Atlanta VT Seva Summer Camp Orientation was held on May 28th, 2023. With 150+ students registered for the Online Summer Camp teaching elementary and advanced classes. Elementary Classes such as Math, ELA, Art, Chess, Robotics, Dance, and Taekwondo. Advanced Classes such as Python, Web Design, App Building, Advanced Art, Advanced Robotics, Advanced Dance, and Business & Entrepreneurship. Approx. 50 Youths will be wearing Tutor Hats and delivering Math, ELA, Art, Chess, Python, Web Design & Cyber Security, Dance, Taekwondo, Robotics, Business Entrepreneurship, and App Building lessons. They will work with the certified professionals and SME’s at the back end, it’s our Youth Empowerment Initiative.

VT Seva Atlanta celebrates National Police Week & pay tribute to the brave men & women in duty to keep our communities and families safe. Police Chief, Mark Mitchell, Sergeant Dimitri Caldwell, Sergeant Colin Belisle, Officer Dominique, Officer Jennis, Officer Hall, and Officer Gray attended the ceremony today. Also, Erin Elwood and Dilip Tunki, Johns Creek City Councilwoman and Councilman attended the function. They rendered PVSA Awards to our 37 Atlanta youths and were highly impressed with the service attitude & service projects of Atlanta VT Seva youths. We have built partnerships with the Johns Creek Police department and Johns Creek City Council members and soon will be launching collaborative projects with them. Atlanta VT Seva held PVSA Award Ceremony and Police appreciation event along with City council meet at Johns Creek City Council building on May 20, 2023. Dr. Madhu Nemani delivered the welcome note, appreciating the youths, police officers, volunteers and went over the initiative and projects done by the Atlanta youths. A beautiful and well-prepared video by our youth Nikhila was played to the audience which showcased all the great work out Atlanta youth has done during the year. All the Cards prepared by our youths for the police officers were also on display at the event. Council members, Police Sergeant and Dr. Madhu Nemani discussed some projects that will provide an opportunity for our youths to do more for the community. Further, Sergeant Dimitri Police gave the tour of gave a tour of Johns Creek Police Department and youths had the opportunity to ask questions and learn more about Johns Creek police department. It was also discussed to provide an opportunity for the other youths to have such tours to gain insight into the police officers day to day work. The event was concluded by thanking all the Police officers, city council members and volunteers for taking their valuable time out of their busy schedule to be present and making the event successful. Police officers were provided with Yummy Pizza and refreshments as a token of appreciation for their dedication and commitment in serving the community. We are very proud of 37 youths and 1 adult volunteer who were recognized for their contribution in serving the community during the year 2022 with Gold, Silver and Bronze Presidential Volunteer Service Awards. These awards were presented by the Police officers and Council members and each awardee also received a water bottle from the Police officers.

Atlanta VT Seva Team visits Laurel Heights Hospital May 19th, 2023. Corey Jackson, CEO of the Laurel Heights appreciated the work that Atlanta VT Seva does and also looking forward for the Summer Camp collaboration with the VT Seva youths. Dr. Smitha Batulla and Dr. O also appreciated the service work done by Atlanta team in last couple of years since 2021. Sonya Rice, Business Development Director of Laurel Heights truly appreciated the thoughtful cards for Special Needs kids and Laurel Heights Doctor’s and staff members. VT Seva and Laurel Heights collaboration has taken a new dimension by starting summer classes for the special needs kids of the hospital to engage them productively during their treatment at the hospital.

The Atlanta VT Seva April Cool Plant Project participants organized another successful plant sale during mothers day weekend. This time too it achieved tremendous success! VT Seva's young volunteers goal was to raise funds to support the education of visually impaired children in India. The final sales for our fundraising event took place on May 13th and 14th, from 10 AM to 2 PM, right in front of Patel Brothers, the Indian grocery store. Approximately 22 young VT Seva volunteers and 15 adults enthusiastically participated in the event. The youth effectively communicated the cause to customers and successfully sold a variety of vegetable saplings, herbs, fruits, flower plants, and seeds. The vegetable saplings were carefully nurtured by the young volunteers for 4-6 weeks and included a range of crops such as tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, gourds, green chilies, cucumbers, tomatillos, zucchini, chikkudu beans, long beans, ash gourd, chukka kura, dosakaya, and bathua, among others. Fruit plants like strawberries and banana were also available for purchase, along with a diverse selection of herbs like ajwain, mint, curry leaf, lemon grass, betel leaf, tulsi, and basil. The youth also offered flower plants including canna lilies, mini roses, ginger lillies, hybiscus, various lilies, and chrysanthemums. The event featured the sale of vegetable seeds as well. This year, we raised 8k from this plant sale event. Witnessing the active involvement and contributions of the community was truly exhilarating, as they rallied together to support the education of visually challenged and blind children in India. Furthermore, by supporting the growing community of gardeners, VT Seva was able to contribute to sustainability and Eco friendliness with this initiative.

We are delighted to announce that Atlanta VT Seva participated in the Card Making event at Sharon Folks Library on May 6 2023. The numerous volunteers showed their appreciation for front-line heroes such as police officers, firefighters, state representatives, and doctors by creating over 60 personalized thank-you cards for them. They also made cards for special needs kids as well. These front-line heroes play a critical role in helping our society whenever there is a crisis. They risk their own life to make sure we are safe. We are very proud of these volunteers for taking the time out of their day to make sure that these heroes are recognized for the amazing work that they do. Hopefully, this event inspires others to take action and support our front-line workers.

VTS Denmark started Card Making project for the Henry County graduating Highschool Seniors. They will be making congratulatory cards for the graduating seniors in Henry County's Kids in Transition program, which supports these homeless/fostered students transition to becoming more independent as they move beyond high school. Last year, they made 60 special cards. This year, they made 50 cards for making seniors’ day a little bit more special for them. Kudos to all the Denmark youths for making motivating and inspirational cards for the homeless / fostered seniors of Henry county.

Atlanta VT Seva team has organized a CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) session on April 30th, 2023 at the Cumming Library in Forsyth County. The main objectives behind this CPR session are to share CPR insights, provide hands-on training, and assist youths and adults in practicing CPR. This CPR session started with an Atlanta VT SEVA 2021-2022 Initiatives & Activities video exhibiting various service projects in 2022 and 2023 by the Atlanta VT Seva team. This CPR session was facilitated by Dr. Jawahar Gazzala, Atlanta Heart Specialist, Cardiologist by profession, and Sumir Nemani, GA Tech CPR-certified student. Dr. Jawahar first shared the American Heart Association (AHA) CPR guidelines, dos and don’ts of CPR, 3 Cs of CPR (check patient, call 911, and start chest compressions), what to do when you see people having cardiac assets in public places, and much more. Later Dr. Jawahar and Sumir gave CPR live demonstrations of 1 Person CPR on a practice dummy and all children and adults practiced with them using their pillows assuming their pillows to be human bodies. They also went over how to do 2 personal CPR and helped our youth and adults practice it. They urged everyone to register in CPR classes and become CPR Certified, as it's an important life skill to have which can save somebody’s life in case of emergency. Overall, it was a fantastic CPR session in which we had over 90 participants in-person. In the end, each participant who attended was given a certificate of participation and a cheat sheet of what to do regarding CPR. It was great to see our VT Seva community learn the valuable skill to save someone’s life.

VT Seva Alliance Academy Youth Club wrote Letters of Love to the Ukrainian refugees to instill hope and demonstrate in a personalized way that each refugee is not alone during this hardship. The refugees highly appreciated the mindfulness and kindness of Alliance Academy youth. They have received a Certificate of Appreciation and a Thank You Letter from the Ukrainian Authorities.

We're proud to announce that Atlanta VT Seva celebrated World Earth Day by making a difference in the lives of those in need. We organized a project to create plastic sleeping mats for homeless people using recycled plastic bags. Our event at the East Roswell Library saw a fantastic turnout of 40 VT Seva youth and adults from Atlanta. Our volunteers collected plastic bags from their homes and neighbors to create comfortable sleeping mats for those who are experiencing homelessness. In addition to making a difference in the community, our participants shared their views on how to reduce plastic pollution and make the best out of waste. It's inspiring to see so many young people take action and work towards a cleaner, healthier planet. We're proud of the hard work and dedication of our Atlanta VT Seva team, and we look forward to continuing to make a positive impact in our community.

During the month of April, Alliance Academy VT Seva Youths participated in a Mental Health week from April 18th-April 21st. Throughout the week, Kate Chirapornsuk (Vice President) and Suveer Jaisingha (Public Relations Officer) created content on Instagram that promoted healthier living and pushed a focus on better Mental Health. Those activities included tips on how to manage stress, a mental health check-in, and various discussion questions such as: “What are you grateful for?” and “How do you like to manage stress?” This gave AAI VT Seva members and students the opportunity to discuss and share their feelings about the topic. On Thursday, April 20th, Alliance VT Seva Executive Officers went around their school to interview fellow students and teachers about their thoughts on mental health-related topics about how they are, what they are grateful for, and how they manage stress. To end the Mental Health Week, on Friday, April 21st, Alliance Academy VT Seva hosted a Mental Health Workshop discussing healthy study habits and learning about managing stress. The workshop idea was created by Rishi Vempati (President) and then was planned and hosted by Kate Chirapornsuk and Aviral Gupta (Vice Presidents). The vice presidents invited guest speakers, Mr. Neighbor and Mrs. Kim Han, counselors at Alliance Academy to the workshop. There, they went over topics about exam preparation, confidence building, and the importance of maintaining a positive outlook. Then, officers served a light breakfast of pastries, juice, and coffee to those who attended the workshop. All foods and beverages were provided and set up by the Yotakhong/Chirapornsuk Family and Karnav Trivedi (Treasurer).

Atlanta VT Seva April cool plant project was a grand success for the third year in a row. Vt seva youth successfully raised funds for the education of blind children/visually challenged children in India. The sale event took place in front of the Indian grocery store, Patel Brothers on 15th and 16th April from 10am to 2pm. Around 60 VT youth volunteers and 40 adult volunteers participated. Youth explained the cause and sold various vegetable saplings, herbs, fruits, flower plants and seeds to the customers. The vegetable saplings were grown by the youth for 4-6 weeks.The vegetable saplings included tomato, eggplant, peppers, gourds (bottle, ridge, bitter, and snake) green chillies, cucumber, zucchini, chikkudu/papdi beans, long beans, ash gourd, chukka kura, dosakaya, and bathua etc. Fruit plants like strawberry and blackberry were sold. Different kinds of herbs like ajwain, mint, curryleaf, lemon grass, betel leaf, tulsi and basil were sold by the youth. Flower plants like canna lillies, hybiscus, other lillies, and chrysanthemums were also sold. Youth also sold some ornamental plants like pothos, monstera and tradescantia. Some vegetable seeds were sold in this sale event too. Several sponsors came forward and donated this year. It was really exciting to see community actively participate in this event and donate for the cause, raising money for the education of visually challenged/blind children in India.

VTS Denmark Youth Club started off 2023 with a service project dedicated to those beings who are in constant need of attention and care. We organized a drive to collect supplies for the Forsyth County Animal Shelter. Items collected included hand sanitizer, pet wipes, Clorox, dog and cat food, and dog and cat toys. We collected over 30 items and gave them to the animal shelter on April 12th.

VTS Denmark Youth Club started off 2023 with a service project dedicated to those beings who are in constant need of attention and care. We organized a drive to collect supplies for the Forsyth County Animal Shelter. Items collected included hand sanitizer, pet wipes, Clorox, dog and cat food, and dog and cat toys. We collected over 30 items and gave them to the animal shelter on April 12th.

From April 5-6, 2023, Lambert VT Seva students volunteered at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store. This thrift store allows the needy to have access to clothes and other products FOR FREE. Many products are kindly donated, and the products in good condition are put out for sale. We are glad to have helped out there; the store was very neat and orderly. It also had a wide variety of good quality products. When volunteering there, we volunteered in small groups for 2 hours each. Everyone was given various tasks to help keep the store in order. Some of the things we did were vacuuming the floor, rearranging products, tagging clothes, steaming the clothes, taking out the trash, helping at the front desk, etc. It was a very unique and fun experience!

Overall, Atlanta youths had a great interactive session where they got the insights on waste water treatment process, dewatering, recycling, wastewater landscape and much more… We have build good relationship & partnership with the Johns creek environmental officials and they were thrilled to see our youths participation and feedback from the last tour. We all had fun, got color changing water bottles as a gift from them, and went home with some really good take-homes. As a VT Seva team, we gave them VT Seva Calendar, Brochure, and hand-made Thank you cards. They have never heard about VT Seva before, but now it’s in their minds and they want our youths to come forward and collaborate & help them in their research projects.