From *November 1 to November 24, 2024, VT Seva Atlanta organized its annual **Food Donation Drive Prada:n* to support individuals and families in need. The initiative witnessed incredible generosity from our donors and active participation by VT Youth. Together, we successfully collected and donated approximately *1,500 lbs of food* 🥫🍞 to local food bank, providing nourishment to many in our community. This effort highlights the compassion ❤️ and commitment 💪 of our Atlanta VT Youth, who are determined to make a difference and ensure that no one goes to bed hungry. Every contribution, big or small, plays a vital role in spreading hope 🌟 and fostering unity 🤝. At VT Seva, we believe that together, we can create a brighter, more compassionate future. Thank you 🙏 to everyone who supported this mission!

Join us in spreading kindness this season! Share your Acts of Kindness and inspire others to make compassion a part of everyday life. Here are some simple ways to participate: 🌟 𝐀𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 * Help your parents or siblings * Do a household chore without being asked 🌟 𝐀𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 * Appreciate essential workers, teachers, or custodians * Help a classmate who needs support 🌟 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 * Spend time with seniors in assisted living * Donate food or essentials to those in need * Let someone go ahead of you in line * Any act that makes someone’s day brighter! We will create a collage and video showcasing all the wonderful Acts of Kindness from our Atlanta youth as a special year-end gratitude message. ✨ 𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞: To encourage our youth to practice kindness daily and build a habit of uplifting others. 📌 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐢𝐧: https://forms.gle/Vc7L9ojvgYiBExZBA 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭—𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫!🍁🎄🤝

Atlanta VT Seva 30 youth members participated in the Meals By Grace event on November 17, 2024 in which they sorted, packed, loaded food items for the needy families of Georgia. These families are in desperate need of food items to take care of their children. We are very happy to help the needy families of Georgia so that their children can go to bed Happy not Hungry. It’s a great gratifying experience for us 🙏

On **November 9th**, VT Seva ATLANTA organized a special workshop to address the vital connection between mental health and physical well-being. Led by **Dr. Smitha** and **Dr. Nandini**, the session explored the impact of obesity on mental health and highlighted the importance of nurturing one’s physical, emotional, and spiritual self. Participants gained valuable insights into managing stress, preventing anxiety and depression, and adopting healthier lifestyle habits. The interactive discussion emphasized that prioritizing mental health and addressing obesity are key steps toward a balanced and fulfilling life. The workshop provided practical takeaways for attendees, inspiring them to embrace self-care and continue making a positive impact within their communities. Together, let’s strive for a healthier and stronger future!

🍫🍫🍫Awesome VT Seva Candy Drive leaders! Special shout out for Rithvi, 7th grader from Desanna Middle school and her brother Vidur for donating their candies and collecting more than 100lbs candies from their schools and neighborhood🎉🎉 We convey our heart-felt appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Praveen Gudipati of Cumming Dental for always being very supportive to VT Seva projects. He will deliver all our candies to the US Troops on the borders. He has donated $1000 for the visually challenged kids of Bharath 🙏🏻🙏🏻 VT Seva team has build a strong relationship with Cumming Dental and next year we will do more collaborative projects with them 🤝🤝🤝

VT Seva Atlanta has organized a Dental Workshop on Oct 24, 2024 to provide hands-on training to our Atlanta youths. Around 20 youths participated in this workshop organized by Dr. Praveen & Dr. Vivek of Cumming Dental. In this Dental workshop, youths learned - - Dental care process start to finish - ⁠Procedures & X-rays - ⁠Sterilization of instruments - ⁠Patient privacy (HIPPA) - ⁠Brushing, flossing, and taking good care of their dental hygiene - ⁠Careers & Opportunities in the Dentistry field In a nutshell, it’s a great hands-on pragmatic learning for our Atlanta youths. Handful of youths were interested to pursue their career in the field of dentistry and found this workshop very useful and beneficial!

SUBHA 2024 was a youth-led inspiring and electrifying afternoon filled with magnificent performances and meaningful messages. The program started with the lighting up the lamp and prayers by the Prajna students. Our Guest of Honor was Mr. Krishna Kanth Vennamaneni, VT Seva Advisor and former VT Seva President. Our other guests were Mr. Corey Jackson, CEO of the Laurel Heights hospital, Dr. Sheth, Dr. Krishna Mohan and Dr. Vivek. The event began with the Emcee welcoming everyone to celebrate the spirit of service and support the cause of empowering 250 Nethra students of Bharath. Later, American national anthem was performed, honoring the opportunities provided by this country, followed by the Indian national anthem, signifying respect for our heritage. This tribute to both nations reflects our deep pride and gratitude. Afterwards, a welcome note was rendered by Dr. Madhu Nemani, VT Seva Atlanta Director by highlighting & embracing the spirit volunteerism and sharing the progress and progression of VT Seva Atlanta from 2021 to 2024. The Atlanta chapter growth is phenomenal in terms of establishment of youth clubs, activities, volunteers’ increment, and fundraising. Later, a presentation on VT SEVA Atlanta 2023-2024 activities and accomplishments was presented which represent year-round volunteer work of our youths in the field of Education, Environment, Disaster relief, and Healthcare. Thereafter a video highlighting our beneficiaries and their accomplishments were showcased. Next, was the special segment featuring our youth fundraising endeavors to empower their Nethra friends. A presentation on Animal welfare was presented by Alliance Academy youths which highlighted the importance of animal well-being and correlate it with human well-being. The best VT Seva Youth Award goes to Kaundinya Challa. The best youth club and best SUBHA 2024 contribution awards goes to Alliance Academy. The evening continued with fantastic music, dance, and instrumental performances which thrilled and delighted the audience. In addition, a heartfelt skit by Prajna students on the recent inauguration of the Hanuman statue by H.H. Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, symbolizing unity and service was portrayed. It was a joyous celebration of community spirit with enthusiastic participation from the Atlanta VT Seva family. More than 300 VT Seva volunteers attended the event and each one of them was inspired with the spirit of giving and service mindset of the youths. With Acharya’s blessings, we were able to accomplish our goal of raising funds for 250 visually challenged students of Nethra Vidyalaya. In nutshell, the SUBHA environment was truly electric from start to finish. From thrilling performances to the energy radiating messages from our vibrant youth, the event was a perfect mix of sharing, caring, and empowering ourselves and others. The joy is ours to see others in joy and we have spread this joy and happiness with all through our SUBHA Annual event on Oct 19th, 2024.

SUBHA Dress Rehearsal on October 5, 2024 - We did full dress rehearsal on Oct 5th consisting of the National Anthems, VT Seva highlights, Bollywood and classical dances, Instrumental etc. Our Subha team also discussed in detail about the decoration & fundraising by the Atlanta youth. We also discussed about the food and registration logistics of the Subha event. Overall, it’s a great teamwork of dedicated VT Seva Atlanta volunteers to celebrate the spirit of service and empower 250 Nethra students of Bharath!

Atlanta youths are spearheading SUBHA 2024 by participating in large numbers in the cultural program, fundraising, decoration, food packing etc. We finalized the program and assigned roles and responsibilities to the youth and adult leads. We practiced our cultural program items and brainstormed decoration of the hall during SUBHA event.

We gathered in the library and start creating groups for the cultural items - national anthem, Dance, Singing, Emcee etc. We also discuss the process of participation, dress code, and outside participation from music and dance schools of Atlanta!

SUBHA 2024 Kickoff Meeting at on Sep 1st, 2024 - In this meeting, we discussed - 1.⁠ ⁠Youth participation in SUBHA Cultural 2.⁠ ⁠⁠Youth participation in Fundraising for a Cause 3.⁠ ⁠⁠Youth participation in volunteering activities - decoration, stage help, tech support etc Our SUBHA 2024 goal is to empower 250 Nethra students, of Bharath and celebrate the spirit of volunteerism ✌️✌️✌️

In Celebration of India's 78th Independence Day in August 2024, Atlanta VT Seva initiated a project to highlight the achievements of 53 Bharat Ratna awardees from 1954 to the present. Throughout the month, 53 dedicated youth from VT Seva Atlanta participated by creating and sharing daily  infographics that detailed the contributions of these distinguished individuals. Due to the high level of enthusiasm and participation , we completed the presentation  of all 53 Bharat Ratna awardees and we ran out of Bharat Ratna awardees due to over response from our enthusiastic youth.We are greatly proud of their exemplary dedication and enthusiasm and look forward to their ongoing contributions to our future initiatives.

SUBHA kickoff is a start of preparing for Atlanta’s annual event. Our goal this year is to empower 250 Nethra students. Our youths and adults are super excited and we created various teams in our SUBHA Kickoff such as cultural team, decoration team, food team, fundraising team, tech support team, and communication team to work together and accomplish our goal. The theme this year is animal welfare - ‘Be the Voice of the Voiceless’!

After working together to make pins to sell at the independence day event, members of VT Seva Atlanta gathered at Gas South Arena and put out a word for both VT Seva and for 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.

VT Seva held a Graduation Ceremony on 8/11/2024 🎉🥳🎊🥳 We are very proud of everyone that helped make the 2024 Summer Camp a success. 84 Students graduated and 56 Youth Tutors were recognized for their dedication in teaching the students. The parents were in support of the students and tutors! 👏👏👏 Laurel Heights Tutors were also recognized at this event! The VT Seva team along with the Laurel Heights Hospital CEO and Director of Education truly appreciate their commitment, dedication and service mindset. VTS Summer Camp was a great memorable event. We look forward to meet you all again in summer 2025!