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VT Seva Detroit 2022: Jan to April Volunteering Activities

VT Seva Detroit completed a total of 12 individual service activities from Jan to April 2022 that included Community services, Environmental services, Appreciation to the Police department, Police tours & Drive for Detroit Homeless Shelter.

  • Oakland Food Pantry: January 29th

  • Capuchin Soup Kitchen: February 26th

  • Destined for Greatness: February 5, February 13

  • Arts & Scraps: January 3 - February 25

  • Mercado Food Bank: March 6

  • Zaman International: March 26

  • Drive for Detroit Rescue Mission

  • Food Gatherers: April 9

  • Novi Police Appreciation Lunch & Station Tour: April 10

  • Earth Day Project: April 23




Oakland Food Pantry Volunteering

Every year, more than 50 thousand people are fed 750 thousand pounds of food each year by the Oakland HOPE Food Pantry. They work daily to help package and distribute food for families in need. They help veterans, disaster survivors, hungry children, and seniors get the food they deserve.

As a volunteer-run organization, they require help to package the food each week and our VT Seva Detroit’s volunteers stepped up to undertake this responsibility. Together, we helped package enough food to feed 60 families and children. The volunteers completed many tasks to help so that they could help more people in need:

These are our wonderful volunteers who participated:

Youth: Nikhil Aerabati, Rishi Adduri, Hiba Zyna, Kushal Durga, Hrudya Kishore, Yug Patel, Supraja Pattangi, Surya Takawale, Lalitaditya Akkaraju

Adult: Zahara Begum, Giri Varadhan, Raghunath Aerabati, Anand Ranganathan, Vandana Durga, Ravinder Akkaraju, Vanitha Gopalan


Checkout our FB posts for more details about this project:

YouTube video:


Capuchin Soup Kitchen Volunteering

The Capuchin Soup Kitchen is a kitchen in Detroit that feeds people and families that are going through a hardship. They have served millions of meals since they started. They do multiple things to end poverty, hunger, and homelessness.

Our volunteers stepped up to help them in this fight against hunger and helped set up, cook, serve, and clean up the kitchens in their kitchen. Under the guidance of permanent volunteers at the kitchens, they helped feed multiple families and children:

These are our wonderful volunteers who participated:

Youth: Kushal Durga, Rishi Adduri, Sai Sahasra Namuduri, Veeksha Somula, Akshith Ashwanth

Adult: Vandana Durga, Durga Sangita, Raghunathan Namuduri, Vanitha Gopalan


Checkout our FB posts for more details about this project:

YouTube video:


Destined for Greatness Volunteering

The Ford Wellness Center hosts the Destined for Greatness program for young women and girls through mentorship and help in bad situations. They have successfully helped over 5000 people. When we volunteered, we split up into 3 groups. 17 volunteers participated volunteering in each area where they needed help in sorting, assembling, cleaning. Shadora Ford who is the founder of Destined for Greatness was in awe seeing our great help and greatly appreciated all our volunteers’ efforts. We went there twice in February back-to-back and helped them. Each group took up one part of the gym area clean-up. One sorted toys and clothes, one cleaned up items from the storage room, and one set up the clothing areas.

February 5th

Youth that participated: Nikhil Aerabati; Varun Aerabati; Abhinav Suresh; Hiba Zyna; Sathvik Tirumala Kanduri; Hrudya Kishore; Veeksha Somula; Anvika Perumalla; Sravya Saranu; Jaden Laba; Anikait Pundhir; Akshith Ashwanth.

Adults that participated: Zahara Begum; Srikanth Ramanathan; Suresh Rajan; Vandana Durga; Raghunath Aerabati; Asha Puranam; Vanitha Gopalan.


February 13th

Youth volunteers who participated: Hrudya Kishore; Surya Subramanian; Kushal Durga; Akshay Kumar; Sanjay Sundarapandiyan Srivatsa Thirunagari; Eesha chigullapally Govind Beemisetty; Sri Medha Beemisetty.

Adult volunteers who participated: Parvathee Subramaniam; Sailatha Thukkaram; Anand Renganathan; Srinathbabu Karnati; Venkat chigullapally; Kiran Beemisetty; Suresh Rajan & Vanitha Gopalan.


Checkout our FB posts for more details about this project:


Arts & Scraps Volunteering

The Arts and Scraps Detroit organization is a non-profit that provides STEM related kits to children throughout Detroit. However, to assemble each kit, they need volunteers such as ourselves. Through multiple tasks such as defuzzing sock loops and cutting foam. Through our help, they were able to provide free STEM kits to children. 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽𝘀, 𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗯𝘀, 𝗳𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗰, 𝗯𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗠 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴.

January 3 – January 16

Youth volunteers who participated: 𝗢𝘃𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗝; 𝗦𝗮𝗶 𝗦𝗮𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗿𝗮; 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗝; 𝗛𝗶𝗯𝗮 𝗭; 𝗦𝗿𝗮𝘃𝘆𝗮 𝗦; 𝗬𝘂𝗴 𝗣; 𝗞𝗮𝗮𝘃𝘆𝗮 𝗞; 𝗦𝗮𝗶 𝗞; 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗷𝗮𝘆 𝗦; 𝗔𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗮𝘆 𝗞; 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘃 𝗠; 𝗔𝗯𝗶 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗶 𝗥; 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗕; 𝗜𝘀𝗵 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹; 𝗔𝗱𝗶 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹; 𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗹; 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘃𝗶𝗸; 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵; 𝗔𝗯𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘃 𝗦; 𝗔𝗱𝗵𝘃𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗦


February 1 – February 25

Youth volunteers who participated: 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶 𝗔𝗱𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶, 𝗦𝗵𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗶 𝗔𝗱𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶, 𝗡𝗶𝗸𝗵𝗶𝗹 𝗔𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗶, 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗔𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗶, 𝗟𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆𝗮 𝗮𝗸𝗸𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗷𝘂, 𝗦𝗮𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗸𝗸𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗷𝘂, 𝗞𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗔𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗹𝗮, 𝗞𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗮, 𝗛𝗿𝘂𝗱𝘆𝗮 𝗞𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗸𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗮, 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗮, 𝗗𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗮 𝗥𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗷𝗮𝗺, 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗮 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗶

Group 2 Cutting foam project Youth who participated: 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶 𝗔𝗱𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶, 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗷𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘆𝗮𝗻, 𝗛𝗶𝗯𝗮 𝗭𝘆𝗻𝗮, 𝗞𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗻, 𝗔𝗯𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘃 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵, 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗸𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗮, 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗮 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗶, 𝗔𝗯𝗶𝘀𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗶 𝗥𝗮𝗺, 𝗛𝗿𝘂𝗱𝘆𝗮 𝗞𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲.


Checkout our FB posts for more details about this project:

YouTube Video of Arts & Scraps - Group1 and Group2


Mercado Food Bank

Gleaners Mercado Food Bank is a drive-through food store in Detroit where people can safely get access to healthy food. They have recently adapted their policy to drive-through instead of as a store, and needed volunteers to put the food into people’s cars. Our volunteers helped pack food, arrange items onto storage carts, re-arranged shelved items for easier access, loaded customers’ cars, cleaned the area, and helped restock the building for the next day. 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝟴𝟴 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁

Youth who participated: Hrudya Kishore, Nikhil Aerabati, Vandana Durga, Kushal Durga, Eesha Chigullapally, Akshith Ashwanth. Anikait Pundhir, Rohan Patil, Soham Bhatta

Adults who participated: Raghunath Aerabati, Vandana Durga, Venkat Chigullapally, Jisha Padmanabhan, Savitri Raman, Vanitha Gopalan


Checkout our FB posts for more details about this project:

YouTube video:


Zaman International

Zaman International is dedicated to ending poverty and unhealthy conditions. They provide basic supplies, both medical and edible. They also help the families through tutoring and support during hardships. When VT Seva volunteered there, we helped pack and store various medical necessities such as masks, gloves, wipes, hand sanitizers, first aid kits, etc. We also assembled boxes full of the necessities and arranged them for delivery. Overall, we were able to pack over 350 boxes for Zaman International, which could support numerous families.

Youth who participated: Medhas Kollu, Eesha chigullapally, Pavan Nagaraj, Nikhil Aerabati, Abisrishti Ram, Srivatsa Thirunagari, Akshay Kumar, Sravya saranu, Anand Brijesh, Yana Panchal.

Adults who participated: Vanitha Gopalan, Parvathee Subramaniam, Vani Chigullapally, Ram Ramanathan, Brijesh Gopal, Pavan Nagaraj, Radhika.


Checkout our FB posts for more details about this project:

YouTube video:


Drive for Detroit Rescue Homeless Shelter with the help of Kroger Stores Solicitation.

On March 20th, 2022, VT Seva Detroit completed a drive for Detroit Rescue Homeless Shelter with the help of Kroger Stores Solicitation.

VT Seva Detroit team raised a total of $800 and collected around six big boxes of Baby care products and personal care & hygiene products for Men and Women with the help of generous customers who shopped at Kroger Canton Stores from 10 am to 4:30 pm.


YouTube video:

Checkout blog link at:

Checkout our FB posts for more details about this project:


Food Gatherers

Food Gatherers are a food bank in Washtenaw County providing food for the impoverished. They are the leading group in hunger management in this county. They not only provide support for individual families, but for schools and local universities too. They distributed 9 million pounds of food last year through the help of volunteers. VT Seva volunteered there and helped to sort food, arrange boxes, and pack more than 1700 pounds of food.

Youth who participated: Kirupali Sathyanathan; Veena Karthik; Hrudya Kishore; Abisrishti Ram; Adhvaith Suresh ; Srivatsa Thirunagari, Nitya Sankar, Kushal Durga.

Adults who participated: Aarthi Karthik; Vanitha Gopalan.


Checkout our FB posts for more details about this project:

YouTube video:


Novi Police Department Tour & Appreciation Lunch

Our volunteers had a great learning experience on April 10th attending the Novi Police Station tour. Novi Police Department Tour and Novi Police Appreciation Lunch

VT Seva Detroit had a tour of the Novi Police Department, Novi, Michigan, for youth volunteers on April 10th, 2022, and also had the pleasure of hosting an Appreciation lunch for the Novi Police Department on May 8th, 2022


Checkout blog link at:

YouTube video:

Checkout our FB posts for more details about this project:


Earth Day Project

Farmington Hills, Michigan has a yearly “litter walk” where volunteers walk for 2-3 miles and clean up all roadside trash on the way. This year, the 9th year of the litter walk, VT Seva helped. We collected trash from the roads, ditches, fields, and nearby lawns. We split up into 2 groups so that we could maintain both sides of the road, and we learned a lot about the ecosystem and the importance of taking care of it. At the end, we had a total of 6 bags collected over 2 miles.

Youth that participated: 𝗞𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗮, 𝗛𝗿𝘂𝗱𝘆𝗮 𝗞𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗦𝗮𝗶 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶, 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗷𝗸𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗿, 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗮 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗶, 𝗛𝗮𝗷𝗶 𝗠𝘂𝗵𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻, 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗻, 𝗔𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘆𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶.

Adults that participated: 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘂 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶, 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗮, 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗷 𝗸𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗿, 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶, 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗮 𝗚𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻.


Checkout our FB posts for more details about this project:

YouTube video:



Blog and the Video Created By: Akshay Kumar (Youth Board member)

Blog Published By: Nandini Cheemalamarri (VTS Detroit Communications)

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