Hello everyone I'm Nishanth Kotapati the President of VT Seva in Forsyth Central High School, I am pleased to announce that we have established a new chapter of VT Seva. The process of setting up the club was not without its challenges, however. We had to navigate through multiple emails and conversations to find a suitable teacher sponsor, and then faced the even greater challenge of getting the administration team on board. Despite these obstacles, our team persisted, and we were eventually able to establish the club. I am proud of what we have accomplished and look forward to making a positive impact in our community through our involvement with VT Seva. We had been trying to establish this club since the beginning of the school year, and we are thrilled that our efforts have finally paid off. Within two months of establishing the new chapter of VT Seva, we are already seeking new members to join us. We are excited to start having meetings and working towards achieving even greater success in our community.- FCHS VT Seva

SFHS VT Seva's first project was the Nature Writeup in which our members wrote paragraphs about times when they helped nature, how nature has affected them, or simply about the beautiful aspects on nature. We chose this topic as we thought of the start of seasonal change in September, when the a light chill mixes with the air, the sky blue deepens in shade, and the leaves of the trees gradually turn orange and red. This beautiful nature compelled us to start this project and spread the knowledge and appreciation of nature to everyone around us. We had a total of 22 very well written responses, and we compiled them all into a portfolio named "The Canvas of Nature" to portray our members' creativity and inspiration from nature! https://www.canva.com/design/DAFvlXzoMtI/rJdENHfFn5NMiYUnjfbeyQ/view?utm_content=DAFvlXzoMtI&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink#1

Many of us celebrate Labor Day with parties, parades, picnics, and cookouts. But it's important to remember who and what we are celebrating for; the American workers and labor force. “American labor has raised the nation’s standard of living and contributed to the greatest production the world has ever known… the nation pays tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership—the American worker.” – DOL.gov (U.S. Department of Labor) 40 of VT Seva Atlanta youths appreciated the labor of Essential Workers on this year's Labor Day 2023. The volunteers expressed that they felt humbled to talk to the workers and appreciated their efforts in providing for the public. All youths presented a ‘Thank You’ card and gifted Chocolates or flowers to appreciate the hard work of essential workers like mail delivery men, garbage collectors, janitorial staff, hospital staff, etc. Giving is the Art of Living!

On Labor Day 2023, VT Seva 8th Youth Club in Chattahoochee Highschool was established. Another inspirational story of persistence, not to quit inspite of several rejections✌️✌️✌️ Hi all, this is Parthu Valluri, the President of VT Seva club at Chattahoochee Highschool. I'm proud to say that we have established VT Seva Youth Club in our school on Sep 1st. This club has been in the works since last year; the idea of the club was introduced to me by Madhu Aunty when I first joined VT Seva. Although it has been in the works for a while now, these last three weeks have been a series of unexpected twists and turns, as finding a proper sponsor was a huge issue. Our first two sponsors both quit immediately after submitting the application. Finding teachers only got more difficult as dozens rejected me and quickly, two weeks had flown by. It wasn't looking too good for us as time was running out. Thanks to Yoshna, one of our Vice Presidents, we managed to get a sponsor that was willing to help us last minute and thanks to him we are able to start our club! Now we are going to get started on pitching our club to the school this coming week and work together to spread VT Seva to Chattahoochee. Community service always starts small and becomes a big and beautiful collaborative activity, exactly what VT Seva Chattahoochee aspires to become. I look forward to working with my wonderful team of officers here in order to bring value to our community and to support the cause that VT Seva has brought to the world.

VT Seva Atlanta Youth attended the Peach State Tour at Norcross Paul Duke Highschool. Representatives from GT, UGA, GA State, and Augusta University attended the event. These 4 colleges shared valuble information to 100+ people. They gave the students insight of the courses, admissions processes, and average costs of each college. Parents also attended the meeting, receiving information on how to handle the financial side of college for their children. The college courses were also shown to help students decide where they would want to go for their future careers. This tour was an excellent opportunity for the highschoolers in the VT Seva Atlanta team to plan for their future, and for the parents to help guide them.

Club Initiation South Forsyth Highschool is our 7th VT Seva youth Club in Atlanta. It is established on August 28, 2023. Please read the message below from our youth club President Nikhila, very inspirational Hello everyone, my name is Nikhila Mannepalli, and I am the President of South Forsyth High School VT Seva Club! Our now VT Seva members including myself have been separately trying to start this VT Seva club since January of this year, long before any of us knew there were others trying to start the club. It was a difficult process at that time, as no teacher was willing to sponsor the club, we hardly had any members, and the process was very scattered and unorganized. Throughout those experiences, each one of us learned a lot individually about communication, teamwork, and taking initiative, and got together to form a new, bigger SFHS VT Seva group at the beginning of August. Soon enough, with proper communication, productive meetings, discussions, and good organization, we were able to successfully find a sponsor, submit an application, and get the club approved today! What was taking us months of time as we attempted to start the club separately took mere weeks when we all came together to be a team.

We had a very collaborative meeting for Alpharetta High School’s VT Seva Club on August 18th, 2023. The participants learned all about the leaders and what the club does, like cleaning up parks, writing thank you cards, visiting old age homes and more. The members also learned about our programs like the presidential award and summer programs. The highlight of the meeting was getting to collaborate with the members on what future events we should plan. This was very important to the leaders as we want to create a comfortable and welcoming environment for the members, while getting to explore for more ideas for activities in the future. It was a very successful meeting.

South Forsyth Highschool is our 7th VT Seva youth Club in Atlanta. It is established on August 28, 2023. Please read the message below from our youth club President Nikhila, very inspirational Hello everyone, my name is Nikhila Mannepalli, and I am the President of South Forsyth High School VT Seva Club! Our now VT Seva members including myself have been separately trying to start this VT Seva club since January of this year, long before any of us knew there were others trying to start the club. It was a difficult process at that time, as no teacher was willing to sponsor the club, we hardly had any members, and the process was very scattered and unorganized. Throughout those experiences, each one of us learned a lot individually about communication, teamwork, and taking initiative, and got together to form a new, bigger SFHS VT Seva group at the beginning of August. Soon enough, with proper communication, productive meetings, discussions, and good organization, we were able to successfully find a sponsor, submit an application, and get the club approved today! What was taking us months of time as we attempted to start the club separately took mere weeks when we all came together to be a team.

VT Seva Innovation Academy Youth Club is established on Aug 23rd, 2023. It’s a historic day as Chandrayan 3 landed on South Pole of the moon today and our VT Seva youths have also made history by establishing a youth club in the private Highschool. This is our 6th VT Seva youth club in Atlanta. It wasn’t easy for our youths to establish a club in a private Highschool but their persistence, never giving up attitude, and strong desire to serve others did soft landing cheering all Atlanta youths!

We had a very collaborative meeting for Alpharetta High School’s VT Seva Club on August 18th, 2023. The participants learned all about the leaders and what the club does, like cleaning up parks, writing thank you cards, visiting old age homes and more. The members also learned about our programs like the presidential award and summer programs. The highlight of the meeting was getting to collaborate with the members on what future events we should plan. This was very important to the leaders as we want to create a comfortable and welcoming environment for the members, while getting to explore for more ideas for activities in the future. It was a very successful meeting.

After gathering to make pins to sell at the independence day event, members of VT Seva gathered at a stall and put out a word for both VT Seva and raising funds for disabled education in India. Before setting up the booth, members participated in the flag march. Members held up the flag to show their pride in India and its independence. After the flag march, members set up the booth and offered face painting, the flag badges, and tulsi plants. This also advertised for our Subha event coming up in October. In total 50 youths and adults participated in this event. They split into groups. 3 groups walked around the event center to advertise Vt Seva and make sales. While the 3 groups were doing this, 2 groups were at the booth. One group made sales and another handled face painting and henna. By advertising VT Seva also gained new members as well as making sales. During the event, youths came up with new ways to do advertising, and innovative strategies. These strategies worked and raised more funds.

In commemoration of Bharat’s 77th Independence Day, VT SEVA Atlanta youth participated in a badge-making event. All of the students collaborated on creating 3 different Indian flag-themed badges. Although each flag took a lot of teamwork to create, all the students felt it was worth it in the end! The students expressed how this was a creative way to honor Bharath. Over 100 different flags were created in such a short amount of time! The team received much applause from those who purchased the badges during the Independence Day parade on August 15th, 2023.

VT Seva Innovation Academy Youth Club is established on Aug 23rd, 2023. It’s a historic day as Chandrayan 3 landed on South Pole of the moon today and our VT Seva youths have also made history by establishing a youth club in the private Highschool. This is our 6th VT Seva youth club in Atlanta. It wasn’t easy for our youths to establish a club in a private Highschool but their persistence, never giving up attitude, and strong desire to serve others did soft landing cheering all Atlanta youths!

VT Seva Atlanta participated in Dental Workshop on Aug 1st, 2023. It’s a fantastic workshop in which 40 Atlanta youths learned from Dr. Praveen Gudipati and his team of hygienists, and dental assistants provided an overview of the dental care process, patient diagnosis & treatment, HIPPA rules, and career opportunities in the dentistry field. Doctor and his team were highly impressed with the inquisitiveness of our youths and gave us the opportunity to collaborate and provide shadowing/internship opportunities to our youths in the future. Overall, it’s a great hands-on learning experience for the Atlanta VT Seva team. We’ll arrange more such hands-on experiences for our youths in the future!

VT SEVA CEO, His Holiness Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji visited Atlanta on July 19th and 20th 2023. It’s an auspicious occasion for all the VT Seva and Jet Atlanta members to welcome the Humanitarian Leader, Vedic Scholar, Spiritual Mentor, and Padma Bhushan Awardee. His benign presence filled the environment with sunshine, it’s a true blessings for all. As He step down from His van, devotees ran towards Him to have Darshan of their beloved Acharya and bow down in His Holy feet. All the Atlanta volunteers welcomed Him with flowers and soon He visited VT Seva Booth in which He enquired about the tri-color ‘Equality Soap’ made by our youths and VT Seva calendar. He took one soap and a calendar and was very pleased to see both the things made by VT Seva youth and asked us to share this calendar with other VT Seva locations.