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.

MAY 17TH, 2020 - JUNE 28th, 2020 SUNDAY - 4.00 - 5.30 PM CST Sessions Estate and Living Trust - May 17th Budget & Savings - May 24th Spending - May 31st Credit & Debit - June 7th Housing / Earning - June 14th Investing - June 21st College Admission and Planning - June 28th Speaker Mr.Sreeedhar Gouravelli MBA (Finance), Conducted numerous seminars regarding Financial literacy all around the country.

Mother's Day is celebrated on May 10th, 2020. VT Seva wishes all wonderful mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day. If a woman suffers, the entire family and society struggles. If a woman is healthy, the entire family stays joyful and society flourishes. VT Seva has been instrumental in providing Free Health and Cancer Awareness Camps and serving over 1 million people. If our women are putting their health at stake due to a lack of awareness, it is a failure on our part! We cannot let our women fall ill simply because they did not have a regular check-up. We must do everything in our power to ensure every SINGLE woman is aware of her health. This Mobile Diagnostic bus sponsored by VT Seva takes women health checks to door steps of rural women. It helps us great deal in reaching out to more mothers and sisters, raise awareness for cancer prevention and pre-screening for cervical and breast cancer. This bus houses the medical equipment required to perform the tests. Picture from a screening camp prior to COVID-19 outbreak. You can sponsor a screening kit for $20. Celebrating Mother's Day, let's lend a helping hand to a mother in need! After all, Motherhood is universal! $1000 to Sponsor a Camp VT Seva is a global non-profit organization which aims to help rebuild and restructure underprivileged and under-served communities. There is more than one way to give back to the community. Come see the impact we've made Donate to the cause of your choice Volunteer and give back to the community Read all our articles See the hundreds of events across USA

As the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading, our VT SEVA CEO Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji provided guidance to reach out and help the communities across USA. In response, VT Seva launched a nation wide campaign urging our volunteers and supporters to come forward to support. VT Seva Katy team supported Houston Food Bank by providing 1500 meals, donated funds to Hospitals in highly impacted areas to procure N-95 masks for doctors, nurses and other health care professionals. Houston Food Bank distributes fresh produce, non-perishables and prepares nutritious hot meals for kids at their onsite Kitchen. VT Seva USA raised funds and supporting local communities across USA by providing more than 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

VT Seva Detroit Youth board responding to the present Covid-19 Pandemic came together to do something for the society. The Youth Board formed a year ago inspired by VT Seva's empowerment of youth leadership. The Youth volunteers started a Fundraiser for St. Mary Mercy Hospital. In the process they featured in the WXYZ-TV News Channel. From VT Seva Detroit Youth Board : We want to help out with the COVID-19 pandemic in any way possible. We are a group of students who are members of the VT Seva Detroit Youth Board. VT Seva is a nonprofit volunteering organization. We chose to support St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia, MI during this pandemic. The virus has changed our lives in ways that were unimaginable just a few months ago. As the highly contagious virus spreads and infects more people, hospitals become unable to keep up with the demand. Hospitals need funds for supplies to continue to effectively treat all the patients that fill their rooms. This virus is heavily affecting all of our medical personnel on the front lines, and it’s up to us to support them. Michigan has the third most confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US, and Wayne County has the most cases in Michigan. Aside from the City Of Detroit, Livonia, a city in Wayne County, has been hit the hardest with over 300 cases in the first three weeks itself. One of our biggest hospitals here, St. Mary Mercy, is in need of help, and it is our job to help the medical professionals stay safe and save lives. St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia, Michigan, needs all the help they can get, and we appreciate you stopping by our page. It would mean so much to us if you could support them and let them continue to treat the heavily affected city of Livonia. Please feel free to share this and help it reach as many people as possible. Every little donation counts and your donations will help this hospital continue to save lives and treat the people that need it. Team Members : -Harish Jaisankar -Oviya Jaisankar -Kaavya  Naga Sri Karnati -Nikita Talwar -Sohan Madishetty -Abhinav Suresh -Anagha Jammalamadaka -Saisha Srivatsan -Amogh Pisipati -Hrudya Kishore Below are some of the Youth board pictures before this Pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic brought a lot of change all around, whether it is social distancing, working from home, online classes or essential businesses staying open while others are closed. Each family is somehow coping with the situation in their own way. While frontline Healthcare workers and essential workers are fighting to save lives and keeping everyone healthy, VT Seva and many other organizations are working towards providing all the support they can to help those in need. As a small gesture of support, our long term VT Seva volunteering family - the Nekkalapudi family marched ahead in their own unique way. While dad, Mr. Subramanyam Nekkalapudi started teaching yoga online in their community, the mother-daughter duo, Ms. Sravani Nuthakki and Ms. Sribhaavita Nekkalapudi, started making cloth masks to donate to those in need. Sribhaavita took charge of washing the material, ironing it, cutting it for the masks as well as the ties, pinning them and later pleating the masks while her mother stitched them. These are double layered masks with a pocket for adding a filter. So far they have donated 80 masks to various organizations and individuals. They are working on making more. Sribhaavita is an 8th grader at Carnage Magnet Middle School. She is an active VT Seva Cary volunteer and is a recipient of Presidents Gold Award for the year 2019. She knows that this effort is a drop in the ocean. But as someone said - ‘What is any ocean but a multitude of drops?’ 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.

With the COVID-19 pandemic spreading rapidly, help is needed in many areas across the globe. VT Seva is able to offer help by empowering youth with values of volunteerism and helping underprivileged around the world. In these unprecedented times, VT Seva is also standing for communities across 37 cities. Moved by the COVID-19 impact, Priya Marella, an 11th grader at Coppell High School, started a GoFundMe page to raise funds for various VTSeva Causes. Since quarantining during COVID-19 has limited our ability to leave the house, she took the initiative to make any impact to help those less fortunate. The purpose of the GoFundMe is to raise funds for VT Seva that will aid the organization in its endeavors of providing education for underprivileged and blind children, cancer awareness and medical camps, and environmental protection. The GoFundMe page is continuously chasing its goal of reaching $1,000. As COVID-19 response, VT Seva USA branches across came together to support 100,000 free meals to children and low income families through 22 food banks across US, 17,000 N-95 face masks to various hospitals across USA, and provided 30,000 free meals to migrant workers stranded in India due to COVID-19 lock-down. more info

As the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly spread, the safety of doctors, nurses and frontline workers has been jeopardized due to shortage of face masks and PPE at several hospitals. They are demonstrating highest sense of heroism in coming forward to support in times of need. They needed masks and other PPE to be protected from the COVID-19 infection. As VT Seva Atlanta team joined the nation wide relief aid campaign, also worked with local hospitals to make cotton masks as per the Hospitals requirements and drop them at the local hospitals. The project was lead by Ms. Madhu Nemami. Moved by the urgent need for face masks, Ms. Sreeja, a 9th grade student at Wheeler Magnet High School took up to stitching cotton face masks. Sreeja has spent her spring break on this project spending 21/2 hrs in making one mask. She has made 29 masks spending 70 hours of her three weeks time on this project. Sreeja and her family are active volunteers and supporters of VT Seva. VT Seva Atlanta contributed to feeding 530 meals through Meals by Grace, providing 150 face masks in highly impacted cities and 116 free meals to migrant workers in India through our sister organization Vikasa Tarangini. VT Seva USA supported with 100,000 free meals to children and low income families through 22 food banks across US, 17,000 N-95 face masks to various hospitals across USA, and provided 30,000 free meals to migrant workers stranded in India due to COVID-19 lock-down. More info

Eligibility 1. Categories Raga – 1st – 4th grade Taal – 5th – 8th grade Sur – 9th – 12th grade Guidelines: 2. Only Solos. No Group singing. 3. Songs can be in any of the genres s.a., Semi Classical, Folk or Light. It can be private or movie songs, but strictly NO Carnatic or Hindustani classical numbers. 4. Contestants are allowed to sing with or without a karaoke track. If a karaoke track is not used then the singers are required to use a shruthi 5. The Maximum time duration for each song SHOULD BE 3 minutes. TIME LIMIT WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED anything over the time limit might not be played. And Please adhere to neat lyrics 6. Video of the song sung by the participant along with karaoke needs to be submitted by May 3rd. Those submitted after the deadline will not be accepted. 7. Songs can be in Telugu/Hindi/Hindi/English languages. 8. Winners and runner up trophies will be shipped to the individuals home addresses at a later date. In the last category based on the number of participants we may have winner and runner up or only the winner. 9. There will be ONLY ONE Round for the competition. 10. On May 9th, videos sent by the participants will be played in zoom meeting in front of participant families and judges. Meeting details will be communicated through email. 11. Judging will be done for English and Regional languages seperately depending on the number of participants. 12. All performances will be judged based on the criteria (Shruthi, Laya, Bhavam, Diction, Clarity etc) 13. Judges decision is FINAL.

The upcoming VT Seva team at St. Louis is partnering with Circle of Concern Food Pantry to serve local community during COVID-19 crisis. The Pantry serves working adults, children, seniors, disabled people, veterans, underemployed, homeless individuals, and others who struggle with poverty and hunger. As many people are getting impacted with the current situation of losing jobs, less business, the demand is rising and it is the time they can use all the help they can get. VT Seva St. Louis team is donating to help provide 1620 meals to Circle of Concern Food Pantry. 117 N-95 masks to Medical staff and supporting meals to daily wage workers in India.

California is one of the first states to be affected with COVID-19 pandemic. California government and local non-profit organizations are working together to ensure the help is provided irrespective of their immigration status. Doctors, healthcare professionals and other front-line workers are at high risk as they are treating the COVID-19 patients while self-quarantining themselves to keep their own families safe. To help provide necessary PPE. VT Seva Bay Area is donating $ 1000 Covid-19 towards PPE to Kaiser Permanente and Valley Medical hospitals. VT Seva Bay Area team is donating $ 1,000 to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley Food Bank (SHFB) to help provide 3000 meals. SHFB provides free meals to kids and families who are on the brink of poverty especially now since they are disproportionately impacted. VT Seva Bay Area has been volunteering with them the past 6 years sorting hundreds of pounds of food to get it ready for the families in need. Their mission of "lead our community to ensure that anyone who needs a healthy meal can get one” resonates with the volunteering spirit of our Team. We thank you for your continued support and together we hope to bring more help to the most vulnerable members of the community. The campaign continues as the relief efforts are under way and the need is only increasing by the day.

VT Seva and JET USA are inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Q & A Session - Mental Health/Wellness during Covid 19 Time: Apr 26, 2020 05:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/93068690524?pwd=cDNTbEowTkRGalgyQWMra0s5R3BBZz09 Meeting ID: 930 6869 0524 Password: 024474 One tap mobile +13126266799,,93068690524# US (Chicago) +16465588656,,93068690524# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 US +1 301 715 8592 US +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 930 6869 0524 Find your local number:https://zoom.us/u/adiOTtg7sM About Dr. Mrudula Rao Dr. Mrudula Rao M.D.Board Certified Child, Adolescent, & Adult Psychiatry Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio Member - Bexar County Psychiatric Society President - American Foundation For Suicide Prevention (AFSP) - South Texas Chapter Volunteering Together for Service, San Antonio Chapter Past Chair

VT Seva Seattle has identified the need of Covid-19 relief funds for the organization - The Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) DESC provides integrated services including housing, emergency shelter, crisis intervention and healthcare to thousands of homeless vulnerable people, particularly those living with serious mental illnesses, substance use disorders, and/or chronic health conditions. Late last week, they were notified that a DESC client had a confirmed positive COVID-19 test in one of the shelters. Since then, they have learned of four more clients who had confirmed positive tests. They are ensuring infected individuals can isolate and get appropriate care and also closely monitoring staff and clients who had close contact with the individuals with positive tests. To avoid having a large amount of COVID-19 infection at DESC, they are relocating 200 shelter guests from their largest congregate settings into a hotel in Renton. Providing individual rooms will help people more effectively distance from others and reduce the risk of exposure to the virus. VT Seva Seattle team is supporting this need by donating $ 5,000 from our Covid-19 relief aid. Nicole Palczewski , Annual Fund Manager, DESC was very appreciative of the contribution and shared how they are helping the clients during this time. "VT Seva's amazingly generous donation will go towards our continued efforts to follow Public Health directives and keep our highly medically vulnerable clients safe. With the opening of our Exhibition Hall shelter, expanded COVID testing and quarantining protocols for staff and clients, and new food delivery service for clients running every day of the week. We greatly appreciate any and all donations that help us provide housing and healthcare for the most vulnerable adults in Seattle's homeless population." Doubling the impact : VT Seva Seattle is collaborating with local restaurants to provide pre-packaged food for all the health care workers at Swedish Medical Center. Helping the local businesses and also the front line workers fight COVID. Go Online With VT SEVA - Here is something for families with young children - During this pandemic, VT Seva Seattle chapter is offering free online classes. We hope to aid families whose kids need to keep entertained and happy during these stressful times. To promote safe isolation we plan to host virtual reading sessions on Zoom twice a week. We continue to raise funds to support food for the homeless for Issaquah Food Bank during this Pandemic. We thank you for your continued support in helping get more help to the needy.

Cincinnati, Ohio is one of the highly impacted cities with COVID-19 pandemic. VT Seva Cincinnati was set to help the local community by raising funds for local food banks in these times of need. However, the need for PPE for healthcare professionals came in as a very urgent need as the number of COVID-19 cases were very quickly increasing and the doctors and Health care professionals were getting infected while trying to care for the patients. VT Seva Cincinnati partnered with Tarangini - Telugu Association of Greater Cincinnati. Together we raised $ 10,000 which was matched by an anonymous donor totaling up to $ 20,000 in funds to donate. We along with Tarangini donated $ 20,000 to Atrium Medical Center. The risk the health care professionals are taking keeping their needs and family time aside to serve the community is laudable. The least we can do is to provide all the support we can - which is no match to the long strenuous hours they are putting in to keep the patients safe while managing to keep up their own mental strength. Our humble gratitude to them and everyone supporting the care for them.

Because of the infamous COVID-19, everyone is trapped in their houses and most are outright banned from stepping out of their houses. Everyone wants this period of fear and restrictions to end alongside COVID-19. The North Carolina Governor reacted immediately on the COVID-19 situation and provided the Social Distance guidelines in mid-March and shortly after that he enforced the Stay-At-Home order. It was an excellent decision on his part because it is helping to slow down the spread of COVID-19. However, this decision was very troublesome for families that rely on a low-income jobs, which created an ever-increasing need for meals and resources from local food banks that were not prepared for this. VT Seva, Cary partnered with Central & Eastern Food bank donating $800 which helped them serve 2400 nutritious meals to the community. We have been partnering with them since 2019 Summer and volunteering on a regular basis. The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina (the Food Bank) is a nonprofit organization that has provided food for our friends and neighbors facing hunger in 34 counties in central and eastern North Carolina for 40 years. Simply put,the Food Bank works every day to provide food to people in need while building solutions to end hunger in our communities. VT Seva, Cary also donated $800 to Interfaith Food Shuttle of Wake County enabling them to provide meals to more people in need. We have been volunteering with them for almost a year to serve the local community needs. The Food Shuttle recovers and distributes nearly 6 million pounds of food per year, and teaches skills for self-sufficiency including culinary job skills, shopping and cooking healthy on a budget, and how to grow food. With help of each and every one of you, we were able to do out little bit in these challenging times and continue to find ways to partner and serve in the community as the need is only growing on a daily basis with COVID-19. Pictures were taken prior to COVID-19 outbreak.

VT Seva Houston team came forward to work for the community during this time of COVID-19 crisis. VT Seva Volunteering organization always supports Houston community on a regular basis partnering with other non-profit organizations such as Lunches of Love, Houston Council for Blind, Blood donations drives etc. We also provided financial assistance when it is hit by calamities such as hurricane Harvey. During this COVID-19 stay at home, there is no stop to the services provided with humble gratitude. Spreading love with Lunches of Love As part of VT Seva nation-wide drive to raise funds to support local charities funds were raised in Houston and several supporters came forward to donate for the cause. We partnered with Lunches Love to provide 7600 meals to children of low income families. Lunches of Love is committed to helping end childhood hunger in Fort Bend County by providing a free nutritious sack lunch during extended school holidays and weekends. VT Seva Volunteers have been volunteering from past 2 years serving 5000 lunches with 30 volunteers coming together. Protecting our Healthcare Professionals With an appeal of urgent need from our VT Seva North Jersey branch for medical supplies, since its one of the heavily impacted cities, VT Seva Houston provided with medical supplies to Saint Claire's Hospital. This donation helped them procure N-95 masks to protect Doctors and medical staff treating COVID-19 patients. VT Seva supported donation of 540 masks for Saint Claires and other hospitals in heavily impacted cities. Our sister organization Vikasa Tarangini is taking several relief measures in India whether it is on duty police, and other essential daily front line workers, feeding stranded migrant workers, providing grocery, providing medical supplies to boost immunity to vulnerable population in the communities during the lock-down period. Thank you gesture with Pizza Providing lunch for the medical staff at Response Unit of Methodist Hospital to show our gratitude for the endless hours they are putting in for the community during the time of crisis. Go online with VT SEVA We are in this together, providing free online classes to everyone during their safe stay at home. Please find more details here Our heartfelt gratitude for your support!

In wake of COVID-19 pandemic, VT Seva Tampa team came together to support the local community as part of VT Seva’s nation-wide campaign to provide relief aid to local communities. VT Seva Tampa donated 900 masks Northside Health Center and other local hospitals to protect our heroes - doctors, nurses and other front line health care professionals. The global pandemic COVID-19 is making the safety of health care professionals much harder and it is only justified we as community provide any support we could. With record number of lay-offs and furloughs, schools on indefinite close downs, the need for free food has exponentially grown. To support our partner Feeding Tampa Bay help feed the hungry, VT Seva Tampa has donated $ 1500 which would help provide 4500 meals. Feeding Tampa Bay provides food to the hundreds of thousands of food insecure families in the 10-county area of West Central Florida. VT Seva Tampa has been volunteering with them for the past three years with a frequency of twice a month. VT Seva Tampa has also partnered with Metropolitan Ministries which provides food and shelter to the families in need. In addition, they also provide Education, life skills with various educational programs they do in the community. VT Seva Tampa donated $ 1500 to help them serve the community benefiting 4500 more people in need. Helping those in need is not charity, it's humanity - If you would like to support our COVID-19 response activities, please consider donating. Pictures from volunteering prior to COVID-19 outbreak.

Year 2020 started off with unprecedented difficult times with COVID-19 pandemic causing havoc all over the world. Corona Virus has not differentiated between young and old or rich and poor and neither has spared the most influential and powerful of people. Many industries are adversely impacted, people have either lost their jobs temporarily, laid off or have incurred reduction in their salary. Forgotten Harvest Feb 15th 2020 - before COVID-19 outbreak VT Seva USA launched a massive campaign across 37 cities in USA partnering with our local volunteers and branch directors to support local charities. As a part of this campaign, VT Seva Detroit has raised over $1626 in generous donations from metro Detroit families who were gracious enough to spend their hard earned money even during the times of hardship in order to help feed the Children and Adults who rely on food banks and community kitchens across the region. All the funds from the donations received have been sent to Forgotten Harvest and Gleaners Food Bank equally. Forgotten Harvest provides 138,000 pounds of food per day to local charities 6 days a week. VT Seva Detroit has been partnering with Forgotten Harvest since 2013 helping them fight hunger and food insecurity. Detroit team has also been partnering with Gleaners Food Bank for the past 7 years. Gleaners provides households with access to sufficient, nutritious food, education, and innovative solutions to achieve a hunger-free community in southeast Michigan. Kroger Food Drive - Heart to Homes for Gleaners Food Bank on Jan 25th 2020 before the onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic in US VT Seva Detroit Youth Board is raising funds to support St Mary Mercy Hospital - please check out their fund raiser here VT Seva extends its gratitude to all the Volunteers and Donors who supported this cause. If you would like to support feed more people please donate here.

Hospitals everywhere have been experiencing shortage of face masks, specifically the N-95 masks. These masks are important for the safety of doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals risking their lives every single day to treat those afflicted with COVID-19. VT Seva NJ has chosen to donate $ 4,000 to St. Peters University Hospital towards masks / protective equipment, for health care providers, in hope that less are exposed to the danger of COVID-19. According to the hospital spokesman our donation helps them for procuring nearly 1333 N-95 Masks. VT Seva NJ has donated to Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) and Franklin Food Bank enabling 6000 free meals available for the needy. VT Seva NJ has dedicated many hours to volunteering at TASK over the last 3 years, serving food to those in need within the Greater Trenton Area. Additionally, VT Seva has provided monthly brown bag lunches to TASK for those in need to take home for past 3 years. Pictures are taken before COVID-19 break-down. With the current COVID-19 pandemic and the lives being displaced, the requirement for free food assistance has been surging at food banks. VT Seva stepped up to provide our humble support. TASK Executive Director Ms. Joyce Campbell who kept kitchen open for the community with limited volunteers during this crisis said “Thank you so much VT SEVA for your donation- we are feeding more now so it will help to feed many.” Ms. Ellen Zimmerman, HR Director of the Franklin Food Bank said ”This is so wonderful and so generous. We appreciate the support of your organization!" Franklin Food Bank is set up for neighbors helping neighbors in Franklin community. VT Seva donated non-perishable food to Franklin Food Bank on several occasions in the past. We thank you for your continued support. Your Support Is Our Strength To Serve!

The entire world stands by in hope of some respite from the unprecedented scale of the pandemic. New Jersey is among the most heavily impacted regions in the world. Those on the front lines are putting themselves through a physical and psychological gauntlet to serve the rest of the community, sacrificing their safety and time with their families to pull us out of this mayhem. They need help. Dr. Ramya who works at St. Claires Hospital shared that “Doctors need N-95 masks as they get even visibly dirty within couple of hours and we are wearing the same mask all day long.” Dr. Santosh from Newton Medical Center responded by thanking North Jersey VT Director, Ms. Anjani Ji for offering to help them in this critical situation and stated how the doctors are getting affected by the virus, getting critical within no time and were being on Ventilators because of the scarcity of the PPE equipment. With your support, VT Seva, North Jersey was able to rise to the occasion and provide the following support to the community: 6000 meals to children of low income families through Parsippany Food Pantry 4413 N-95 masks to Newton Medical Center, St. Claire Hospitals, and other local hospitals 1350 meals to most vulnerable daily wage workers in India VT Seva North Jersey team actively partnering with Parsippany Food Pantry since January 2020. We donated 1200 lbs of food and personal supplies in January 2020 and look forward to partner with them to help fight hunger in North Jersey community. Thank you for your continued support and we hope you join us in serving in these times of need!

VT Seva Dallas team has chosen NTFB as its beneficiary as the Covid-19 crisis is making their services that much more critical. VT Seva is providing 7350 meals to children through North Texas Food Bank. Hundreds of VT Seva Dallas volunteers have been volunteering at North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) for the past 7 years. As part of our volunteering at NTFB, we have logged over 4000 volunteer hours, sorted and packed more than 300,000 pounds of food that provides 250,000 meals. Through food drives, we contributed more than 20,000 pounds of food to support senior citizens and meals for school pantries. Note: Pictures taken before Covid-19 Because of the lock-down in effect, the schools in Dallas Metroplex are closed. This disruption is causing strain on low-income families as many of them are also without work. Their children who rely on free and reduced-price school meal program are heavily impacted because schools are not open. There are more than 11,000 chronically hungry children across 300 schools in Dallas who depend on 'Food 4 Kids' and 'School Pantry' programs for food during weekends also throughout the school year and the summer months. NTFB has taken up the task of distributing and serving nutritious food to them by working with local school districts to ensure continuity of mentioned programs. NTFB is following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), their national partner Feeding America and local entities including the Dallas County Health & Human Services (DCHHS). The Food Bank is considered critical infrastructure, and is open during this challenging times. In order to safely meet the need for food assistance in North Texas region, the Food Bank has asked for support from the Texas National Guard. The food bank's volunteer and distribution efforts are continuing thanks to the support of the Texas National Guard. Note: Picture taken before Covid-19 VT Seva Dallas also provided 750 N-95 masks to Newton Medical Center and other hospitals in highly affected cities to support our Doctors, Nurses and medical staff serving patients of COVID-19. Our sister organization Vikasa Tarangini in India has been providing meals to migrant workers stranded due to COVID-19 lock down in India. VT Seva Dallas supported 6000 meals. We thank you for your continued support.

For the latest details on our VT India Covid-19 relief activities, please visit https://vtsbharath.org/covid-19/ In light of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and lock down imposed in India for safety of everyone from the spread, Vikasa Tarangini, our sister organization is relentlessly serving the needy. We are serving thousands of Daily Wage workers, Lorry Drivers, Traffic Police, Doctors/Nurses on a daily basis. VT Seva CEO, His Holiness Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji is actively guiding all the activities. Some of the services include providing- Fresh nutritious meals to professional on duty, daily wage workers,migrant workers, and others in need. Milk, fruits to children. Face masks Distributing grocery and hygienic supplies. Immunity booster supplements. Raising awareness about the precautions to be taken to stay healthy. Thousands of our volunteers are continuing to play their part representing Vikasa Tarangini as a responsible NGO service oriented organization. Many places, our volunteers are pooling their own money and supporting the causes as the need is huge.

VT Seva North Jersey is working closely with local hospitals and is responding to the need of Face masks and PPE. New Jersey is one of the hard hit states and is in dire need of protective gear for Health care professionals. Several professionals who are fighting COVID-19 risking their lives are getting infected and need immediate support. Dr. Ramya, ER Doctor, Newton Medical Center shared that Doctors need N-95 masks as they get even visibly dirty within couple of hours and we are wearing the same mask all day long. VT Seva is raising funds to provide 2000 KN-95 masks for St. Claire Healthcare and other local hospitals. We will continue to monitor and provide support as needed to other highly impacted cities. Thanks Anjani garu for contribution, it’s a great help, We all from newton hospital would like to thank you VT Seva. I am treating couple of ENT physicians and couple of Primary Care Physicians in our hospital who are exposed to COVID-19. ENT physician is in verge to be placed on ventilation. Any contribution toward this good cause will be helpful. Thank you every one supporting in this crazy situation, Be safe - Dr. Santosh from St. Claire. 100% of the funds donated go towards providing medical supplies in North Jersey. The need is more, the time is NOW! Let us support and protect our Health care professionals.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Although a small quote made by Winston Churchill, this is a quote that I’ve always carried around in my heart. Not because I knew what it meant, but because I didn’t know what it meant until now. As children of immigrants brought up in a luxurious lifestyle, courage is a word that is simply defined by a teacher, symbolized in the novels studied, and applied as a characteristic of an ideal, perfect personality. Yet as we grow older and struggle to maintain our identity, the true meaning of courage becomes more nebulous and distant. Success becomes our goal and courage becomes a by-product of it. We aspire “to go to the best college and become the richest [respective profession] no matter what” and as a result, there's a group of us who achieved that and aren’t quite satisfied, and on the other hand, a group of people who failed to achieve that and are utterly disappointed. But perhaps none of these people know about the struggle someone is going through just to get to the position they are at. Through volunteering for VT Seva, I was blessed with the opportunity to learn about students like Uma Bharati, Jyothi, and countless others who studied in School for Tribals, which crafts copious opportunities for the less-fortunate based on their aptitude. Many of these students come from tribal communities, or communities where, forget education, even basic necessities are things that they have been robbed of. Almost 90% of India’s tribal people live in incredibly remote areas, and by now it is a known fact that many doctors and hospital corporations are averse to serve in rural areas alone, signifying the numerous challenges involved for indigenous people to gain adequate healthcare and food. Ignored by society, potential victims of Naxals, deprived of basic human necessities, and plagued by malnutrition, one can only imagine how grim the future of these innocent children is. Therefore, with this fore knowledge in mind, as I read about these children and the accomplishments they paved their way to, I was astonished. For example, Uma Bharati, the daughter of tribal parents, native to Mesalabhoomanna gudam, Kaddam mandal, Nirmal dist., Telangana, studied in Jeeyar Gurukulam at Allampalli, and worked her way to studying at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER). While most of these students aspire to reach greater heights in their lives and go through so many hardships to grasp their dreams, their fellow mates (who do not attend the the school) struggle to earn a living, herding cattle and doing daily labor work. I felt overwhelmed. Despite being abandoned and harshly oppressed by society, all these kids, who are my exact age, get up every morning determined to learn, whatever the circumstances. The amount of courage, resilience, and preservation needed to go on such a journey is fathomless, prodigious, and immeasurable. And on the other side of the globe, here we are, privileged enough to have an education that our parents worked so hard to give us, selfishly worrying about gaining more and becoming more. We don’t just aspire to be wealthy and well settled professionals, but we take for granted and don’t appreciate what’s right in front of us. What we have and they don’t have is the same thing- the ample latitude of opportunity. It’s not something we are unaware of; but it is something we aren’t well aware of. When asked what courage is, I can only point in the direction of these children. These children, who rise above the injustice they face. These children, who aren’t scared of failing and aren’t dying to succeed, but simply desire the chance to try. No, Courage isn’t a by-product of success. Nor is it the path of success. It’s waking up everyday with the determination these children have, and it’s the patient diligence they face the world with. And if there is anything these valiant fellow students have taught me, it is that the journey is more important than the destination. And that is the true, raw definition of courage. -Naimisha, Atlanta, GA

On February 8th, 2020, VTSeva Dallas hosted our 11th Annual Tarangini Program. Our main theme for the program was fundraising for Women Health Camps (Prevention and Early detection of Cancer). Taking inspiration from the women health camps conducted by VT Seva's sister organization in India – “Vikasa Tarangini Mahila Arogya Vikas” for past decade impacting a million women through 1000 camps for free, a Government Order (G.O) was issued by Telangana State Government, Women and Child Welfare Ministry in June 2019 to collaborate with us and conduct health camps all over the state. To honor the above announcement and to multiply our positive impact,  our VT Seva Dallas team decided to raise funds to conduct as many camps as we sponsored for the past 10 years in just a year of 2020! Our goal was to raise funds to support 100 Women Health Camps. To date of this article, we have raised funds to conduct 70 camps and we are positive that with pledges to be realized and corporate matching to be completed, we will meet the goal of 100 camps. Our Tarangini program raised awareness about Women Health Camps with effective video presentation, slide deck and emceeing. We focused on various regions of India that camps were conducted and informed our audience of where they all were conducted as well as what goes into conducting a camp. Our youth educated the audience throughout the event to help raise more to reach our goal about our service activities throughout the year all over USA and India. Our stage performances during the program were also based on cultures from the same Indian regions that the camps were conducted at. Our programs ranged from North Indian regional dances, to South Indian classical dances, a few multi-lingual singing performances, and even an all-world fashion show! We invited the Pro Tem Mayor of Plano, Mr. Rick Smith as a Chief Guest to attend the event. Mayor Smith spoke a few noble words about VT Seva and the importance of community service. At the end of his speech, the Mayor, presented VT Seva with a certificate of commendation as a token of appreciation. Following the program, he extended partnership on behalf of City of Plano for new initiatives to serve the community through VT Seva. VT Seva Dallas Branch Director Mr. Priyatam Burgadda gave energetic vote of thanks to appreciate the volunteers, supporters and sponsors. He announced and introduced the new VT Seva team for 2020 to carry the torch of service.Our program would not have been possible without our dynamic volunteer team. From youth to adults, we all worked together to make it happen. Apart from our core volunteering team, we had almost 50+ volunteers helping with event management, decoration, serving food, and helping anywhere else needed. We also had many new members who showed interest in taking part in our monthly/quarterly activities and signed up at the venue itself! VTSeva Dallas would like to thank all our volunteers, for making the 11th Annual Tarangini a grand success. We hope to organize many more events throughout the year to do more service. More pictures

While VT SEVA has a vast global footprint, it also supports many local organizations and two such organizations from Houston are - Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) and Houston Council of the Blind (HCB). Friedreich’s Ataxia is a life shortening disorder which has symptoms such as vision impairment and muscle weakness and many more. Only about 15000 people in the world have this disorder, which currently has no cure. During Alo:k Fundraising event by VT Seva Houston in November 2019, Houston team invited two patients of FARA who are teenagers, and current member of the Governing Board of the Texas School for the Blind, and visually impaired Reverend Michael E Garrett to accept Scholarships. FARA has been handed a check of $1000 and HCB received two checks of $1000 each by Mrs. Aparna Kamatam, Advisor, VT Seva. The scholarship recipients are Ignacio Osbaldo Suarez, who will be earning a Business Associate in Arts and Shaheen Sadrialaei a rising undergraduate majoring in Finance and Accounting. The mission of the Houston Council of the Blind (HCB) is to improve the independence, security, equality of opportunity, and quality of life for visually impaired aligns very closely with VT Seva's service activities in educating visually challenged to give them a independent and dignified life. Some of HCB events or activities include an ongoing mentoring program for students, member support, exchange of ideas, fund raising, and distribution of annual scholarships to qualified students to assist them in their college careers. VT Seva Houston team also assists HCB in their monthly meetings.

Meet Gopalachari, member of Andhra Pradesh Cricket Team, Champions of IndusInd Nagesh T20 National Cricket Tournament for the Blind held on January 22, 2020 at Chinnasamy Stadium at Bengaluru. VT Seva is proud of his accomplishments and wishing him all the very best with his future endeavors. "I am K. Gopalachari. I have completed graduation in B. COM ( Computers ) in Nethra Vidyalaya Degree College (Schools for Visually challenged) supported by VT Seva." I lost my eye sight in the early years of childhood in an accident while playing with my sisters. My father is a daily laborer and my mother is a home maker and we belong to under developed area in Rayalaseema. After losing my vision I continued studying in regular school. It was very difficult for me to follow the lessons and understand due to my eye condition. With the help of my friends and teachers, I have completed my 10th class with difficulty. After passing my 10th grade, my vision gradually started fading, I lost my hope for further studies. But suddenly I got hope and optimism after knowing about the Junior College for Visually Challenged (Nethra Vidyalaya) from one of my relatives. I have joined the college in 2012 for studying Intermediate level education. There I have learned many things like Spoken English, Operating the computers, chanting slokas, playing games. I still remember the special classes conducted by VT Seva CEO and Netra Vidyalaya Visionary Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, through which I learned many morals and ethics. Subsequently I have improved my playing skills specially in Cricket. Teachers at the college encouraged me to learn various things. At the college for Visually challenged, I have appeared for exams by using laptop, which gave me the utmost satisfaction and self confidence - previously I used to write my exams with the help of scribe. Writing exams on laptops is one of the unique thing in Nethra Vidyalayam and first of its kind in India. This makes me independent and confident. In Netra Vidyalayam we have been provided with free laptop, free education and free accommodation. In 2014 I have completed Intermediate in CEC and I secured more than 85%. Then I have continued my graduation in Netra Vidyalaya Degree college. During my graduation days my focus was mainly playing cricket for my country. This wish paved me to focus more on cricket, at this critical juncture, Swamiji and my teachers gave ultimate encouragement and propelled me for playing at various levels including local, state and zonal competitions. With the blessings of Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, I performed well at various tournaments. Then I have been selected for the National Blind Team from the state of Andhra Pradesh as all rounder for my best performance. Indian Blind Cricket team captain Mr. Ajay Kumar and other prominent players in the team encouraged me to play for the National team. In this way Nethra Vidyalaya has given me good career in cricket. Nethra Vidyalaya is helping by sponsoring and providing financial assistance to pursue my profession as a cricketer. I have completed my graduation in the year 2017 and I secured 86%. After graduation I have joined as a Computer operator in Sri Chaitanya Junior College, Vijayawada to support my family financially. Now I got another opportunity to play for Ranji matches at domestic level. I am playing Ranji matches with the help of Baby madam and Madhuri Madam. I am grateful and thankful to Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji for the support and cooperation in the form of education provided through School for Visually Challenged. Now I have a goal to play first class and International cricket for the blind on behalf of my mother land (India). Till today and days to come, I am indebted to Sri Swamiji as He gave my life a meaning with of his generosity and everlasting blessings, and pushing me forward in my life. I take this opportunity to thank all the teachers and Management of Netra Vidyalayam for making my life worth living and giving new hope in my life. My deepest gratitude to my hope and guiding light - Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji. Read about T-20 Championship

Jan 22, 2020: VT Seva congratulates Gopalachari K and Ravindra Vangapandu who represented Andhra Padesh at the IndusInd Nagesh T20 National Cricket Tournament for the Blind held on January 22, 2020 at Chinnasamy Stadium at Bengaluru. VT Seva is very proud of his accomplishment and would like to take you through his journey of of becoming a Champion. In Ravindra's words: "I joined (Nethra Vidyalaya) School for Visually Challenged in 2009 to continue my studies. I joined 7th class in Nethra Vidyalaya. Before joining this school, while my other friends were able to understand the lessons being taught I used to struggle to learn due to my eye sight. " After seeing my struggle, my father decided to join me in blind school. He came to know about Nethra Vidyalaya from my relatives. After joining in Nethra Vidyalaya, every teacher took care of me and helped in every aspect. Now I am playing for Andhra Pradesh Cricket Team. When I joined in Nethra Vidyalaya, I didn’t know how to play cricket. My teachers encouraged me to play the cricket. Without disturbing my studies I started playing cricket simultaneously. My parents annual income is 55,000/-. It is very difficult to maintain family with that. We are three and I am the younger one. Luckily I got an opportunity to study in School for Visually Challenged (Nethra Vidyalaya). We are very much thankful to Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji for giving us hope to lead a happy life. After joining in Netra Vidyalaya entire staff helped me a lot especially Baby madam. Every student has a dream, with Swamiji’s blessings my dreams are fulfilling. It is not very easy to be selected in Professional team. I tried many times and went for selections. In 2019, I got selected in Andhra Pradesh team as an all rounder. Because of my economic status I struggled a lot for going to selection all over India. My 10 years hard work and my teachers encouragement made me finally a successful man. My ambition is to play in International format. After the completion of my school education, I joined in Nethra Jr. College which is unique in India. After Intermediate I got seat in University of Hyderabad, done my graduation there. Then I got seat in Pondicherry Central University for MBA program. Every day I say thank you to Sri Swamiji because if he did not establish Nethra Vidyalaya Institute, children like me can’t stand on their own feet and have a financially independent life. Once again thank you Swamiji, Nethra Vidyalaya and Baby madam for helping me till date." Read about T-20 Championship

VT Seva Boston is conducting a public speaking contest. Come join us for this contest conducted for children from Kindergarten to Grade 12 and win exciting prizes. Location 1: Shrewsbury, March 14th 2pm - 4pm Shrewsbury Public Library 609 Main Street, Shrewsbury, MA 01545 Location 2: Billerica March 21st 2pm - 5pm 267 Boston rd, #9, North Billerica, MA 01862 Location 3: Walpole March 21st 10 AM - Noon Walpole Public Library 143 School Street - Walpole, MA 02081 Last Day for Submission: Friday before the contest date at each location Winners will be announced on 04/05/2020 and best of each category has an opportunity to receive trophies (04/11/2020, Sruthilayalu event). Participants will be provided with Fruits and water Category 1 Kindergarten- 2nd grade. Topic: Who is your role model and their impact to the community ( (Time limit) 3mins Category 2 3rd grade – 5th grade Topic: What would you do if you were a President for a day (Time limit) 3mins Category 3 6th grade – 8th grade Topic: Innovative Business idea to prevent global warming (Time limit) 3mins Category 4 9th grade to 12th grade Topic: Growing up as a teen in USA (Time limit) 3mins Projector is allowed Presentation can be Poster board, Poem, Song, Skit, Rap, props. So get creative Points will be given for the following: Creativity Organization Content Presentation Time Management Rubric: Usage of prompts Organization Content Presentation Time Management Video contest Video contest topic: Mother Earth, Registration fee: $50 Teams of 3 to 5 people, no age limit Entries due by March 6th, 2020 Please email your entries to boston.director@vtsworld.org Time limit: 3 mins

Jan 22, 2020: VT Seva congratulates Gopalachari K and Ravindra Vangapandu who represented Andhra Padesh at the IndusInd Nagesh T20 National Cricket Tournament for the Blind held on January 22, 2020 at Chinnasamy Stadium at Bengaluru. Both Gopi and Ravindra are alumni of Schools for Visually Challenged supported by VT Seva. They both moved from regular schools to Schools for Visually Challenged as their vision deteriorated in childhood. The schools for Visually Challenged not only provided them with education specially designed for the Visually Challenged, but also proud to sponsor their education, sports, food and boarding for the past decade. The teachers and staff encouraged them in extra curricular activities including Cricket. Gopi and Ravindra both developed a great interest for the sport and were highly encouraged by Sri Swamiji and the Teachers to pursue their dreams. They started playing at several local and district level Cricket tournaments. Their perseverance and passion for the sport coupled with the encouragement and financial support from VT Seva helped them find an opportunity to play with Andhra Pradesh Team at National level, and made them champions today. The Tournament was conducted by Cricket Association for the Blind in India. Cricket for Blind [C4B] is a version of the sport of cricket adapted for blind and partially sighted players. Gopi and Ravindra expressed their heartfelt gratitude to VT Seva for helping by sponsoring and providing financial assistance to pursue their dream of playing professional cricket and also represent India at International level. Let us wish them all the very best in their endeavors. In Gop'is words: "I am K. Gopalachari. I have completed graduation in B. COM ( Computers ) in Nethra Vidyalaya Degree College (Schools for Visually challenged) supported by VT Seva." I lost my eye sight in the early years of childhood in an accident while playing with my sisters. My father is a daily laborer and my mother is a home maker and we belong to under developed area in Rayalaseema. After losing my vision I continued studying in regular school. It was very difficult for me to follow the lessons and understand due to my eye condition. With the help of my friends and teachers, I have completed my 10th class with difficulty. After passing my 10th grade, my vision gradually started fading, I lost my hope for further studies. But suddenly I got hope and optimism after knowing about the Junior College for Visually Challenged (Nethra Vidyalaya) from one of my relatives. I have joined the college in 2012 for studying Intermediate level education. There I have learned many things like Spoken English, Operating the computers, chanting slokas, playing games. I still remember the special classes conducted by VT Seva CEO and Netra Vidyalaya Visionary Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, through which I learned many morals and ethics. Subsequently I have improved my playing skills specially in Cricket. Teachers at the college encouraged me to learn various things. At the college for Visually challenged, I have appeared for exams by using laptop, which gave me the utmost satisfaction and self confidence - previously I used to write my exams with the help of scribe. Writing exams on laptops is one of the unique thing in Nethra Vidyalayam and first of its kind in India. This makes me independent and confident. In Netra Vidyalayam we have been provided with free laptop, free education and free accommodation. In 2014 I have completed Intermediate in CEC and I secured more than 85%. Then I have continued my graduation in Netra Vidyalaya Degree college. During my graduation days my focus was mainly playing cricket for my country. This wish paved me to focus more on cricket, at this critical juncture, Swamiji and my teachers gave ultimate encouragement and propelled me for playing at various levels including local, state and zonal competitions. With the blessings of Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, I performed well at various tournaments. Then I have been selected for the National Blind Team from the state of Andhra Pradesh as all rounder for my best performance. Indian Blind Cricket team captain Mr. Ajay Kumar and other prominent players in the team encouraged me to play for the National team. In this way Nethra Vidyalaya has given me good career in cricket. Nethra Vidyalaya is helping by sponsoring and providing financial assistance to pursue my profession as a cricketer. I have completed my graduation in the year 2017 and I secured 86%. After graduation I have joined as a Computer operator in Sri Chaitanya Junior College, Vijayawada to support my family financially. Now I got another opportunity to play for Ranji matches at domestic level. I am playing Ranji matches with the help of Baby madam and Madhuri Madam. I am grateful and thankful to Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji for the support and cooperation in the form of education provided through School for Visually Challenged. Now I have a goal to play first class and International cricket for the blind on behalf of my mother land (India). Till today and days to come, I am indebted to Sri Swamiji as He gave my life a meaning with of his generosity and everlasting blessings, and pushing me forward in my life. I take this opportunity to thank all the teachers and Management of Netra Vidyalayam for making my life worth living and giving new hope in my life. My deepest gratitude to my hope and guiding light - Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji. In Ravindra's words: "I joined (Nethra Vidyalaya) School for Visually Challenged in 2009 to continue my studies. I joined 7th class in Nethra Vidyalaya. Before joining this school, while my other friends were able to understand the lessons being taught I used to struggle to learn due to my eye sight. " After seeing my struggle, my father decided to join me in blind school. He came to know about Nethra Vidyalaya from my relatives. After joining in Nethra Vidyalaya, every teacher took care of me and helped in every aspect. Now I am playing for Andhra Pradesh Cricket Team. When I joined in Nethra Vidyalaya, I didn’t know how to play cricket. My teachers encouraged me to play the cricket. Without disturbing my studies I started playing cricket simultaneously. My parents annual income is 55,000/-. It is very difficult to maintain family with that. We are three and I am the younger one. Luckily I got an opportunity to study in School for Visually Challenged (Nethra Vidyalaya). We are very much thankful to Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji for giving us hope to lead a happy life. After joining in Netra Vidyalaya entire staff helped me a lot especially Baby madam. Every student has a dream, with Swamiji’s blessings my dreams are fulfilling. It is not very easy to be selected in Professional team. I tried many times and went for selections. In 2019, I got selected in Andhra Pradesh team as an all rounder. Because of my economic status I struggled a lot for going to selection all over India. My 10 years hard work and my teachers encouragement made me finally a successful man. My ambition is to play in International format. After the completion of my school education, I joined in Nethra Jr. College which is unique in India. After Intermediate I got seat in University of Hyderabad, done my graduation there. Then I got seat in Pondicherry Central University for MBA program. Every day I say thank you to Sri Swamiji because if he did not establish Nethra Vidyalaya Institute, children like me can’t stand on their own feet and have a financially independent life. Once again thank you Swamiji, Nethra Vidyalaya and Baby madam for helping me till date."

Singing Competition Guidelines Only Solos. No Group singing. Songs can be in any of the genres s.a., Semi Classical, Folk or Light. It can be private or movie songs, but strictly NO Carnatic or Hindustani classical numbers. Contestants are allowed to sing with or without a karaoke track. If a karaoke track is not used then the singers are required to use a shruthi box (In this case, we will provide the Shruthi box). The Maximum time duration for each song SHOULD BE 3 minutes. TIME LIMIT WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. And Please adhere to neat lyrics (Participants will need to send the tracks to the VTSeva cultural team for prior approval on the duration.) All karaoke tracks need to be sent to the following email address: amitavijay@gmail.com Songs can be in Telugu/Hindi/Tamil/English languages. English will be judged as a separate category. Winner and Runner-up from each category will be recognized with Trophies. If we do not have minimum 3 participants in any category that category might be combined with other category. If we have only 3 participants there will be giving only one trophy for that category. There will be ONLY ONE Round for the competition. All performances will be judged based on the criteria (Shruthi, Laya, Bhavam, Diction, Clarity etc) Judges decision is FINAL. Please maintain silence in the room when the kids are performing. Participants please be there by 2:30.

Jan 20, 2020: By Sriteja Kataru (7th grade) In today’s burrito wrapping, we did a lot of productive work. We made approximately 100 burritos along with a full meal of chips, juice, and fruit. All the burritos go to the San Jose homeless shelter, where they provide a home to the low-income and after they find a job they can move out. These people need our help, and they need food to eat, which is why we are coming and wrapping burritos for them. We made 100 burritos for homeless ! Along with that, you can make new relationships and friends at VTSEVA. Coming together and making a burrito is a good bonding activity in addition to making an impact in our society. We have the opportunity to help other people, and I thought that when I have all the necessities to have a happy life. Why not give to the people who have barely anything? I stand by this cause and I want to contribute as much as I can. When I joined VTSEVA I saw many activities being held to make the world a better place, and burrito wrapping was one of those activities I enjoyed very much. I stand by this cause and I want to contribute ! I get to see people eating the food that I prepared for them and I get immediate satisfaction by seeing that I am helping my community and helping the poor. In conclusion, the burrito wrapping was very fun volunteering activity along with giving food to the low-income people of San Jose. Author: Sriteja Kataru (7th grade, San Jose, CA) Sriteja is an active volunteer from San Jose and is passionate about helping causes supported by VTSeva

VT Seva Cary has been a part of FS Series events for over a year. FS Series, a non-profit organization, distinguished for their marathon events raises funds benefitting the REX Hospital and other organizations. The participants not only benefit from a well-methodized workout, but also feel great knowing they gave a child or a family hope for a cure. Since Health Care is one of the four core outreach areas of VT Seva, it is a very relatable cause for VT Seva. The youth team is excited to participate in FS Series events by supporting activities right from setting up the event infrastructure, distributing water to the participants and cheering the runners as they run for a cause. Even if it’s cold to stay Youth Team loves to participate in this event, and get highly motivated to see little kids to elderly people running for a cause. VT Seva Cary participated in 6 events during 2019 for FS Series. The volunteer coordinator of FS Series, Dawn Dixon, always supports VT Seva Youth Team by giving wonderful opportunities and great motivation. Dawn recently sent a letter to VT Seva Cary honoring the efforts with a $700 donation towards the Schools for Visually Challenged run by VT Seva. we give heartfelt thanks to all to our supporters and to Dawn Dixon for memorable opportunities to VT Seva. - Rohitha Sanka, Cary

When I first heard about VT Seva and how I can earn volunteer hours by participating in events from this organization, I immediately volunteered in one of their events. The first event I participated in was vegetable picking during the scorching summer of 2018. During the day of the event, I was astonished by the great number of volunteers that came to volunteer. I also noticed that there were a lot of adults volunteering and that got me surprised as I was thinking that most of the volunteers would be high schoolers looking for volunteer hours. After leaving the event, I understood that maybe people didn’t volunteer for personal gain such as volunteer hours, but volunteered to give back to the community and the people came together to serve the community under VT Seva. Additionally, I really liked volunteering with friends in events because VT Seva brought us together to spend time helping the community while having fun. I have had many great experiences from VT Seva and this organization has put awareness into me and taught me many things as I continued volunteering. One such example is when I volunteered at a concert by music schools and dance schools hosted by VT Seva. I was responsible to raise awareness at the concert about School for Visually Challenged in India, their various accomplishments in academics and sports. Me and four of my friends were able to raise $ 300 which was contributed towards the cause. From participating in VT Seva’s events, I earned something more valuable than the volunteer hours, I gained the honor of serving my community and making it a better place to live! - Nisval Patel, Parsippany

Hunger is something that affects many people and there are only fortunate people who get to never experience it. US is not an exception, even though it’s a rich Country. Food Bank is a nonprofit organization that works its hardest to make sure that in the near future no one needs to experience hunger. The North Carolina Food Bank has been working very hard at this goal and has distributed twenty-three million meals and fourteen million pounds of produce in 2019. VT Seva Cary is humbled by the opportunity to partner and put in significant number of hours of service at the Food bank. The youth volunteers were very much encouraged by a very warm note received from the CEO of The North Carolina Food Bank NC for being a big part of reaching the goal in 2019. The joy of giving back to the community through service and the friendships made along the way will keep the team coming back for more service in the years to come. VT Seva Centers across the United States partner with local food banks/non profit organizations heavily to serve communities ensuring more people get food. The events happen year round, if you would like to volunteer your time and feel great about giving back to the community, join our enthusiastic team. - Suvid Thungathurti, Cary

This summer I got the opportunity of a lifetime. Through the organization I have been actively volunteering with - VTSEVA, I got the privilege to travel to India to give back to the community. I got to volunteer my time in 3 different schools, in Allampally and Hyderabad, Telangana, Vizag, Andhra Pradesh, and Hyderabad. There, I got to work with so many amazing kids, 2 of the schools were Schools for Visually challenged, and the other was School for Tribals. I have made so many memories and this will be an experience I will never forget. We got to play games with the kids, interact with them, teach their classes and do homework with them. The first leg of our trip was to the Nethra Vidyalaya, School for Visually challenged, Hyderabad where most of the students were from the ages of 18 to 22 years old. At first I wasn't sure how to interact with the students because they were visually challenged. But the students were so excited to talk and they had so many questions about America, what is school like, the Government system and the Presidential election. Their English was so good that I felt like I was talking to one of my friends back home in America. They were so excited to talk and I had such a normal conversation with them that I forgot that I was talking to someone blind. I left the classroom with a smile on my face and my heart filled. I don't know what about it, but talking to those students and answering their questions made me feel so good inside. From there we took a 6 hour bus ride to Allamally where the School for Tribals is. When I first met the kids in Allampally I knew right away that I was going to have a lot of fun. As soon as we got out of the bus, they came over running saying “sister, sister, brother, come play with us” These kids were so sweet and kind, they wanted to buy us stuff from the market even though they had so little themselves. Even though their pockets were empty, their hearts were full. The time I spent in Allampally, I will never in my entire life forget. Even though at times it was difficult to understand them, and they couldn't understand me at times, I had so much fun that words can’t even describe how I felt. I've never felt so happy in my entire life. From the moment I first met them, they treated me like I was their sister, held my hand, watched out to make sure I didn't step in puddles or cow dung and invited me in their houses for chai. Saying goodbye to those kids was so hard. I had to fight back tears because I didn't want to cry in front of them. I grew so attached, that I didn't miss the internet, or my phone, or even a decent bathroom. I didn't even mind sleeping on the floor with bugs everywhere. At home I complain about the smallest things, I find enjoyment by being on my phone, scrolling through instagram or listening to music. But none of those things have ever gave be more enjoyment and happiness than spending time with these kids and seeing them so excited to participate in the activities we planned for them. - Nikita Chepuri

Our annual fundraiser event for Schools for Visually Challenged by Nashville VT-Seva was conducted on November 16th 2019. The event was attended by individuals who were genuinely interested in learning about the cause and to support the education of visually challenged students. We were able to share various accomplishments of the talented students at the Schools / Colleges for Visually Challenged and reiterated the constant need for the support of our donors. We recently lost a very young student who attends the Tennessee school for the blind, to brain cancer. She served as a guest speaker at DAYA: last year. In her honor, we have thus created a VT SEVA-Audrey Williams fund that was donated to the Friends of TN school for the blind. Following dinner and entertainment, the youth summarized their activities and in particular stressed their emerging role in leading efforts in the local community to make changes in support of the environment. With the support of our generous donors, we have raised over $50k this year for Nethravidyalaya students. Our sincere appreciation to all our volunteers and participants of “DAYA:”

Summer 2019 was an amazing life changing time for the youth that got an opportunity to intern with VT Seva in India. They got to get out of their comfort zone, go spend time with schools for tribals run by VT Seva, make new friends, see the passion of the students and teach a few classes, experience their culture and be part of their daily routine. The innocense and affection of the tribal students and their enthusiasm to showcase their talents is much enjoyed by all the participants. Every participant agrees in unison that the experience has been rewarding.

VT Seva Houston and Katy Teams came together and celebrated Alo:k Annual fund raiser event. The proceeds from the event will be supporting students of Schools for Tribals in Allampally, Beersaipeta, Telengana, and Katarivaripalem in Andhra Pradesh, India. Energetic youth presented Mime act for environmental protection, little volunteers presented dance medley on how VT Seva is able to bring light in the lives of the underprivileged serving through education pillar. The skit comprising the four pillars of VT Seva enacted by Youth and adult volunteers was very well received. The Magic program and a music segment by Swara Vedika Team enthralled the audience. The participants could see heart and soul of each volunteer being put in the success of the program. Youth volunteer Yashna shared her experience of participating in Summer Internship opportunity provided by VT Seva which was very inspiring as she shared how it made a huge difference in her perspective. Houston and Katy teams awarded 2 student scholarships worth $ 1000 each, received by Director of Houston Council of Blind (HCB) and a check worth $ 1000 to FARA (Fredericks Ataxia Research Alliance). More Pictures

VT Seva RAAS 2019 : 4th Annual Cultural Event Highlights - Its all celebration : the real meaning of RAAS Chief Guest Dr. Bobby Mukkamala with his great speech about Service Presence of Mr. Krishnakanth Keynote Speaker , VT Seva President with his inspiring speech 400+ people attended 88+ Volunteers Year long Volunteering events presentation Youth Board presentation Excellent performances Perfect Coordination 6 months of preparation Team effort Each team member owned this event ... The best part is - the team enjoys every moment they spend in volunteering. Sponsors : Stage Decoration : Dream Theme Event Decors Front Area Decoration : Jyothi Parsuramani and Keerthysri Dingari Campaigning Sponsor : Miindia , Food Sponsors : Aahar, Kurrys , Gift of India , Mayabazar, Turmerican, Sai Sweets , Desi Tadka , Vindu , India Grocers and Sai Grocers Photography : Ram Videography : Sreenivas Eeshwaroju and team And Swaravedika - Kalyani Mantripragada and Team Thank you to all Event Sponsors, Donors , Supporters, Volunteers each and every person who helped this event to make it a big success. more pictures on Facebook or click here

Bay Area celebrates 2nd annual PVSA awards ceremony Oct 27, 2019 (San Jose, CA): VTSeva is a certifying organization for administering the PVSA (President’s Volunteer Service Awards) to volunteers. In 2018, from 23 chapters of VTSeva in USA, almost 51 VTSeva volunteers received the awards, out of which Bay Area volunteers excelled by taking 24 awards. The youth volunteers received 9 Gold, 3 Silver and 12 Bronze awards. The awards are based on age of volunteers and number of hours they put in volunteering. Additional information can be found here. Bay area VT Seva volunteers received 24 awards. 9 GOLD, 3 SILVER and 12 BRONZE ! Sri Ranga Jayaraman, Director of Neurodiversity Pathways, chief guest of honor for the event, acknowledged all the youth volunteers with presidential awards. He is the former associate dean and CIO of Stanford Graduate School of Business and also former CIO of Nvidia. Sri Jayaraman, inspired the volunteers with his speech and emphasized the inner meaning of "SEVA" - meaning of giving back to the society. How each and every one of us need to switch the passion of giving from mind to the heart. When you give through the heart, you give more. Bay area VT Seva director Mrs. Archana Bindu kicked off the occasion by thanking all the volunteers and their parents for supporting the activities and taking an active participation throughout the year. In 2018, VT Seva also received a $4k grant from PayPal to procure digital colposcopes to aid in cancer screening camps in India and Nepal. VT Seva received $4k grant from Pay Pal in 2018 ! Bay Area VT Seva Secretary Mrs. Rukimini Vemulakonda spoke highly of the number of community activities taken up by the volunteers such as Speak your vision (speech contest - fund raising), Chess for vision (chess contest - fund raiser), Court Vision Classics (CVC - Basketball fundraiser), along with providing homeless shelter lunch, Environment activities, adopt a street activity, Habitat for humanity, Bone marrow drives, and assisting friends of children with special needs. Another exciting news is of receiving a congratulatory letter from City of Santa Clara ! Mrs. Kausalya Nallapa inspired the audience by giving details on multiple BayArea community activities taken up by the volunteers along with thanking adult volunteers Mrs. Sowjanya Mallepudi for coordinating with friends of children with special needs organization and Mrs. Menaka Noru for the monthly burritos for homeless. VTSeva volunteers also volunteered at Friends of Children with Special Needs (FCSN) - a support network for disabled individuals and their families. Special guest and consultant Ms. Shiow Chen spoke highly of the volunteers and their contribution to the facility. 2019 fundraising goals were shared with the group to support Netra Vidyalaya and Tribal students. One of the youngest youth volunteer, Mr. Sriteja Kataru who is just 11 yrs old gave a donation of $1075 from his birthday gifts as donation to VT Seva. He talked passionately about his reasons for donation. His parents are his greatest inspiration. The event continued with presentation of awards by Sri Jayaraman. All the parents and volunteers shared their acknowledgments by signing large poster cards inscribed with the volunteer’s name, picture and what inspired them to join VT Seva. Bayarea VTSeva volunteers completed 1200 hours of community service activities collectively by more than 50 volunteers and raised $25,477 to support 245 students. For information on how to get involved in bayarea, contact Mrs. Archana Bindu at bayarea.director@vtseva.org 2019 Bay Area goal is to sponsor 20 visually challenged students and sponsor 100 special equipment for blind children. WE NEED YOUR HELP ! YOU can help by sponsoring a child for one year for just $365/yr. Click here to sponsor. You can also sponsor special needs for the blind for $150/yr by clicking here. Other ways to donate are at vtsworld.org/donate All profiles at: VTSWORLD.ORG/AWARDS EKTA KARKALA GOLD My name is Ekta Karkala and I am a senior at Saint Francis High School. Outside of school, I enjoy teaching music classes at FCSN, playing competitive golf, and spending time with my family. One of my favorite aspects of VT Seva is the diversity of activities that youth volunteers are able to participate in. From helping protect the environment to building playhouses for low-income families, encouraging a variety of service opportunities allows volunteers to develop passions for different social causes while learning how to impact their own communities. Volunteering among students who are equally passionate about improving the community is something that inspires me to be a part of VT Seva. Being able to collaborate and develop friendships with other volunteers adds another dimension to the many benefits of service. Ekta's full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/EKTA-KARKALA/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 ABHINAV NALLAPA GOLD I am Junior at Bellarmine College Preparatory. My other Passion are Robotics & Programming Why I Joined VT Seva: Inspired by friends volunteering at VT Seva, seeing how fun and impactful VT Seva is Loved opportunity to participate in such a wide range of activities My Favorite Activities: Adopt-a-Street I love seeing how much nicer our street has become since we started Speak your Vision Speech Contest: Enjoyed organizing activity from start to finish, and seeing the funds we were able to raise for Netra Vidyalaya Abhinav's full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/ABHINAV-NALLAPA/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 ADARSH NALLAPA SILVER Freshman at Bellarmine College Prep ​Part of VT Seva for four years ​Love Biology and Speech​ Inspiration to Volunteer:​Meeting more friends I get to volunteer with​ and the joy of seeing the result of all my work​ Favorite Activity: ​Bone Marrow Drive: Trying to convince people to support a worthy cause is sometimes difficult but always satisfying. Adarsh profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/ADARSH-NALLAPA/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 AMULYA BINDU GOLD My name is Amulya Bindu and I am 15 years old. I am a 10th grader and I currently attend Silver Creek High School. I like to dance and hang out with my friends. I have been playing piano for 3 ½ years and I really like it. The best thing I like about VT Seva is how we help people in need. We do many activities, such as street cleaning, making food, and assisting people, that make us feel good after doing them. I also like how we raise money to help the visually impaired children in India by giving them food, educating them, and clothing them. Something that inspires me to be a part of VT Seva are the visually impaired children in India who are doing their best to be the best. They work so hard in whatever they do, and they even do some things better than us. This inspires me to also work hard to help them with everything that they need. Amulya full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/AMULYA-BINDU/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 ANOOHYA PANIDAPU GOLD My name is Anoohya Panidapu, and I'm a sophomore at De Anza, majoring in chemistry and math. I have been volunteering with VT Seva since 2016. Through VT Seva, I've had the chance to be a part of various events, from the Nepal fundraiser (where we sold my paintings and raised over $2500) to sandwich-making for the homeless. My sister and I are able to support the children at the Netra Vidyalaya School for the Blind in India through tutoring the kids in our community. In the year that we've been tutoring, we have raised over $7500 to support the Netra Vidyalaya kids' education. Through all these events, VT Seva has instilled in us a true sense of community, and that inspires me to continue working together to help the world around us. Anoohya full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/ANOOHYA-PANIDAPU/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 APOORVA PANIDAPU GOLD My name is Apoorva, and I’ve been volunteering with VT Seva for three years. My experience with VT Seva has been amazing, because it brings the community together to help those in need. In each event, I’ve had so much fun with my friends, working together to help create change, whether it be through making burritos for the homeless or selling paintings to aid Nepal after its devastating earthquakes. With VT Seva’s support, my sister and I are able to support Netra Vidyalaya kids in India through tutoring our own community’s children. We are very happy to have raised over $7500 dollars to support their education. VT Seva inspires me to always work to help make the world a better place, and I can’t wait to keep working with this wonderful organization to give back to the community with my friends and family. Apoorva's full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/APOORVA-PANIDAPU/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 DIVITHA DODDI GOLD I'm Divitha and I am a junior at Evergreen Valley High School. I have been a part of VT Seva for two years. My favorite activity is burrito wrapping. Although it gets messy, the end results shock me every time. I am inspired to be a part of VT Seva because I can give back to the community on a regular basis. Divitha full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/DIVITHA-DODDI/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 HARSHITA POLISETTY BRONZE My name is Harshita Polisetty. I am currently a senior at Evergreen Valley School. I love to dance and sing. In my free time, I like to spend time with friends and family. I have been apart of VTSEVA since I was five. One of the things I like about VTSEVA is the community that we formed. Because I was apart of this organization for so long, I was able to grow as an individual who cares for the community.  Coming together with friends and helping others was rewarding as well as very fun. Seeing that we can help people from all the way across the world to the people in our community, is one of the reasons that motivated me to join VTSeva. The fact that we were a part of someone’s smile whether it was indirectly or directly is what pushed me to continue participating in VTSEVA. Helping in the monthly activities that were provided by VTSEVA made me realize that I would want to continue to serve the community and people as I transition into a new chapter of my life. Harshita full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/HARSHITA-POLISETTY/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2018 MAITHREYI NARAYANAN BRONZE I am Maithreyi Narayanan and I’m a junior at Foothill High School, Pleasanton. I moved to California last year and as I was settling down I came to know about VT Seva and have been volunteering since then. Personally, the best part was the burrito wrapping because this task made me realize that anything we do can be done better and faster as a team. Another activity I also enjoyed was the Bone Marrow drive. It was fun because we were able to spread more awareness about the how the bone marrow benefits so many people with leukemia and lymphoma. The team was very happy because each time we did this drive we saw an increase in the number of people signing up. My aspiration is to pursue a career that will provide me with an opportunity to help improve the community’s health quality conditions and learn about their needs which resonates with VT Seva’s vision. (VT SEVA'S VISION IS TO SEE ALL CHILDREN AND ADULTS OF THE IMPOVERISHED COMMUNITIES OF INDIA AND OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO QUALITY EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE AND ENABLE THEM TO LIVE WITH DIGNITY AND PRIDE). The activities I participate with VT Seva Team makes me realize that the purpose of life is to show compassion and to help Maithreyi's full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/MAITHREYI-NARAYANAN/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 RAGHAV CHENNA BRONZE 14 years old, Freshmen at Evergreen Valley High School Like playing basketball, and video games Been part of VTSeva for 2 years Best thing about VTSeva is meeting new people & making friends during events, while helping people & community at the same time Inspiration is to help the community, and the children with special needs. RAGHAV'S full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/RAGHAV-CHENNA/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2018 RADHIR CHENNA BRONZE Volunteering for 3 1/2 years Motivation to join was to help children around the world. Inspiration to take up challenging projects was the amount of other people dedicating their time to help the educational needs of under privileged children in the world Most fun activity was planning and running the CVC basketball tournament which funded Natya Vidyalaya in India, which helped visually challenged children RADHIR's full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/RADHIR-CHENNA/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 RAHUL MAMTORA BRONZE My name is Rahul Mamtora and I am currently a senior at St. Francis High School. I enjoy playing basketball, doing creative work related to sport/entertainment, designing apparel line of products, and securing relationships with professional athletes. I’ve been playing basketball since first grade and have seen how every aspect of basketball can be translated into a value of life. The value of being unselfish is where VTSeva and Court Vision Classics (CVC) event fits in. VTSeva has given me an opportunity to mix creativity, sports, and charity resulting in making an impact to visually challenged individuals and raising $10K over the 2017 & 2018 events. I thoroughly enjoyed doing event planning, marketing, design, sponsorship and outreach for CVC. VTSeva has enabled me to giving back to those in need, while enjoying the game I love so much. Rahul's full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/RAHUL-MAMTORA/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 ROHAN BINDU BRONZE My name is Rohan Bindu and I am currently a senior at Evergreen Valley High School. Some of my hobbies include playing and teaching basketball, learning computer science, and going to the gym.One of the things I like about VTSeva was how, through this organization, I was able to combine my love for basketball and my passion for volunteering, to create a tournament which helped those in need. Through this experience, I learned a lot about myself and the marketing world, and created bonds with the visually challenged kids in India.The constant perseverance of helping those in need is one of the main reasons which inspired me to be a part of VTSeva. From making burritos to building playhouses to huge donations, every single event has a purpose, as we always put their needs over ours. Whether it be the monthly activities or fundraising events, this organization never fails to put a smile on everyone’s faces. Rohan's full profile: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/ROHAN-BINDU/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 SAHANA NORU SILVER My name is Sahana Noru. I’m a junior and I go to Evergreen Valley High School. I have been a part of VTSeva since 2015.  I think the best part of VTSeva is volunteering with others and helping others in the process. There are many events that I enjoy such as burrito wrapping, FCSN, and the conducting the Speak Your Vision speech contest.  The most inspiring part of VTSeva is seeing the effect that our volunteering has on the community. Helping others makes me feel like my volunteering is making a contribution. Sahana's full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/SAHANA-NORU/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 SAHASRA VELLANKI SILVER I have been doing VTseva for around 3 years, I think VTseva is a good way to give back to the community. I first joined VTseva when I was around 9 years old, during this time period I have done many activities such as, burrito making, bone marrow drives, adopt-a-spot, and much more. My favorite activity that I do with VTseva is the burrito making. I like it because we get hands on experience by cooking, along with feeling good about helping others. Sahasra's full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/SAHASRA-VELLANKI/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 SATYA VEMULAKONDA SILVER My name is Satya Vemulakonda. I am a Junior at Leigh High School. I play football and wrestling. What is the best thing you like about VT Seva: VT Seva has allowed me to make new friends and work together to make our community a better place. What inspires you to be part of VT Seva: Mostly the friendships I have made through volunteering. Make friends and give back to the community while having fun. Satya's full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/SATYA-VEMULAKONDA/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 SERENA GANDHI GOLD Hi! My name is Serena Gandhi. I'm eleven years old and attend Peterson Middle School in Sunnyvale. I like to sing and read books. The best thing that I like about VT Seva is that I get to volunteer at many different places, and meet many new people. My older brother inspired me to join VTSeva and so we can volunteer together as a family. Serena's full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/SERENA-GANDHI/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 SHREYA SRINIVASAN GOLD My name is Shreya Srinivasan and I am a junior. In my free time, I enjoy playing volleyball and am also on my school’s yearbook staff. One thing that I like about VT Seva is that it helps a variety of causes and allows me to help different people. I am inspired to be part of VT Seva because of the impact that volunteer work has on the lives of others. By participating in these activities, I am able to provide for many people. Shreya's full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/SHREYA-SRINIVASAN/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 SRIJA PONNA BRONZE My name is Srija Ponna and I am a senior at Notre Dame High School. I have been volunteering with VT Seva for six years now. My favorite thing about VT Seva is that they work to improve both local and international communities. I appreciate that being a volunteer with VT Seva, it allows me to directly contribute to the people in need around me and also help underprivileged people in India.I am inspired to be a part of VT Seva because of its dedication to improving the lives of marginalized communities. I genuinely love that as a volunteer with VT Seva I can do my part to make the world a better place, even if it’s just through seemingly small acts, such as preparing food for homeless shelters, picking up trash from the streets, collecting food for second harvest food banks, fundraising and packing kits for floods and fire hazard victim families, helping special needs children with arts, music, etc. and raising funds to support the education of the blind children in India. SRIJA'S full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/SRIJA-PONNA/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 SRITEJ PONNA GOLD My name is Sritej Ponna and I am a freshman at Archbishop Mitty High School. I have been volunteering for VT Seva for over 4 years and have participated in many local events like making burritos to serve the homeless, involving in bone marrow drives, and helping special needs children learn how to draw, dance, and make music.My favorite part about VT Seva is that you can combine your passion or hobby with volunteering. One of my favorite hobbies is playing chess, and using that, I led a chess tournament to collect funds and donated to a visually challenged school in India.The different events and opportunities to help people in need is what inspired me to join VT Seva. Other organizations usually only help in one specific aspect, but VT Seva has many aspects it works on, like helping the blind children, the environment, the homeless, children with special needs and much more. SRITEJ'S full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/SRITEJ-PONNA/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 VIVEK VEMULAKONDA BRONZE Hi, I'm Vivek Vemulakonda. I am currently a 9th grader at Leigh High School, I enjoy playing football and basketball during my free time and my favorite subject at school is probably math2. What is the best thing you like about VT Seva: I like during VT Seva how you get to help people who are less fortunate and you can help in your own way to make it better for them. What inspires you to be part of VT Seva: I am inspired by just the fact that you can help other people as normally the human race is greedy but for a little bit of time we change that when we get involved selflessly into the activities. VIVEKs full profile at: https://www.vtsworld.org/Awards/VIVEK-VEMULAKONDA/2018 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019 Share this article with your friends and family: vtsworld.org/post/bayarea-pvsa-2019

VT Seva Detroit and Swaravedika Detroit team yet again collaborated an awesome singing competition. It was an overwhelming participation with 50 participants of ages ranging from 6 years to adults. Our sincere thanks to the 3 judges, Smt. Ranjitha Chitrapu, Smt. Vani Harish and Sri Venkatesh Venkataraman, who have patiently judged for well over 5 hours. The winners are : Sub-Juniors category: 1. Dhruv Rathod 2. Anjika Dutta 3. Pranavi Annavarapu Special Apprecitation under Sub-Juniors are: 1. Vaishnavi Shamji 2. SriNitya Cherukuri 3. Sneha Aradhya Juniors category: 1. Harshita Vangaveti 2. Tanvi Kakunje 3. Archana Rao Special Appreciation under Juniors are: 1. Prisha Vysyaraju 2. Samhita Seniors category: 1. Manisha Daram 2. Jayashree Vysaraju 3. Kanthi Bhamidipati Special thanks to Kala Anumolu and Sree Anumolu for the help rendered through the event. and other volunteers : - Phototgraphy Videography : Kavya - Hosting : Aneesha Mantripragada and Sree Chandana Anumolu. - Front desk/check in volunteers, Rushil Mantripragada, Jishnav Arcota, Omkar Vodela, SreeNand Anumolu, Anvita Chitrapu. and great job coordinating the whole event : Kalyani Mantripragada more details and pictures click here

What a wonderful afternoon on Saturday , October 12th, 2019. A bunch of smart ,witty, piquant kids showed their Public Speaking skills. VT Seva Detroit hosted its 2nd Annual Public Speaking competition. As one of our judges mentioned, If you don't know how to express your ideas, it dies with you. Public Speaking competitions give opportunities to learn how to express ideas in a convincing way. By participating in this competition these youths not only utilized the opportunity to become a good communicator but also helped the education of children in India. Yes, all the contributions from this competition are going to fund a child's education in India. Kudos to all our veteran competitors and I'm glad to see all the new competitors. All of the competitors did a great job and we are so proud of you all. A big thanks to all of our wonderful judges, Mrs. Frame, Mrs. Boka, and Mr. Srikanth. Mrs. Frame is a teacher at Webster Elementary School in Livonia, and she is our vetran judge. Mrs. Boka is the principal of Webster Elementary school in Livonia, and Mr. Srikanth is a management personnel from automotive industry, and he is another vetran judge. We were so blessed to have these wonderful judges. Last but not least, without volunteers it was not possible to run this event. Kudos to all of our young volunteers Harish Jaisankar, Abhinav Suresh, Anagha Jammalamadaka, Abhi Jillelmudi, Rashmita Ragunathan & Oviya Jaisankar as well as all the adult volunteers Jaisankar Kannan, Venkat Pisipati, Vanitha, Swapna, Naga & Ajay. Congrats to our winners! Group 1 winners: Jishnu Kandalam Kaustubh Dingari Group 2 winners: Siddharth Srinivasan Hannah Thomas Malavika Ajit - VTSEVA Public Speaking Committee Priya Jaisankar Archita Kramadhati More pictures click here:

What can be more satisfying than seeing the fruits of your hard work? Knowing you were instrumental in shaping up someone's future? We are very proud to introduce to you - our Alumni who are serving as Teachers, Managers, successful staff at several reputable organizations. A great amount of passionate work went in to molding them carefully by our loving teaching and administrative staff, our volunteers and the kind supporters. Today their lives are made, they are independent, they are able to take care of their family and can live proudly without relying on any support. We are happy for them and ever grateful to all the support we got to serve them.

VT Seva CEO, HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swami ji has envisioned serving the underprivileged, serving those that put everyone else before themselves, serving those that only think of nurturing and providing family is reason for their existance Yes, the lady of the home, whose well being is pivotal for the sustenance and development of the home and in turn healthy community. Through Mahila Arogya Vikas, VT Seva Health Pillar is humbled to celebrate serving One million people that were reached out to spread awareness and provide free health screenings. We are proud of their efforts for customizing the equipment to decrease the turn around time to provide results. The innovation not only helped getting the faster results but also at much more economical price which helps us in expanding our scope to serve even more. We can't thank you enough - the supporters for your constant support. We can't thank our volunteers enough - who go door to door to raise awareness and work tirelessly to provide health screening. We are excited for the opportunity to serve and look forward to reach more and more people and confident you will join us. Your Support is Our Strength to Serve.

VT Seva Virginia had a successful event where the attendees had opportunity to share and learn from amazing panel of Doctors. It provided health awareness, education, information and resources.  The success and feedback confirmed the importance of this event. We thank all the Sponsors and Supporters without whose contribution, the event would not have been a success. A big thank you from everyone at VT SEVA VIRGINIA.

Awesome job by the team, VT Seva Detroit team successfully organized the 7th Annual Volleyball/Throwball Tournament. About 13 teams participated in the tournament for the wonderful cause - Supporting the Blind and Visually Challenged Children. Volleyball : Winners : Awesome Spikers Captain : Sriram Throwball : Winners : Detroit Champs Captain : Sirisha Sirisha ji , Vanitha ji and Arun ji (and the whole team of volunteers) for coordinating this great Tournament. A Huge shout out to our referees volunteers Shiva ji, Darshan ji , Vish ji for helping us today. 👏👏 Thank you so much to all our wonderful youth volunteers who helped today.👏👏 Amitesh , Aishani, Sanjana, Teja, Arya Amogh,Amrith ,Ishaan,Hari, Yug,Surya,Abhay, Shounak and Kavya Our youth volunteers always rocks in all events. Keep it up 👍 Thank you so much Sudhakar ji , Prema ji , Jyothi Sudheer ji , Nandhini ji , Venkat Ji , Rajiv ji Sreenivas ji , and Jyothi Srinath ji for all your great help today. A special thanks to food sponsors Madhavi Sudhakar Kolluri ji, VT Seva started this Tournament in 2013 Making successful every year .... It's all because of the supporters ... Again Thank you all the volunteers , participants ,parents and all other who supported us for this cause ...

VT Seva is proud to announce that Ms. M. UMABHARATHI (2016-17 SSC Batch) Student of VT Seva Supported School for Tribal Children (JEEYAR GURUKULAM - Allampalli) has selected to prestigious IISER - INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH at TIRUPATHI. She is the daughter of Smn. Mallesh- Smt. Parvathi native of Mesalabhoomanna Gudem, Kadam Mandal, Nirmal Dist, TS. Only 12 seats allotted for total Telangana State. Out of 12, she is the only tribal student who selected for IISER from NIRMAL region. She finished her education from Nursery to 10th grade in JEEYAR GURUKULAM-Allampalli, which is established by VT Seva CEO HH CHINNA JEEYAR SWAMIJI in 2004. Let's all congratulate and wish her the best of luck. To know more about the VT Seva supported Schools for Tribal Kids and Schools for Blind Kids please visit www.vtsworld.org/school-for-blind www.vtsworld.org/tribal-schools

During the brief meeting after our successful RAAS 2018 event, we were brainstorming about adding newer events to attract more participation and awareness about VT Seva and we hit upon this idea of conducting a Kid’s Soccer Tournament to benefit the Netra Vidyalaya children. It is then when we started this 7-month long journey of VT Seva – ‘Soccer For A Cause’ tournament. It was quite a challenge initially to assess the interest, availability of fields, identifying the age groups, many other logistics since it was a first time for all of us to conduct a tournament of this size. Hence, we decided to send out a Survey form to seek everybody’s opinion and interest. Due to several reasons such as summer vacation time for the kids, field and volunteers’ availability, July 13th 2019 was the chosen to be the day of the Tournament based on the Survey feedback. We had overwhelming responses from kids, parents and volunteers in making the event a successful one without any hiccups. We were thrilled to see players signing up till the last minute at the venue. Total about 45 kids registered. We played 3 round robin games for 6-9yr olds and then one decider, 2 games for 10-12 yr olds and 1 big game for High Schoolers vs Adults...you could obviously guess the result of that game All in all, it was a fun filled day of Soccer with some mouthwatering snacks - Pizzas, Samosas, Ice Cream, Lemonade, Mango Lassi, Gatorade & plenty of water to keep the players & parents going. All proceeds go to Netra Vidyalaya from VT Seva Detroit RAAS event. We definitely look forward to making it a bigger event in the following years! Thank you UV ShutterKlick Photography , Vathsal Ravi for wonderful pictures. Thank you Milkster Novi and Thank you Total Sports Novi for the facility. Click here for more pictures