VTseva Detroit Youth board successfully wrapped up the 1st quarter of 2022! We implemented 7 projects that were all initiated by the youth board members. In the 1st quarter we completed 7 projects:
● Rescue Dogs Towel Donation Project
● Grocery Bag Donation Project
● Habitat For Humanity Volunteering
● CASS Community Service
● Teen Mental Wellness Event
● Open Door Outreach Center
● Statue Of Equality Project
Video created by: Youth Board Member Sonika
Rescue Dogs Towel donation project
Project Lead: Youth Board Member 𝗢𝘃𝗶𝘆𝗮.
Foster animals have gone through many things in their lives that are unimaginable. Animal shelters take in these animals and bathe them, feed them, and take care of them.
The VT Seva Detroit Youth Board did their part to help these animals by collecting the used towels.
The towels that we think are useless after some time are a great help to these shelters to take care of the dogs after giving them a bath, potty training, and for padding in beds and such.
30 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫s reached out to their friends and families and collected 90 big towels. Members who participated in this project are Abinav S, Abisrishti, Amogh, Anirudh, Anuraag, Arnav, Arya, Harish, Hiba, Hrudya, Kaavya, Kushal, Nikhil A, Nitya S, Oviya, Rachana, Rashmitha, Rishi, Rohan, Sai Sriram, Satvik, Sanjana, Shritha, Shruthi, Siddharth, Sravya, Srihari A, Teja, Varshini, Varun.
𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐃𝐨𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞 - supports the rescue animals by fostering them. They were so happy to receive the towels. The towels are all used in great ways, they are given to many foster families and are used to clean animals, provide padding, etc. 𝗝𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗞𝗶𝗺 from Last Day Dog Rescue was overjoyed to see the number of towels we had for them and appreciate every single youth board member who has donated towels on behalf of Last Day Dog Rescue.
Special shout out to the parent volunteers 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗷𝗶, 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗮 𝗷𝗶, 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗮 𝗷𝗶, 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗷𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗷𝗶 for collecting the towels in each city and dropping off. Without parent volunteers, it is not possible to conduct drive-ins in multiple cities. Thanks to 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝘆𝗮 𝗷𝗶 for being an adult coordinator.
𝗚𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗮𝗴 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁
Project Lead: Youth Board Member 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗮.
Many in our city don’t have enough food to enjoy 3 meals a day. By aiding a food bank, we are allowing these people access to meals that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to obtain.
The VT Seva Detroit Youth Board did their part to help these people by collecting grocery bags.
The plastic grocery bags that we get from stores are a great help to these food banks. It is a better way to reuse the bags to pack the food for distribution.
44 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝘀 reached out to their friends and families and collected around 𝟮𝟳𝟱𝟬 + grocery bags.
Members who participated in this project are Abhinav S, Abisrishti, Akshay, Amogh, Anirudh, Anuraag, Anvika, Arnav, Arya, Deeptha A, Harish, Hiba, Hrudya, Kaavya, Kalki, Kaustubh, Kushal, Nikhil A, Nitya S, Oviya, Rachana, Rashmitha, Rishi, Rohan, Sai Sriram, Saisahasra, Saisha, Sanjana, Sanjith, Sathvik, Shreya, Sritha, Shruthi, Siddharth, Sneha, Sonika Panchakarla, Sravya, Siri Kashyap, Srihari A, Srinika, Teja, Veeksha, Varun
𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 - a food bank that holds a weekly drive-through food pickup for those that need it. They support around 300 families per week and have supported 8100 families over the past 19 years. They also help with creating your resume, finding a job, and computer training. Through everything, they actively support 600 families each month. When dropping off the bags, the lead volunteer coordinator, Kevin, and the director Steve was overjoyed to see the number we had collected. He was so grateful for the Youth Board’s help!
𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴.
Project Lead: Youth Board Member: 𝗢𝘃𝗶𝘆𝗮
Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit housing organization that works in nearly 𝟭,𝟰𝟬𝟬 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 and in approximately 70 countries around the world.
Habitat Oakland County’s mission has a hyper-local focus with a world vision that engages donors, homeowners, neighbors, and volunteers working together to build better living environments.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗮𝗸𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁 𝗢𝗮𝗸𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆’𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺.
31 youths and adults helped at Farmington Hills Restore by cleaning the furniture, organizing items, sorting things, and throwing away unwanted items.
With this active volunteer group, the whole warehouse was cleaned in a couple of hours. Awesome work done by our VT Seva volunteers. Mrs.Laurie & Mr.Q were really appreciative of our support
Our wonderful volunteers for this event are
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Hrudya, Oviya, Sai Sahasra, Rohan, Sathvik, Akshay, Kushal, Saisriram, Nitya S, Akshith, Eesha, Sravya, Veeksha, Rishi, Udhayaa, Pavan, Sonika, Anand, Anuraag, Ananya S
𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Priya, Savita, Asha, Vandana, Srinath, Venkat, Durga, Jisha, Nagaraj, Ramya, Raghunanthan
Special thanks to 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗷𝗶 for being an adult coordinator
𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 Project
VT Seva Detroit Youth Board volunteers spent this afternoon in CASS Community Service by helping them with decluttering items, flattening cardboard boxes for recycling, folding and stacking up blankets, transferring the wooden furniture to the 7th floor, mattresses to its floor, and glass items, books, household items to a different floor. They also stacked up all the food boxes in their pantry. All these items will be either donated to the people who are moving into their own homes from shelters or sold to support all of the amazing support provided by CASS.
CASS prepares and serves 700,000 meals a year. CASS also provides a warming center, emergency shelter, rotating shelters, permanent supportive housing, and a free medical clinic. They also offer employment through their Green Industries.
Overall, everyone enjoyed the experience and traveling in their gigantic elevator.
Reflection from youth volunteer Oviya: “ It was good to know that all of our help was indirectly helping people in need. I loved the giant elevator too”
The wonderful volunteers who participated today are:
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵: Hrudya, Oviya, Anvika, Sravya, Veeksha, Rishi, Rashmitha, Shriya, Tarun, and Sreeninka
𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁: Priya, Jaisankar, Vanitha, Durga, Suresh
𝗧𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱: 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗝𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗮𝗿
In celebration of 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 the Detroit Youth Board members send each other kind messages and thanking each other for their support. In light of recent global events, it's extremely important that we continue to promote peace and respect to each other. By letting others know that we appreciate their work, we show our support for our community as a whole and also make sure that they are appreciated. This event was an amazing opportunity for our youth volunteers to get closer as an organization. Members were assigned 3 other volunteers. Then, members head to each volunteer's Kudoboard, a virtual site where they can post messages addressed to a specific volunteer. Here, members sent encouraging words and appreciative messages to their fellow volunteers.
𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀: Abhinav Suresh, Aditi Jethri Kompally, Amogh Pisipati,
Anuraag Balaji, Anvika Perumalla, Dhanya Ramanujam, Harish Jaisankar, Hiba Zyna, Ishaan Sid, Kaavya Karnati, Kaustubh Dingari, Komal Yedla, Medhas Kollu, Niharika Prabhu, Oviya Jaisankar, Pranav Kota, Pravin Manojkumar, Ruthvi Ala, Sai Sahasra Namuduri, Sai Sri Ram Karnati, Saisha Srivatsan, Samhith, Sanjana Datla, Sathvik Tirumala Kanduri, Shivani Nimmagadda, Siddhant Bhirud, Siddharth Tirumala Kanduri, Sravya Saranu, Sreenika Perumalla, Tarun Rajesh, Veena Karthik
𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿: 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗝𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗮𝗿
On March 26, the VTseva Detroit youth board volunteered at the Open-Door Outreach Center. The event was a very unique and eye-opening experience. Most of the time, people donate what they can to support people with low incomes or those who are less fortunate than they are. But not many get to actually see the work that is put in once they have donated or helped. When VT Seva volunteers arrived at the Outreach Center, they did not just start working. They were given a tour of the thrift store as well as a summary of how the staff organizes things from clothes and toys all the way to food which is a very broad range of necessities. The staff were very friendly as they were patient with the sorting and answered any questions with no problem. VT Seva volunteers were able to see the efforts that this organization puts in every day and were able to be a small part of that. All the youth volunteers found this project satisfying and fun-filled! Anuraag Balaji, a youth volunteer said, “The outreach volunteering was a great opportunity for me to realize the living conditions of the unfortunate. I was able to help organize clothes that would eventually go to the needy. This event was an eye-opener on how I take many things for granted and made me realize that many people don’t have basic necessities.”
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Anuraag, Anvika, Christeena, Dhruv, Sneha kiran raju, Srihari A, Tarun & Vishnu
𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Chandrasekar, Vijay
VTS Detroit YB & Prajna Collaborated Rise to Equality Poster Project
Prajna - MI Students & VT Seva Detroit Youth Board Members are learning about the leaders who stood up for equality and created posters about them and published on social media every day in the month of January to celebrate the commemoration of the Statue of Equality.
Prajna Students and VT Seva Detroit Youth Board members who are in kindergarten to high school created all the posters.
Thanks to all the youths who created posters
Oviya, Rashmitha, Kaustubh, Srivibha, Shritha, Varun, Nikhil, Hiba, Udhayaa, Abishristi, Namya, Kavi, Kalki, Advaith, Adhip, Pavan, Swathi, Siddharth, Varsha, Samiksha, Aditi, Srinika, Akshay, Mihira & Harish.
Blog Consolidated By: Youth Board Member Niharika
Video Compiled By: Youth Board Member Sonika
Blog Published By: VTSeva Detroit Comm Volunteer Nandini