This fall, 30 VT Seva youth members from Michigan joined forces to raise thousands of dollars for underprivileged children in India. They created an online fundraiser using GoFundMe to collect donations towards the cause.
VT Seva is a non-profit volunteer organization which is mostly run with the help of the youth board.
"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention."—Oscar Wilde
A team of 30, an ambitious goal, and a total of more than $7,000 raised. This fall, 30 members of the Michigan youth board started a fundraiser to raise money for the blind and tribal children of India.
Due to the obstacles of COVID-19, RAAS, an annual fundraiser to raise money for these children, was canceled. We had to manage everything online in the form of Webex meetings, online fundraisers, and online group chats. All of the participants had to do most of the work alone due to the pandemic, which made it quite challenging. The main goal of their outreach project was to spread awareness about all the work that VTSeva does to help the visually challenged children in India.
Our donations help the Nethra Vidyalaya schools for the visually challenged. It is a group of institutions focused on providing a value-based quality education, technology-assisted learning, and a self-reliant lifestyle to visually challenged kids. This fundraiser helps the students get high quality education and presents them with a better opportunity for success.
The idea was thought of by 16 year old youth member Harish Jaisankar. By informing people about these students and VT Seva's mission to the people who are not aware of VT SEVA, the VT Seva Detroit Youth Board helped raise money for Nethra Vidyala students, their team raised $7,100. The cost of helping one blind child receive education for an entire year is $365, which means that together they helped over 19 visually challenged students.
Just like any other great cause, it started out fairly slow. A goal was set that each
participant must raise at least $50 which enabled them to encourage each participant to raise money. Their initial target was to raise $3000 in three weeks but by the eighth day of fundraising, they had already surpassed their goal. This led them to increase their goal to $6,600. However, they also exceeded their goal again on the 18th day. Finally, they increased their goal to $10,000, campaign is still going on.
Every member who committed to the cause made sure they reached their personal goals. Their outreach project helped contribute to this cause as they put together their efforts to spread the word.
The fundraiser lasted over the course of 21 days. Over the course of this time, members asked many people for donations through gofundme.com. It was a great way to gain experience, and be an active part of society.
Our fundraiser and message reached well beyond the United States’s borders. For example, we got a number of donations from India and Australia. This project helped bring attention to our service group from foreign countries. All our participants helped spread the word of VTSEVA.
Some of our participants took initiatives at school to spread the word even more. They hung up posters around their schools as well as asked their teachers to donate. Many teachers were incredibly interested and impressed by our generous cause. By doing this, our participants brought so much more attention to the visually impaired in India and VT SEVA's contribution.
This project was supported by Youth Board members as young as eight years old. Adhip, Jansi, Chandini, and Ritvija are our youngest members and they helped raise a ton of money and bring awareness to our cause. We believe that leadership should start young and by helping collect donations, our four young members proved that leadership in youth is attainable. Youth is the backbone of our nation and it is our job to encourage them from a young age to grow and become responsible citizens.
The members of our team shared their personal experiences and explained the feeling of being able to change lives and bring smiles to many faces. It took a lot of phone calls, text messages, and emails to reach people.
Volunteers reflect on their personal experiences:
Oviya, Saisha, and Risha talked about how rewarding the experience felt.
Teja, Yasaswini, and Shreya explain how great the experience was for them.
Sathvik, Abhinav, Nikhil, and Harish say they are grateful for the opportunity.
Teja, Yasaswini, and Shreya explain how great the experience was for them.
Sanjana, Rashmita, and Jansi explain their joy of giving
“During the journey of Go Funding I found true generous donors who gave silently without hope of reward!! I appreciate them!”—Niharika, Chandini, and Arya
“I am very happy that I was able to contribute towards the education of the students in Netra Vidyalaya. The experience has made me become more compassionate towards not so privileged people.” discuss Adhip, Aishani, Amogh
“This project taught me how to reach out to people. I am very proud that I was a part of something that helped so many kids.” — Shrikha, Nikita, Ritvija
“Even during this time, I was really glad that I was able to reach society and explain to them what VTSeva is and how we help. Every time when I got the donation it made me feel really happy.” as written by Kaavya, Soham, and Srihari
Siddharth, Sohan, and Vaibhav reflect, “This fundraiser gave me the opportunity to raise awareness for a great cause. I am really grateful to be part of this wonderful organization.”
“Being a part of this fundraiser made me realize how much one person can impact such a big society.”—Anagha, and Srujan
Overall, our outreach program helped bring a lot of awareness to VT Seva and our cause, enabling us to help visually impaired children attain better education and future. Seeing all the smiles on these kids's faces brought joy to all of us.
“Giving is not just about making a donation, it's about making a difference.” - Kathy Calvin.
The experiences of our participants show that each and every one of them are very grateful to the donors and VT Seva for giving them this opportunity.
Detroit Youth Board Members Thanking the donor
Special Thanks to:
Blog Written By: Nikitha Talwar, Shrikha Atchutuni
Collage Made By: Rashmitha Ragunathan
Video Made By: Oviya Jaisankar, Harish Jaisankar