Please welcome Seattle's new youth board for 2022-2023 school year. Every year, we follow a democratic process for the board elections with candidates providing their vision for the board and fielding questions from all of the youth club members and parents. This year was no exception. We had all the propsective board members provide a video response to the prompt: How will they improve diversity and inclusion within the youth club? We played all of the video responses at the election event and had each candidate take questions from the audience. In the end, we are happy to announce the following youth board for the Seattle branch which takes effective immediately. Yashita Tanwar - President Nikhil Chivukula and Ananya Suthram - Co-Vice Presidents Vibha Velturi - Secretary Yashwant Piratla - Head of Relations

DESC is a local organization which helps house homeless in apartments until they are able to be self-sufficient. We have supported DESC through our 5k walkathon in 2021 raising $5k for the cause. In addition to this, our youth recently participated in a gratitude exercise by writing thank you note cards to some of the donors of DESC - around 100 cards. In addition to thank you notes, volunteers made hand-made bracelets to include with the thank you cards to show our gratitude to the donors.

Our VT seva youth performing at memory care center (Personalized and compassionate care provided by highly trained staff for residents living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia). Our volunteers played pieces on piano (both classical and jazz); this helped residents reconnect to their memories and bring joy to them. This is an ongoing event as VTSEVA is invited to perform at this center every other sunday.

Seattle VTSEVA along with Sewa International and HSS conducted the annual 5k walkathon at Marymoor Park. The proceeds from the walk were donated to the local Native American community for women empowerment. As part of the walkathon, elders from Duwamish tribe were the chief guest for the event and they explained how the land is built on a legacy of Native American leaders for the last hundreds of years. They implored all the participants to honor the legacy of the ancestors by preserving the nature around us. Close to 120 participants took part in the 5k walkathon. Participants also celebrated India's 75th Independence Day at the strike of midnight IST.

On july 29th, Seattle VTSEVA youth volunteers celebrated International Friendship Day with local community police in Sammamish City. Youth volunteers made special hand bracelets for this event which they used to tie like a "rakhi" to the members of our city police and the youth got to learn all the ways the city helps to keep our communities safe. Sammamish city police was very grateful for the hand-made bracelets signifying our community friendship and were appreciative of the lunch we provided.

Seattle youth volunteers participated in Seedlings for Education project by raising and selling plants within the community in the months of May and June. Youth members raised Jasmine, Rose, Tomato, Beans, and Chukka koora plants. All these plants were sold at various events such as Annual Prajna Day, Veda temple, and local neighborhood stalls. As part of this effort, team raised $1550 towards education pillar of VTSEVA.

Our youth volunteers, Pranav Sandadi and Anoushka Manica, performed musical pieces for residents at Fieldstone Memory Care Center in Issaquah. The music of Chopin/Mozart on Piana and Carnatic pieces on Veena brough smiles to all the residents there.

As part of our commitment to local communities, VTSEVA Seattle youth participated in an adopt-a-road event in Sammamish. We cleaned the roads and picked up recyclable items and trash as part of this effort.

VTSEVA Seattle youth volunteers participated in community engagement by volunteering at Downtown Emergency Services Center (DESC). Volunteers helped unload and sort through donations for homeless shelters in Seattle downtown. All these items help DESC setup new homes for people in need within our communities.

VT Seattle had a wonderful weekend of events for the Earth Day celebrations: one in East Sammamish park and one in McCollum park. More than 20+ volunteers helped restore native habitat in these two parks.

On Saturday, December 11, VT Seva youth and adult volunteers packaged holiday cards for the homeless as part of the DESC support program. DESC is a Seattle based organization that works to provide housing, emotional and healthcare support to the homeless people in Seattle. As an organization, they not only provide a house for stability but also provide mental health support, substance use support and financial support. To help DESC in their inspiring initiative, VT Seva Seattle volunteers packaged 1000 holiday cards that consisted of handmade cards and a gift card. These holiday cards are very significant for each and every person receiving them as it may be the only gift they receive during the holiday season.

Partnered with Northwest Harvest to do a canned food drive in Seattle area. We raised 630 pounds of canned food as of 11/24. Event will continue till 11/30.

This October, as a part of Microsoft's Give Campaign, VTSEVA Seattle conducted corporate volunteering activities to spread awareness and raise funds. Microsoft employees spent a couple of hours out of their busy workdays to come craft cards and learn about VTSEVA's mission and impact. Employees created motivational and heart-warming cards for the underprivileged and visually challenged students in the Netra Vidyalaya and Jeeyar Gurukulam schools. About 70 members joined, contributing 100+ hours.

On September 25 and 26, members of the Seattle VT Seva team helped clean up the local Veda Temple's garden as part of the Adopt a Temple Garden project. As part of this program, our team is going to clean all the shrubs and weeds from the temple's beautiful garden, and maintain it throughout all seasons in the future. Here is a comment we received from temple management: “Kiran Ji - on behalf of VEDA I would like to express our sincere thanks to all the energetic young volunteers and parents who came and did a excellent job of cleaning the garden area of the temple this weekend. Please convey our wishes and prayers for all their good health, happiness, and prosperity. Thanks to VT Seva and you for organizing this noble activity!" We are very excited to continue this project in the future, and thanks to everybody who participated in this weekend's event!

Appreciating the Selfless Workers To recognize some of the selfless heroes who have been working long days and nights to make life for everyone easier, are the amazing workers at United States Postal Service and the Waste Management of Seattle. In order to honor and appreciate all that they have been doing before and during the pandemic, VT Seva Seattle volunteers created handmade cards and gave gifts to the USPS and WM workers in their neighborhoods. The smiles on each person who received the personal gifts were heartwarming and full of happiness! Some of our volunteers learned more about the workers and their personal lives while some, like Pranav, learned how difficult and stressful their job has been during the pandemic. Some workers also shared how many of them have had to work overtime during the pandemic due to extra covid precautions. We are so thankful to all the workers at USPS and Seattle WM and are so glad that we got the opportunity to appreciate and recognize some of the hardworking people!