We are all in this together!
Covid-19: a term we have all come to dread in 2020! The global pandemic led to lockdowns, stay-at-home orders & online classes, and on a more serious scale, job losses, numerous fatalities & hospitalizations leading to front-line workers everywhere being stressed & strained. During these trying times, the Srivatsan family (Detroit VT Seva), was eager to volunteer to help ease the situation in any way they could. All the volunteering organizations like Gleaner’s & Forgotten Harvest had cancelled their regular activities. The school district was turning away requests to volunteer to ensure student safety. This situation prompted this family of very active and eager volunteers to think of other ways to help.
The two daughters Shreya Srivatsan, a freshman at the University of Michigan and her younger sister Saisha Srivatsan, an eighth grader at Larson Middle School, started making hand-written Thank You cards with messages of appreciation for the ER staff at Troy Beaumont Hospital and for officers of the Troy Police Department.
On the weekends, they would sometimes bake cinnamon rolls, cookies and tater tots with the help of their mom (Nirmala) and grandma (Jayalakshmi) and deliver them to these frontline workers. At other times, they would deliver bagels and coffee.
Their mom started making masks for the Gleaner’s employees, and Saisha also actively campaigned for a GoFundMe page that was created by the Detroit youth board to benefit a local hospital.
Additionally, Saisha and her dad have signed up to run a virtual 6K in May to benefit Covid efforts.
All members of this family have been awarded the Presidential Volunteer Service Award with Shreya and Saisha both having received the award for 3 consecutive years. They are always looking for volunteering opportunities and never cease to engage. May their enthusiasm be everlasting!
VT Seva raised funds and supporting local communities across USA by providing 100,000+ meals through local food banks, 17,000+ N-95 masks to hospitals in highly impacted cities to protect doctors, nurses and other Healthcare staff. Read more. If you would like to join our ongoing efforts, donate here.