When we think of community, we often think of the people who we interact and surround ourselves with - the people who we connect with and learn from. However, the animals which we see in our daily life are equally a part of our world, shaping nature in their own ways while bringing a sense of wonder and beauty into our lives. Whether they are in the wild, in our homes, or waiting to receive care in shelters, each animal deserves warmth and compassion 🐈🐕🐇 Just as their presence may often bring us comfort and optimism, we can do the same for them through acts of care and kindness. Implementing this thought on March 23, 2025, South Forsyth VT Seva youths (SFHS) launched a project to create warm, handmade blankets for animal shelters. More than 30 volunteers came forward to help in making and stitching squares into comfortable blankets to donate to the ‘Feral Cat’ Program of North Georgia 🐈🐈 Our original goal was to make 2 blankets, considering time constraints. With excellent teamwork and dedication, our volunteers exceeded the goal and made 4 blankets for the cats. As cats are being adopted, they will be given these blankets for a sense of familiarity, comfort, and security as they transition to their new homes. 𝙒𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 ‘𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝘾𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨’ 𝙖𝙣𝙙 ‘𝙁𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝘾𝙖𝙩 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢’ 𝙤𝙛 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙂𝙚𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙖 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨!

West Forsyth High School youth club participated in Meals by Grace for Sunday Service on March 18, 2025. The team helped out in numerous ways including helping set up early, sorting through produce, bread, and loading cars up for delivery services. The West forsyth VT Seva youth club team contributed to making sure that families in need would have their groceries all set for this upcoming week. It was a great success.

𝐎𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟏𝟓𝐭𝐡 , 𝐕𝐓 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐬 had the opportunity to showcase their artistic talent yet another one in raising funds for Nethra kids with the "𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞" initiative. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐰𝐚 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐔𝐒𝐀 for letting us have a booth during 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐢 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 at Cumming Fair Grounds. Many guests showed up at our booth and showed interest in knowing about VT Seva and the youth clubs in Atlanta. With kind hearted souls making purchase of the artwork at the booth 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 $𝟐𝟐𝟓 thus far this year towards "Art for a cause".

𝐎𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟗𝐭𝐡, 𝐕𝐓 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚 Lambert High School youth leaders hosted an educational workshop on 3𝑫 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔. This event marked the first in a series of workshops focused on these cutting-edge technologies, with 𝟐𝟗 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟏𝟎 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. During the workshop, participants were introduced to the history of 3D printing and laser engraving, as well as how these technologies are applied 𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 🩺, 𝙟𝙚𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 💎, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙮 🍛. The session also explored innovative ways in which 3D printing can contribute to sustainability by recycling and repurposing plastic waste 🍶, including bottles and other forms of plastic. The laser engraving segment covered important safety precautions, types of laser engraving and cutting methods, and the fascinating process of layering colors to create intricate artwork. Additionally, attendees were inspired by a presentation on 3𝘿 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 🛰️, 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙖 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙂𝙚𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙖 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙏𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙮 (𝙂𝘼 𝙏𝙚𝙘𝙝), who shared exciting current and future projects using 3D printing concepts. The workshop concluded with a hands-on experience where participants got to witness live 3D printing in action and explore a variety of 3D printed and laser-engraved products. To close the event, the Lambert youth leaders launched the𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞’ 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 🎨, 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 $𝟑𝟓 for the education of Nethra students. Their goal is to raise funds 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬s, and so far, they have raised a total of $195. It’s 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 are tirelessly working to empower their Nethra friends and make a difference! ✌️✌️✌️

Atlanta VTS youth participated in the 𝟏𝟐𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓. The festival is currently underway through March 22, offering 140 exciting events for both children and adults! Georgia Tech has organized this festival with engaging hands-on activities for all ages, covering a wide range of topics, including robotics, biology, space, art, and more. 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟏𝟓 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟏𝟎 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐕𝐓 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐚, 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐬, 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲. It’s great that VT Seva Atlanta is fostering curiosity and creativity among youth, providing them with hands-on experiences that will help shape their understanding of science & innovation and motivate them to build models for the welfare of the community!

On March 8th, about 10 members team from West Forsyth High School VT Seva Youth Club did amazing service at The Place at Forsyth. The Place is an organization that relies on donations from outsiders, and they repurpose old clothes, furniture, accessories, appliances, and more to sell in their thrift store. Then, anyone, including underprivileged families can come and buy things for very affordable prices. The organization also sponsors and helps out families that are in need and struggling. Today, our team of volunteers made a big impact by sorting through many bags of clothes to go in the thrift store. It was a successful day!

On March 2, 2025, around 35 VT Seva Atlanta youth volunteers enthusiastically participated in the Atlanta Brannon Road cleaning initiative. After the winter break, we resumed our community service efforts, marking this as the second road adopted by VT Seva for ongoing service. We are incredibly proud of our youth for their dedication and commitment to this selfless community service initiative.

🎉🎉 VT Seva Atlanta SPARK Youth Board visited Georgia Capital on Feb 28, 2025 🎉🎉 The ATL Youth Board interacted with the GA House of Representatives & Senators about Georgia legislative & school system. Our youths presented their views for the further enhancing and elevating Forsyth county schools. They participated in the Capitol tour, saw senate proceedings in action 🇺🇸✌️🇺🇸 The VT Seva Atlanta SPARK Youth Board’s visit to the Georgia Capitol is an excellent example of young people taking an active role in shaping their community. It’s inspiring to see that the senators, including Todd Jones, Shawn Still, and Carter Barrett, appreciated the feedback and are now open to collaborating with Atlanta VT Seva on future Atlanta projects. It seems like the youth board is making a real impact in Atlanta - truly a great step towards creating positive change!

VT SEVA Lakeside Youth Club was established on Feb 26, 2025. This youth club is dedicated to serving our community while helping students build leadership & teamwork skilled along with service mindset. Throughout the year, they will participate in meaningful events in 4 pillars VT Seva - Education, Environment, Disater Relief, and Healthcare. They main projects will be Adopt-a-Road cleanups, Meals by Grace food drives, Senior living Community services, Disaster relief activities, Educational seminars, and much more. VT SEVA Lakeside youth club also proves an opportunity to enhance your interpersonal skills, connecting you with a larger network of student volunteers across the region. Beyond service, this club is a great place to make friends, develop leadership skills, and work together toward a common goal of helping others. The objective of this club is Volunteering Together For Service and make a difference, one event at a time!

On February 16, 2025, VT Seva Atlanta organized the ‘Bird Feeder’ activity to celebrate ‘𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡.’ More than 30 enthusiastic youths created their brilliant multicolor bird feeders 🦜🕊️🦆🦚🦩🪿🦤 As part of VT Seva’s 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫, this initiative supports bird care and preservation by providing them with safe feeding spaces, fostering a harmonious connection between youth and nature 🪴🪺 Beyond environmental protection, this event also contributed to VT Seva’s Education Pillar, as we raised funds for the ‘ 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞 ’ program. This year, on the occasion of 𝐔𝐠𝐚𝐝𝐢 , Atlanta youth are extending a heartfelt 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡-𝐭𝐨-𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 Connect by offering 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐦 to Nethra Vidyalaya students for eight consecutive days, from 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟒 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟑𝟏. Last year, this initiative helped feed students for four days—this year, we are proud to extend that support to eight days. 🎉🎉🎉 Through this activity, VT Seva also strengthens its Youth 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫, encouraging young volunteers to take an active role in community service and environmental stewardship. Their commitment reflects the true spirit of VT Seva - protecting nature, empowering youth, and uplifting communities ✌️✌️✌️

On 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟓𝐭𝐡, 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚 𝐕𝐓 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐬 visited Phoenix senior living community to celebrate Valentine's Day 💞 More than 20 Atlanta youths spread the Valentine cheers with the seniors by singing and riddles related to Valentine theme and thereby creating good memories for seniors. They made 40 goodie bags with love for the seniors to lift their spirits. Towards the end of the event, youths gave goodie bags to the seniors which consists of handwritten Valentine’s Day messages in a card 💝, handmade friendship bracelet 🤝 and a sweet treat 🍫.

On February 9, 2025, 𝐕𝐓 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚 organized a "𝑩𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑶𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑾𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆" ♼ project to celebrate the 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆’𝒔 𝑫𝒂𝒚. Around 40 youths participated and creatively repurposed the cardboards📦, old CDs💿, and papers to build beautiful flower vases and flowers 💐. These handmade gifts will be shared with their loved ones, promoting the spirit of love and sustainability on this Valentine 💌. The activity has energized our youth and enhanced their creativity, teamwork, sustainable living, and sharing spirit!

A youth-led SAT Bootcamp was started by the Atlanta VT Seva youths on February 8, 2025. The curriculum was designed for the 12 structured sessions focused on SAT Math & ELA syllabus. This is a great opportunity for the Atlanta youths to share their knowledge and experience with their juniors and also enhance their leadership and communications skills. It’s a cost effective SAT Bootcamp to help the needy as each student has paid $150 for 6 weeks sessions. The youth tutors will help the students with test-taking strategies, identifying areas for improvement, providing practice materials, and help them in time management skills during the exam. There are total 9 students registered for this bootcamp. Total 5 high school youths with the SAT score of 1560 and up are going to be their tutors to help them in enhancing their test taking skills. There was an orientation session on Feb 6th via zoom to share the structure, curriculum, and timeline of the bootcamp. Atlanta youths have raised $1350 which they would like to donate for the education of their Nethra friends in India!

VT Seva West Forsyth High School VT Seva youth members volunteered at the Vickery Creek Middle School International Food Festival on February 7, 2025. The event turned out to be an excellent cultural night. The event had up to 150+ attendees with many being parents and students. Many kids had food booths set up to represent different countries from around the world. Our 11 volunteers helped make this event smoother by helping decorate tables, greeting guests, helping with clean up, and hanging up decorations around the building. They gave VT Seva brochures to the students and many students showed interest to join this youth club. They were impressed by our club activities.

Then this one from Hendricks middle school activity - In recognition of Valentine’s Day, the members of the Hendricks VT Seva Club assembled goodie bags for our Teachers, Staff, and Custodians. On Wednesday, February 5th, 2025, we hosted an instructional meeting to describe our activity and ask our club members to pitch in for the materials required to execute the activity. From February 6th through 11th, our members collected supplies. On February 12th, our club members collaborated to make goodie bags, each bag containing a stuffed animal keychain, two lollipops, and a bookmark. Each bookmark had 1-2 stickers and two messages. On one side of the bookmark, we wrote “Happy Valentine’s Day!”, and on the other side, we wrote “Thank you for everything you do! - HMS VT Seva Club”. On February 13th, we finished assembling the rest of the goodie bags, which totaled to 124 bags, and took them to the front office with our sponsor. There, the people at the front office took a picture of the goodie bags and all the members of our club who came to deliver the goodie bags.