Video Presentation of the Volunteering Activities
1) Gleaners Mercado Food hub: May 7th, 2022
Mercado Food Hub is an organization that distributes packaged foods to underprivileged people in the metro Detroit area. The volunteers packed the produce in the boxes, packed the cold food items in boxes, arranged and assorted all boxes on carts as per request of the supervisor, Rearranged shelves items, stacked items, loaded the clients’ cards, restocked cold food items and finally cleaned the whole area.
Youth Volunteers: Sanjeev Nethaji, Harini Senthil Kumar, Saisha Srivatsan, Nikhil Srinivasan, Sanjith Sambath
Adult Volunteers: Nethaji Anamuthu, Sharmiladevi Balendran, Meera Srinivasan.
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2) Novi Police Appreciation lunch & Police Tour: May 8th, 2022
As National Police Week falls in the month of May, VT Seva Detroit hosted an Appreciation lunch for Novi Police Dept and got an opportunity to tour the Novi Police Station and extend our sincere gratitude to all police officers. 𝗪𝗲 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗶 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆.
Youth Volunteers: Varsha Karthik, Veena Karthik, Haji Muhinthan, Varshan Muhinthan, Aditya Prayagi, Adhip Pisipati, Ved Patel, Saanvi Moorthy, Kalki R
Adult Volunteers: Sudhakar Kolluri, Sudheer Koppu, Srinathbabu Karnati, Anand Reghunathan, Jai Shankar, Priya Jaishankar, Architha Kramadhati, Bhavna Patel, Aarthi Karthik, Priya Prayagai, Komathy Muhinthan, Vidya Rajendran
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3) The Clean Love Project Hygiene Kits Assembling: May 21st, 2022
11 VT Seva Detroit volunteers got this wonderful opportunity to help them assemble and pack around 2000 Hygiene kits for Detroit Women and young girls in need. Clean Love Hygiene kits to women and young girls who are homeless, live in poverty, or are survivors of domestic violence or human trafficking. The Clean Love project is a women's welfare organization with a mission to make the much-needed women and young girls to feel clean, loved, and empowered. The VT Seva team helped the organization to assemble and pack a feminine hygiene product kit that were to be distributed to women and young girls suffering in poverty or survivors of domestic violence or homeless. The hygiene kits included purse, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorants, sanitizers, moisturizers, tissues and sanitary napkins. In the end the team also joined a Raffle and won some goodies.
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Hajanathan Muhunthan, Sanjeev Nethaji, Nikhil Srinivasan, Tanvi Rajesh, Shreya Srinivasan, Hrudya Kishore
Adult Volunteers: Komathy Muhinthan, Meera Srinivasan, Muhinthan Murugesu, Nethaji Anamuthu, Vanitha Gopalan
Facebook Post: https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/pfbid0T6vCRCsbaZML3tebFBjrjTF4Pz8FE362Psk1UC2ZE8DLfKEp2QX2SDoVyR7AW1CSl
4) Crossroads Community Garden volunteering: June 1, 2022
Crossroads community grows vegetables and donates them to Hospitality House food bank in Walled Lake. The VTSeva team today helped to clean the plantation area by removing all the weeds and leveling the surface for planting. The team used a RotoTiller, which they had never used before and enjoyed the experience. This was also fun as it was outdoor hard labor work to do on a perfect summer day.
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵: Sai Sri Ram Karnati, Eashan Daram, Nirvan Daram, Nikhil Aerabati, Inbaan Arul, Iniyaan Arul, Pravin Manoj Kumar
𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: Srinath Karnati, Arul , Sona Arul, Athilakshmi, Vaishnavi Aerabati, Vanitha Gopalan
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5) Gleaners Mercado hub volunteering: June 4, 2022
Mercado Food Hub is an organization that distributes packaged foods to underprivileged people in the metro Detroit area. Together our volunteers packed more than 13,845 pounds of food serving more than 94 Detroit families in need. Gleaners Mercado Community Food Hub is a client choice pantry where children and families thrive and have access to healthy food and an array of services that improve their overall quality of life. The volunteers packed the produce in the boxes, packed the cold food items in boxes, arranged and assorted all boxes on carts as per request of the supervisor, Rearranged shelves items, stacked items, and loaded the clients’ cards, restocked cold food items and finally cleaned the whole area.
Youth Volunteers: Anvika Perumalla, Nikhil Aerabati, Sairaaga Perala, Oviya Jaishankar, Saanvi Duruvasan, Christeena Boddakayala
Adult Volunteers: Raghunath Aerabati, Vanitha Gopalan
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6) Destined for Greatness Ford Wellness Center: June 5, 2022
Destined for Greatness is an organization provide support to young girls who are helpless and comes from underprivileged families in metro Detroit. VT Seva Team joined with Destined for Greatness in Ford Wellness center to Volunteer. The team helped in organizing the scattered clothes, toys etc. and separated them based on gender, age, size etc. and packed them in big bags. The Team received Detroit makeover community certificates and were very happy for the opportunity to help the community.
Youth Volunteers: Varun Brijesh, Anand Brijesh, Hrudya Kishore, Fares Elmahrouky, Salma Bassel, Sai Sahasra Namuduri, Ishan Iyer, Dheemanth Akshay, Tej Penugonda
Adult Volunteers: Kishore, Ragunath Namuduri, Srinivas Kumar, Gopal Brijesh, Jayshree Brijesh, Suresh Rajan, Vanitha Gopalan.
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7) Matthaei Botanical Gardens Volunteering in the University of Michigan: June 18, 2022
This was one-of-a-kind volunteering where the kids learnt a lot about Ecology. They had a 3mile walk in the botanical gardens as part of a tour with two UofM students who were very knowledgeable on the flora and fauna of the garden. The team were given tasks along the way. It was very different and informative unlike the other services the VT seva team had done. They had to pull out invasive species, especially the one identified as Dame’s Rocket.
On the way the team also saw rare species of plants, trees and birds. They were able to see Gray Crested Flycatcher Bird, Blue Bird, Butterflies, Damsel Files and flowers like Tulip Tree, wild mushrooms, poison Ivys, American Bladder Nuts etc. Overall, it was a very informative and interesting adventure rather than volunteering for the team.
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Nikhil Aerabati, Hrudya Kishore, Sathvik Kanduri, Akshith Ashwanth, Aditi Kompally, Lalitaditya Akkaraju, Eesha Chigullapally, Yana Panchal, Niharika Prabhu, Anish Nallani,
𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Vaishnavi Aerabati, Srinivas Kanduri, Mahesh Hebbar, Suresh Rajan, Rajesh Durga, Ravinder Akkaraju, Vanitha Gopalan
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8) VT Seva Detroit Soccer Fundraising Tournament 2022: June 25, 2022
VT Seva Detroit organized a boarded indoor fundraising soccer tournament yet again this year to benefit the blind and visually challenged children in India. This year’s turnout was unprecedented with 33 games in the 3 age Groups with a total of 93 players.
Please find more details about this event in this blog
Youth Volunteers: Yug, Abhinav, Akshay, Sai, Oviya, Supraja, Aditi, Nikita, Aahana, Varshini.
Adult Volunteers: Suresh ji, Darshan ji, Vanitha ji, Srinath ji, Priya ji, Jaishankar ji, Anitha ji, Alvin Ji, Archita ji, Nandhini ji & Srinivas ji
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9) Crossroads Community Garden Outdoor Volunteering: July 6th, 2022
Crossroads community is a community garden, produce from which goes to local food banks bridging the gap to provide fresh produce to those in need. VT seva team cleaned the planting areas and removed all weeds using the rototiller.
It was a great outdoor event on a summer day and was well spent by the volunteers giving back to the community.
Youth Volunteers: Sai SriRam Karnati, Kavya Karnati, Avantika Putta, Aahana Jain
Adult Volunteers: Srinath Karnati, Suresh Rajan, Vanitha Gopalan
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10) Earthworks Urban Farm Volunteering: July 9th, 2022
The Capuchin Soup Kitchen’s Earthworks Urban Farm is a large certified organic farm where the majority of their produce goes into meals at the soup kitchen who serve food to many homeless people in the Detroit community. VT Seva team helped there by removing the weeds, cleaning the landscapes, removing scapes, Sifting the compost pile and turning it into dirt. To sift the compost means to dig up solid and pass it thru metal weave to separate the wanted and unwanted materials. The Compost was further used in gardens, nurseries etc.
It was a great outdoor event and a learning experience for the team to understand how farmers keep the land fertile and manage the compost for natural fertilizers.
Youth Volunteers: Hajanthan Muhinthan, Varshan Muhinthan, Shritha Thirunagari, Srivatsa Thirunagari, Yana Panchal, Eesha Chigullapally, Nikhil Srinivasan, Tanvi Rajesh, Shreya Srinivasan
Adult Volunteers: Meera Srinivasan, Komathy Muhinthan, Muhinthan Murugesu, Vanitha Gopalan
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11) Arts and Scraps Remote Volunteering Projects: May-July, 2022
a) Cutting Foam Project
b) Cutting Fabrics Project
𝗔𝗿𝘁𝘀 & 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗠 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁. To do that they rely heavily on volunteers like ourselves. 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. 𝗔𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝟯𝟰 𝗮𝘄𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 & 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 two 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀:
Nikhil Aerabati, Varun Aerabati, Sai Sri Ram Karnati, Hajanthan Muhinthan, Varshan Muhinthan, Sathvik Kanduri, Sai Sahasra Namuduri, Sanjay Sundar Pandiyan
Saisha Srivatsan, Shreya Srivatsan, Rohan Patil, Hrudya Kishore, Eashan Daram, Nirvan Daram, Iniyann Arul, Inbann Arul, Aarush Kollu, Medhas Kollu, Varshini, Barla. Pravin Manoj Kumar
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12) Crossroads Community Garden Outdoor Volunteering. July 27th, 2022
Crossroads community is a community garden, produce from which goes to local food banks bridging the gap to provide fresh produce to those in need. VT seva team cleaned the planting areas and removed all weeds using the rototiller. It was a great outdoor event on a summer day and was well spent by the volunteers giving back to the community. The youth volunteers also put up the reflectors to ward off the critters, birds & deer.
Youth Volunteers: Diva, Aahana, Akshay, Iniyaan, Inbaan, Udhaaya, Veeksha
Adult Volunteers: Arul Jaiprakash, Ramya Battu, Sona Vivekananda, Suresh Rajan, Vanitha Gopalan
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13) World Medical Relief, Inc Volunteering. July 30, 2022
World Medical Relief collects and distributes recycled medical and dental supplies and medicines to help thousands of sick and poor people around the world. These goods are distributed in a non-discriminatory manner without regard to race, color, gender, and religion, nationality, or political beliefs.
It was an amazing experience to be able to sort and repackage supplies that will be shipped to Ukraine during their terrible times and meeting their medical needs.
Youth Volunteers: Eesha chigullapally; Aditi Jethri Kompally; Aahana Jain; Pravin Manoj Kumar; Veeksha Somula, Kushal Durga; Anurag Balaji; Sanjeev Nethaji, Shreya Srivatsan
Adult Volunteers: Venkat Chigullapally; Nirmala Srivatsan; Bhavana Patel; Manoj Kumar; Vandana Durga; Vanitha Gopalan
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14) 9th Annual Volleyball & Throwball Fundraising Tournament. August 20, 2022
All the funds raised will go towards the education of the visually challenged children of Nethra Vidyalaya and Tribal School students. Please find details about this tournament in this blog link below.
Blog about VB tournament:
Youth Volunteers: Kavya, Sneha, Jayanth, Niharika, Ahana, Veena, Hrudya, Supraja, Leo, Sail, Nikhil, Shreya, Alok, Ishan, Teja, and Arya
Adult Volunteers: Suresh, Ram, Venkat, Vanitha, Sudheer, Jyothi, Jaishankar, Swaroop, Srikanth, Meera, Ramya, Sreenivas, Nandhini, Sireesha ji, and Srinath ji
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15) Mailing Supplies Project to help Penrickton Center for Blind Children (Remote) Aug 1st to Aug 22nd, 2022
Penrickton Center for Blind Children is a non-profit that provides care to support blind, multi-disabled children and their families. The service they provide to families is for no charge so they fully rely on donations from the community. Throughout the year Penrickton Center sends out requests for donations and invitations to raise funds. VT Seva Volunteers got this opportunity again this year to help them assemble their mailing supplies items in envelopes as per their directions for their fundraising purposes. We received the mailing supplies items were picked up from the center in August 1st week & all the items were sorted with the help of few of our adult volunteers, well made into 26 kits for 26 youth volunteers to do this project. The mailing supplies were picked up from the Penrickton Center, sorted and organized as 26 kits with the help of few of our adult volunteers.
Youth Volunteers:
Ajitesh V, Rishi A, Kushal D, Rishi C, Shruthi A, Rishi A, Kaustubh D, Vibha D, Saathvik K, Kavya K, Sai K, Saisha S, Shreya S, Akshith A, Srihari H, Sanjaya T, Rishabh M, Amogh M, Pravin M, Varun B, Anand B, Haji M, Varshan M, Sriram H, Anirudh C, and Pranavi C.
Adult Volunteers:
Suresh Rajan, Sudheer Koppu, Asha Puranam, Jyothi Srinath and Vanitha Gopalan Ji.
YouTube link: https://youtube.com/watch?v=LrTan9SFpHs&feature=share
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16) World Medical Relief Volunteering: Aug 27th, 2022
Another great volunteering opportunity & a wonderful learning experience for all our 15 Detroit volunteers on Aug 27th at World Medical Relief.
World Medical Relief began collecting and distributing recycled medical and dental equipment, medical supplies, and medicines to aid thousands of sick and poor people around the globe. Their mission is to facilitate the distribution of surplus medical resources where they are needed. Goods are distributed in a non-discriminatory manner without regard to race, color, gender, religion, nationality or political beliefs. For many years, World Medical Relief continued its international goal of helping people with medical and pharmaceutical needs in developing countries.
Youth Volunteers:
Eesha chigullapally; Aditi Jethri Kompally; Aahana Jain; Pravin Manojkumar; Nishant Sharma, Kushal Durga; Mithun Nandakumar; Shreya Srivatsan; Sai Sahasra
Adult Volunteers:
Venkat Chigullapally;Nirmala Srivatsan; Athi Lakshmi;Rajesh Durga; Raghunath Namudiri, Vanitha Gopalan
Facebook Post: https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/pfbid036wEYSNpFSSiyzod7LxmPGXxAtTassgZxnivGcgHpqQmGDX4ERJ4GYsMo8cMvQShjl
17) Hanuman Temple Sewa Volunteering – Sep 7th & 14th, 2022
It was indeed a great fulfilling experience to help our local Sri Bhaktha Hanuman Temple MI USA with whatever help was requested by the temple priest.
1. All the puja items were emptied from the cabinets shelves,
sorted, grouped, and organized into various boxes & placed them in an orderly fashion.
2. All the cable wires and electric gadgets were organized and kept in shelves
3. The Decor items were segregated, grouped, and organized into different boxes.
4. Temple office room was cleaned, cupboards outside the office area were also neatly organized.
5. Sorted out new clothes like Perumal dhoti, sarees and other accessories.
6. Kitchen pantry shelves were neatly cleaned, sorted, and organized as per the temple chef's instructions.
7. Then all the Vastrams (Deities cloths) were segregated, neatly folded, and placed in separate cabinets for Abhishekam purposes.
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵: Sai Karnati, Nishanth Sharma, Rachana, Rohan Patil, Sriraam Hebbar, Kirupali Sathyanathan, Abisrishti Ram, Aadhya Ram, Hajanthan Muhinthan and Varshan Muhinthan
𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁: Srinath Karnati, Sailatha Thukkaram, Ranjani Raghu, Jyothi Karnati, Ajay Sharma, Suresh Rajan, Vanitha Gopalan, Savita Pail, Raj Patil, Subha Ram, Ram Ramanathan, Veena Hebbar, Komathy Selvarajan and Muhinthan Murugesu
Facebook Post: https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/pfbid0Jq865bsQQkgtJqrxPvkHyn1qbGUGwCWjGsZLUbgsMwzV5fiVTfPbmN2GxbDu2Xzwl
18) Cottage Painting at MCHS Family Services – Sep 24th, 2022
MCHS Family of Services provides individualized treatment, care, advocacy, and permanency to children and families impacted by childhood trauma. MCHS Family of Services is a child welfare agency located in Redford and Detroit providing foster care and adoption, transitional living, child abuse prevention and community wellness programs.
VT Seva Detroit Volunteers got a great oppourtunity to help them paint their cottages for these children living there.
A group of 20 volunteers painted couple of cottages with the guidance of the coordinator Blai, he
explained in details how to apply masking tape around all the wood frames, edges and electrical outlets. We were supplied with all the tools such as paint rollers with extenders, brushes, paint trays, paint, step ladders, towels, tarp, gloves and masks. Blain explained the right way of applying the paint onto the walls around the corridors and bedrooms. There were 10 rooms and corridor walls that had to be painted
Youths: Kushal, Rohan, Amogh, Rishabh, Nishant, Saanvi M, Saanvi D, Ashish R, Leo S, Harsh, Bhuvan A, Nikhil R
𝐀𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬: Vandana D, Vaishnavi R, Ramachandra V, Savita P, Raj P, Nivedhitha M, Suresh R & Vanitha G
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Blog Consolidation: VTSeva Detroit YB Volunteer, Supraja
Video Created: VTSeva Detroit YB Volunteer, Aahana
Blog Published: VTSeva Detroit Communications, Nandini