invited Tanvi Kattula to present her views on plant care. Tanvi presented the basics of sowing seeds by planting in small cups indoors with good soil and good drainage. Later, Ashwin Kattula shared insights on temperature control, soil health, watering the seedlings. Afterwards, Chaitanya shared her firsthand information of prepping the soil by proper tilling, adding compost and organic fertilizers. Next was Q&A in which detailed insights were shared on plant care, soil health, organic fertilizers, weeds reduction, pesticides, and composting. Lastly, Ashwin Kattula graciously gave 25% discount on seeds / plants to all the VT Seva volunteers. It was a great hands-on session on basics of plant care, soil health and ground preparation.

PAST EVENT

Project Lead: Harish Jaisankar In celebration of World Teen Mental Wellness Day on March 2, 2022 the Detroit Youth Board members send each other kind messages and thanking each other for their support. In light of recent global events, it's extremely important that we continue to promote peace and respect to each other. By letting others know that we appreciate their work, we show our support for our community as a whole and also make sure that they are appreciated. This event was an amazing opportunity for our youth volunteers to get closer as an organization. 31 Members who participated were assigned 3 other volunteers. Then, members head to each volunteer's Kudoboard, a virtual site where they can post messages addressed to a specific volunteer.

PAST EVENT

Volunteers went to a 17 acre Tule pond, cleaned it, and picked weeds. This is a part of the environmental branch,