VT Seva (Volunteering Together for Service) is conducting our Walk-A-Thon to raise awareness towards Mental Health in our students during these challenging times as we continue to work with our Bay Area school districts. All registration fees and proceeds are tax-deductible Date: August 27, 2022 Timings: 10 am - 11:30 am PT Venue : Almaden Lake Park Cinnabar II Picnic Area, 6099 Winfield Blvd, San Jose, CA 95120 If you would like to just donate for the event, please click below: VT Seva is a non-profit organization with primary focus to teach self-reliance to underprivileged and visually impaired students from low socio-economic backgrounds by providing them with boarding, education and empowerment. Our organization is active in promoting cancer awareness and immediate responders for any natural disaster that occurs around the world. Apart from our national activities, our Bay Area Chapter conducts local activities to promote the spirit of volunteerism in our youth for their participation and leadership skills. For any questions, please contact: adnallap@gmail.com

VTseva Detroit Youth board successfully wrapped up the 2nd quarter of 2022! We implemented 13 projects that were all initiated by the youth board members. ● Mother’s Day Greeting Card Project ● Rouge Park Cleanup ● Father’s Day Greeting Card Project ● Adopt A Road ● Volunteer Spirit Messages ● Stage Nature Center Cleanup Project ● Manoogian Manor Senior Center May Visit ● Youth Board 3rd Anniversary celebration ● Youth Board Members high school student graduation ● Walkathon Kickoff Celebrations ● Manoogian Manor Senior Center June Visit ● Sri Balaji Temple Volunteering ● Chess Camp Video Created By: Alok Tonapi Mother’s Day Greeting Card Project: Mathru Devo Bhava! Revere your Mother as God! 𝐕𝐓 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 celebrated Mother's Day with the mothers in 3 senior centers in Livonia, MI. 45 volunteers came together and created 𝟏𝟕𝟎 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 to wish them a happy Mother's Day. Cards have been distributed to 3 senior centers 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫, 𝐎𝐚𝐤𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 and they were so happy to receive the cards! This project was initiated by the Youth Board Member 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉. 45 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒔 who participated in this project are Abisrishti, Abhinav S, Ajitesh, Ananya V, Ananya S, Anvika, Arya, Gayathiri, Harish, Hrudya, Jisha, Kushal, Medhas, Mohammad Hassan, Mohammad Hussain, Nikhil, Oviya, Phani Sai Akhil, Pranav T, Pranav K, Rachana, Rishi, Sai Sahasra, Sai Sri Ram, Sairaaga, Saisha, Samhith, Sanjay, Sathvik, Shivani, Shruthi, Siddharth, Sravya, Sreenika, Srihari H, Sriraam, Sritha, Srivasta, Supraja, Tamil Iniyann, Teja, Udhayaa, Vaibhav, Varsha, Varshini and Veena Thank you all so much for bringing in smiles to 170 wonderful moms from these 3 senior centers and made Mother's day special for them. Special shout out to adult volunteers 𝑽𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒚 𝒋𝒊, 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒊 𝒋𝒊, 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝒋𝒊, 𝑵𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒊 𝒋𝒊, 𝑽𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒂 𝒋𝒊, 𝑺𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒋𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒋𝒊 for collecting the greeting cards from various cities and dropping them off on time. FB Link: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5807181702642144&id=804058126287885&sfnsn=mo Rouge Park Cleanup: 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 (𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵) The Detroit River Coalition is a binational environmental resource hub leveraging collective partnerships to reduce litter pollution in the Detroit River through education, coordination, and clean-up services, as well as celebrate its natural and cultural significance for communities throughout the Great Lakes Region. 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯 had a great opportunity to clean the Rouge park. This is their second volunteering event. The park was heavily polluted and with lot more volunteers from public and VT Seva also it was not possible to clean up the full park. They picked up a variety of item from bottles to clothes. They all worked hard to clean up the park to make it a pleasant place to visit and for the animals. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 Special thanks to adult coordinators 𝗦𝘂𝗱𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗶 and 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗷𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝗶. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Anuraag, Vishnu, Haresh and Jayanth FB Link: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5767711246589190&id=804058126287885&sfnsn=mo Father’s Day Greeting Card Project : Pithru Devo Bhava! Revere your Father as God! 𝐕𝐓 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 celebrated Father's Day with the fathers in 3 senior centers in Livonia, MI. 45 volunteers came together and created 75 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 to wish them a happy Father's Day. Cards have been distributed to 3 senior centers 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫, 𝐎𝐚𝐤𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 and they were so happy to receive the cards! This project was initiated by the Youth Board Member 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉. 45 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒔 who participated in this project are Abisrishti, Abhinav S , Ajitesh, Ananya V, Ananya S, Anvika, Arya, Gayathiri, Harish, Hrudya, Jisha, Kushal, Medhas, Mohammad Hassan, Mohammad Hussain, Nikhil, Oviya, Phani Sai Akhil, Pranav T, Pranav K, Rachana, Rishi, Sai Sahasra, Sai Sri Ram, Sairaaga, Saisha, Samhith, Sanjay, Sathvik, Shivani, Shruthi, Siddharth, Sravya, Sreenika, Srihari H, Sriraam, Sritha, Srivasta, Supraja, Tamil Iniyann, Teja, Udhayaa, Vaibhav, Varsha, Varshini and Veena Thank you all so much for bringing insmile to 75 wonderful dads from these 3 senior centers and made Father's day special for them. Special shout out to adult volunteers 𝑽𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒚 , 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒊 , 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒂 , 𝑵𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒊 , 𝑽𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒂 , 𝑺𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒚𝒂 for collecting the greeting cards from various cities and dropping them off. FB Link: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5935121433181503&id=804058126287885&sfnsn=mo Adopt A Road: 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 (𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵). 𝗕𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝑨𝒅𝒐𝒑𝒕-𝑨-𝑹𝒐𝒂𝒅 is a Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) program designed to help keep the roadsides clean and attractive. VT Seva Detroit adopted a stretch of 8 mile road from Haggerty to MeadowBrook. After COVID pandemic VT Seva Detroit Youth Board resumed their clean up activity on May 1, 2022. 16 bags of trash was collected today , lots of plastic bottles, plastic bags, golf balls, coffee cups, car tire scraps, metal from cars, gloves, cigar butts and much more.... Discarded plastic bags from our throw-away society end up blocking storm drains and culverts, impeding the flow of water and worsening bank erosion. Plastics also leech into the water, degrading the water quality with toxic compounds and end up harming human and animal health. Every piece of trash collected protect the environment, helps the animals, helps the human... VT Seva Detroit Youth Board did their part to be 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped cleaning up the road today. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐇𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧, 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢, 𝐍𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐥, 𝐕𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚 & 𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐲𝐚, 𝐀𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐢, 𝐉𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐫, 𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐚 & 𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐫 FB Link: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5788488704511444&id=804058126287885&sfnsn=mo Volunteer Spirit Messages: 𝐕𝐓 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 were celebrating 3𝒓𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 3 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔.They all explained it very nicely from the bottom of their heart. Volunteering provides them the 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑, 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒚, 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 in this young age. Thanks to VT Seva for providing a platform to these young minds to serve others and grow as responsible citizens of this world. Thanks to 𝑺𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒔𝒂, 𝑨𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒌𝒂, 𝑶𝒗𝒊𝒚𝒂, 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉, 𝑲𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍, 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒆𝒆𝒗, 𝑨𝒌𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒚, 𝑯𝒂𝒋𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏, 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒏, 𝑺𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒂, 𝑺𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒂𝒈𝒂, 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒂𝒏, 𝑻𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏, 𝑼𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒂, 𝑲𝒂𝒂𝒗𝒚𝒂, 𝑺𝒂𝒊𝑺𝒓𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒎, 𝑬𝒆𝒔𝒉𝒂, 𝑨𝒏𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒂𝒈, 𝑨𝒎𝒐𝒈𝒉, 𝑨𝒃𝒊𝒔𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒕𝒊, 𝑨𝒍𝒐𝒌 & 𝑨𝒌𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒉 for sharing their messages to the world. Thanks to every youth board member and their parents for spending their time in service to others and make a positive impact. Listen to their video messages at https://www.youtube.com/playlist... FB Link: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5909235629103417&id=804058126287885&sfnsn=mo Stage Nature Center Cleanup Project: 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 : 𝗬𝗕 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗮 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗮𝗻 Troy Stage Nature Center for learning contains classrooms, a public research library, an observation beehive, a wildlife viewing area and a nature exhibition lobby. The headwaters of the Rouge River flow through the 100-acre preserve. More than 145 plant and animal species can be viewed throughout the grounds. An outdoor natural play area features climbing boulders, and a paved path that provides wheelchair access to the stream side forest. Within the nature center boundaries are over 1.5 miles of trails, which pass through upland forest, meadows, stream side wetlands, and a cattail marsh. 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯 & 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗜𝗔 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯 had a great opportunity to clean the Stage Park. This is their third volunteering event. They help remove destructive invasive plants by using hand tools such as lopper sand shovels to remove invasive species such as Garlic Mustard, Dame’s Rocket, Buckthorn, Autumn Olive, Oriental Bittersweet, and many more. They did the wood chipping also. It was a very rewarding experience that was interrupted by the unusually heavy downpour. Yet 3 volunteers stayed back for weather to clear and finished the work. Special shout out to adult coordinators 𝗡𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗮 𝗷𝗶, 𝗩𝗶𝗷𝗮𝘆 𝗷𝗶, 𝗞𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗷𝗶 & 𝗦𝗵𝗿𝗲𝘆𝗮 to guide the students. Without their help this event would not be possible. Thanks to all the 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗔𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗸𝗮, 𝗦𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗮, 𝗔𝗻𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗮𝗴, 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗻𝘂, 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝘂𝗻, 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁, 𝗝𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗵. FB Link: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5848658311827816&id=804058126287885&sfnsn=mo Manoogian Manor Senior Center May & June Visit: 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱: 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗝𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗮𝗿 Our Youth Board members and parents visited the Manoogian Manor Seniors after a winter break. The seniors were so happy to see our group again! Hajanthan, Varshan and Komathy Ji brought cookies for the seniors. Our volunteers served these cookies and juice to the seniors. Pravin also entertained everyone with his magic tricks. Srivasta also entertained everyone by playing music in his guitar .All the seniors and volunteers loved his magic show. It was a great evening spent with the seniors over Memorial Day. A huge thank you to all the youth and adult volunteers for spending time with the seniors. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Harish, Hajanthan, Varshan, Hrudya, Pravin, SaiSriram and Kaavya 𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Komathy, Manojkumar, Srinath and Priya FB Link1: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5878494362177544&id=804058126287885&sfnsn=mo FB Link2: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5943239565703023&id=804058126287885&sfnsn=mo Youth Board 3rd Anniversary celebration, High School Senior Graduation & Walkathon Kickoff: 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 What a wonderful evening on 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟭𝟭, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 to celebrate multiple occasions today . 𝟭. 𝗬𝗕 𝟯𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮. 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 3. 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗻 𝗞𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗼𝗳𝗳 It was so great to see all. Great celebration with our high school seniors, 4 of our senior students ( 𝗔𝗯𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘃, 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵, 𝗞𝗮𝗮𝘃𝘆𝗮 & 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 ) cut the cake. 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿𝘀!!! With all our wonderful volunteers together we celebrated our youth board's 3rd anniversary today. All of our youth volunteers celebrated it by cutting the cake. Thanks to Vandana and Asha for bringing us snacks. Thanks to all who helped us serving the food and cleanup. Yes it was day for Cake But we got it covered for all the people who are health conscious by kicking off our walkathon . We all had 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 in the park today.. With this Youth Board-initiated Walkathon, we support 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 to support families affected by cancer. Please join us @ detroit.vtwalk.org to support our Walkathon. FB Link: https://fb.watch/eiQn9vXsdp/ Sri Balaji Temple Volunteering: VT Seva Detroit Youth Board Members had a blessed opportunity to clean the Balaji Temple Garden. Our youth volunteers cleaned the garden by raking and removing the dry leaves, trimmed the bushes, power washed the windows, cleaned the landscape, removed the wood debris, pulled the weeds and dead annual, removed dead growth from perennials, cleaned the plants and much more to make the garden looks better. It was a gratifying experience to see the clean garden. While most of our volunteers were cleaning the garden, two of our adult volunteers helped inside the temple by sorting and ironing the god's wardrobe. Overall it was really a fulfilling experience for all of our volunteers. Thanks to Balaji temple for the opportunity. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Aahana, Aditi, Alok, Anvika, Christeena, Sneha, Sreenika and Supraja 𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Giri, Srinath, Anitha, Deeptha and Priya. FB Link: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5956501007710212&id=804058126287885&sfnsn=mo Chess Camp: YB Member Tarun conducted VT Seva Detroit’s 2nd Annual Chess Camp. Blog Consolidated By: Harish Jaisankar Blog Published by Nandini Cheemalamarri.

Hola, Bonjour everyone, VT Seva Detroit Youth Board members and Bright Mind Tutors are teaming up to conduct our first-ever Foreign Language Camp. It's a 3 day online camp designed for kindergarten to elementary school students to get introduced to foreign languages French and Spanish. It's a great opportunity to get exposed to other languages and help underprivileged students' education. All money collected will be donated to Nethra Vidyalaya and Tribal School students' education. Come join us, have fun, learn a new language and help others. Gracias, Merci 🙏🙂

Summer Debate Camp July 18 - 20 VT SEVA Detroit Youth Board member Sanjith is conducting an online Summer Debate Camp. Debate is an integral skill and will come up many times throughout middle school and high school moving forward. This course provides a unique and personalized way for your child to learn skills like quality research, arguing, presenting strong points, and knowing how to stand your ground! This class will follow a simple format; 1) First Class will be an instructive and learning session 2) Second Class will be a Mock Debate with feedback at the end 3) Third and final class will be the actual debate! Register at: https://sites.google.com/view/essaywritingcompetition/debate-workshop

April 30th 2023 Atlanta VT Seva team has organized a CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) session on April 30th, 2023 at the Cumming Library in Forsyth County. The main objectives behind this CPR session are to share CPR insights, provide hands-on training, and assist youths and adults in practicing CPR. This CPR session started with an Atlanta VT SEVA 2021-2022 Initiatives & Activities video exhibiting various service projects in 2022 and 2023 by the Atlanta VT Seva team. This CPR session was facilitated by Dr. Jawahar Gazzala, Atlanta Heart Specialist, Cardiologist by profession, and Sumir Nemani, GA Tech CPR-certified student. Dr. Jawahar first shared the American Heart Association (AHA) CPR guidelines, dos and don’ts of CPR, 3 Cs of CPR (check patient, call 911, and start chest compressions), what to do when you see people having cardiac assets in public places, and much more. Later Dr. Jawahar and Sumir gave CPR live demonstrations of 1 Person CPR on a practice dummy and all children and adults practiced with them using their pillows assuming their pillows to be human bodies. They also went over how to do 2 personal CPR and helped our youth and adults practice it. They urged everyone to register in CPR classes and become CPR Certified, as it's an important life skill to have which can save somebody’s life in case of emergency. Overall, it was a fantastic CPR session in which we had over 90 participants in-person. In the end, each participant who attended was given a certificate of participation and a cheat sheet of what to do regarding CPR. It was great to see our VT Seva community learn the valuable skill to save someone’s life. June 4th 2022 Atlanta VT Seva team has organized CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) session on June 4th, 2022. The main objectives behind this CPR session is to share CPR insights, provide hands-on training, and assist youths and adults in becoming CPR certified. This CPR session started with a ‘Welcome Note’ by Dr. Madhu Nemani which was followed by Atlanta VT SEVA 2021-2022 Initiatives & Activities video exhibiting various service projects in 2021 and 2022 by Atlanta VT Seva team. This CPR session is a kickoff for VT SEVA Atlanta Summer Camp 2022 for Elementary, Middle, and High School students. This CPR session was facilitated by Dr. Jawahar Gazzala, Atlanta Heart Specialist, Cardiologist by profession and Sumir Nemani, GA Tech CPR certified student. Dr. Jawahar first shared the American Heart Association (AHA) CPR guidelines, dos and don’ts of CPR, 3 Cs of CPR (check patient, call 911, and start chest compressions), what to do when you see people having cardiac assets in public places, and much more. Later Dr. Jawahar and Sumir gave CPR live demonstrations of 1 Person CPR and all children and adults practiced with them using their pillows assuming their pillows to be the human bodies. In the end, it was open for Q&A in which Dr. Jawahar and Sumir answered all their questions. They urged everyone to register in CPR classes and become CPR Certified in 2022, its an important life skill to have which can save somebody’s life in case of emergency. They also offered valuable resources of getting CPR certification from their schools and AHA site. Overall, it was a fantastic CPR session in which we had 45 zoom connections from all across US. It was a gratifying experience for all and its very well received by the audience, especially VT Seva Muscle - our VT Seva Youths. CPR Recording https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zryz9FJhVZohbTJgl403Ixaf__zBwNpX/view?usp=sharing

"All the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today" VTSeva Austin youth comes together to support the visually challenged and protect the environment by growing plants and fundraising. As part of the seeds for tomorrow, the youth board has taken up the challenge of not just growing plants themselves but encouraging the young kids to grow their own vegetable garden using the garden kits. Seeds for Tomorrow team have been growing plants since April and have been fundraising at multiple neighborhoods through Arp, May, and June. Youth volunteers are enabled with re-potting skills, naturing the plants while spending their weekends with nature. Utilizing their energy for the purpose to bring smiles to the visually challenged and protecting the Austin Parks

"It takes a big heart to help shape little minds" VTSeva Austin partnered with Austin ISD to help students achieve success in school by providing a homework center staffed by community volunteers. Austin ISD VICTORY program is designed for tutoring students in need of individual attention with their homework.VTSeva Austin volunteers have been tutoring kids 1:1 for the last 6 months with a minimum of 1 hr every week commitment from each volunteer. The program will resume again in August and continue for the whole academic year 2022-2023. Registering to this program each volunteer will be trained and matched on a 1:1 basis. The student/tutor pairs meet at regularly scheduled sessions online for a minimum of an hour each week to work on homework assignments and skills for which the student needs extra reinforcement and practice. Tutoring sessions are held in the late afternoon or early evening Monday through Thursday. All ages are welcome to participate, If teaching is your passion register below.

Prajna Austin and VTSeva Austin are serving lunches every month at the Ronald McDonald House to families of patients undergoing treatment at Dell Children’s and other hospitals in the Austin area. This is a monthly event that has been taking place since November 2021. While Prajna Children (ages 5-11) donate the materials, the VTSeva youth (ages 12+) make PB&J sandwiches and pack them into bags along with fruits, chips, granola bars, desserts, and water bottles. 50 Lunches are provided every month with this initiative. All this is done with gratitude, love, and care for the community.

Please note: 1. This class is for complete beginners and we will be teaching the basics of each craft! 2. Knitting and Crocheting classes will begin from July 4th and ends on July 22nd. 3. There will be total 12 classes for both crafts. Separately each will be 6 classes. 4. Registration fees is $60 for both classes. Seperately knitting class fee is $40 and Crocheting class is $40. You can select any or all classes. Details for each class are given separately in this form. 5. All proceeds raised will go for food to visually challenged / blind kids of India. 6. We will create a WhatsApp group with the participants for easy communication and group will be deleted after the summer camp. 7. Each session will be 45 mins and participants will join the class through Zoom link. 8. Training is provided by well trained VT Youth. 9. For any further questions / concerns, please contact Malathi @678-772-7464/Dr. Madhu Nemani@404-819-8623. More details about each class are below: 1. Knitting Class Classes will be 2 times a week from July 4-22 (Tuesdays & Thursdays) from11 AM - 12 PM EST. Students will learn the basic knit & purl stitch, how to read patterns, and basic construction. We will finish by knitting a simple purse. Materials Needed: Yarn (worsted weight) 2 COLORS Knitting Needles (US 8) Tapestry Needle 2.Crocheting Class: Classes will be 2 times a week on zoom video call from July 4-22 with crocheting (Mondays & Wednesdays) from 11 AM - 12 PM EST. Students will learn single/double crochet stitches, how to read patterns, basic construction, and the basics of making stuffed toys. Our goal is a hat or stuffed toy. Materials Needed: Yarn (worsted weight) 2 COLORS Crochet hooks (5mm, 3.75mm, 2.25 mm) Polyfill Polymer fill Tapestry Needle

March 18, 2023 : On March 18th, 2023, VT Seva Atlanta met at a parking lot near Brannon Rd to help clean the road. More than 35 VT youth and adult volunteers participated in the event, picking up trash alongside the road. Adults and children alike bonded over the experience as they worked together to ensure the road was clean. Through their collective efforts, they filled 9 garbage bags with trash. A special thanks to our adult volunteers who helped put this event together. Without your help, it surely wouldn't have been possible. Thanks to all the volunteers who came, and we hope to see many more cleanups in the future! March 5, 2023 : On March 5th, 2023, VT Seva Atlanta met at Publix near Old Atlanta Rd to help clean the road. 22 VT youth and 10 adult volunteers participated in the event, picking up trash alongside the road. Through their collective efforts, they filled 15 garbage bags with broken glass bottles, plastic bottles, caps, bags, tape, metal, and even a cardboard sign. This experience taught VT Seva volunteers an important lesson: what appears on the surface may not be true. Though our roads might look pretty clean at a glance, you can see how much trash is there once you get a deeper look. This reveals the potential environmental problems that might be hiding everywhere, unnoticed. We hope that through future cleanups, we may be able to reduce this problem and keep our community clean. A special thanks to our adult volunteers who helped put this event together. Without your help, it surely wouldn't have been possible. Thanks to all the volunteers who came, and we hope to see many more cleanups in the future! The world we live in is nothing short of a miracle. It is home to unparalleled beauty and wonders so marvelous they seem almost preposterous, for no man-made artifact can rival the bewitching allure of even the simplest forests. Each design, from the delicate etchings of leaves to the concentric circles of tree trunks to the twinkling glow of a rainbow, is remarkable, a paragon of beauty. In the words of Helen Keller: “To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.” This quote poetically encapsulates the ethereal charm of nature, incomparable to any manufactured luxuries. However, these places of beauty are quickly being disrupted, destroyed, and desecrated into a wasteland of modern industrialism. With no end to such devastation in sight, it is our responsibility to take matters in our hands and do something for our Mother Earth. Keeping this mantra in mind, VT SEVA adopted Old Atlanta Rd. and held their first trash pick-up on the auspicious day of Ram Navami. With around 30 VT SEVA volunteers working hand in hand to pick up any waste left behind, it was truly a heartwarming sight to see! This event was held on April 10th 2022 from 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM and it commenced with a few inspirational words from our local city council member Dilip Tunki. Nelson Mandela once said, “The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow,” and to see the children and youth of VT SEVA passionately spending their Sunday morning cleaning roads is incredibly uplifting! This was the first of many such road clean-up events, and one of VT SEVA’s many projects paving the road to a better world!

VT Seva Detroit Youth Board 2nd Walkathon VT Seva Detroit Youth Board is conducting its second walkathon from June 11, 2022, to July 24, 2022. In-Person Finale Walkathon will be conducted in Shiawassee Park, Farmington on July 24, 2022. “There will be the days where you are not motivated. But the motivation comes after you show up. Don’t start with the motivation – start with doing” When cancer becomes a part of one's life, there is a lot to worry about. Angels of Hope provides financial assistance to the Michigan families in need to ease the burden caused by the disease. All the proceeds go towards Angels of Hope. Do you want to lead a team in the walkathon? All you have to do is sign up your interest in Team Lead Signup Link: https://bit.ly/VTSDetYBWalkathonTeamLeadSignup You can have your own team and motivate your team members to walk every day and stay healthy by registering for our Walkathon. Walkathon Registration Link We had a kickoff meeting on June 11, 2022. Many parents and youths participated in the kickoff meeting and started the walkathon enthusiastically. Many youths signed up as Team Lead, come join us and support the cause by being healthy.

Tarun Rajesh is a senior at International Academy East. Tarun is passionate about chess and won state-level competitions and he is a leader in the chess club in his school. He conducted the 2nd Chess Camp during the summer of 2022. He taught basic fundamentals of chess to all ages. All the participants thoroughly enjoyed his teaching. This camp was held for three days with interactive quizzes and puzzles and collected $365. The collected money was donated to Nethravidyala schools in India to support one child's education. Tarun chose Nethravidyala to be part in providing equal opportunity for underprivileged visually challenged students. As a VT Seva Detroit Youth Board Member, Tarun is thankful for the opportunity and hope to continue to impact the community. Chess Camp Registration | Mysite (need4needy.org) Make a payment through Zelle app. See you all on June 27th!

As Bob Ross once said, “All you need to paint is a few tools, a little instruction, and a vision in your mind.” I am Sumati Gurram, a student of 8TH grade. During the Covid Pandemic the world was going through a challenging time. We were all by ourselves at home as we were social distancing. I wanted to use the time I had just by myself at home as an opportunity to do creative work and thus I made paintings with a vision of making a positive impact towards a cause benefiting the society. The paintings made depicted many aspects of life. VT seva gave me an opportunity by allowing me to sell these paintings during the Dosa Fun Feast at Jeeyar Ashram on 06/05 and raise funds that will go towards the visually challenged students at Netra Vidyalaya, India (https://www.vtsworld.org/school-for-blind ). I was able to sell all my paintings and was able to raise $305 from generous people. I was excited by the support received from all the coordinators at VT seva and buyers. This support has encouraged me to continue this effort for a good cause in the future as well.

VT Seva Detroit Youth Board Members were celebrating their 3rd year anniversary by sharing what volunteering means to them for the last 3 weeks. Today is the last day They all explained it very nicely from the bottom of their heart. I appreciate everyone who shared these invaluable messages not only to "celebrate the 3rd anniversary of Youth Board but to inspire many to volunteer. Please accept my thanks from the bottom of my heart. Volunteering provides them the understanding of the value of giving back, building trust and relationships, diversifying service, growing empathy, and caring for others at this young age. Thanks to VT Seva for providing a platform for these young minds to serve others and grow as responsible citizens of this world. Highlights of All of YB member's speech Service - Srivatsa Enlighten - Anvika Empathy - Oviya Diversification in service - Harish Changing lives - Kushal Learn from peers - Sanjeev Compassion - Akshay No Limit to service - Hajanthan Joy to others - Varshan True value of working together - Saisha Helping community -Sairaaga Growing network - Rohan Relationship - Tarun Contribution towards society - Udhayaa Establishing trust - Kaavya Seeing Smile - Sai Sriram Giving back - Eesha Every action matters - Anuraag Selfless Service - Amogh Kindness is Lifestyle - Abisrishti Make new friends - Alok Gratitude - Akshith Blog written by: Priya Jaisankar Blog published by: Nandini Cheemalamari

VT SEVA ATLANTA 1st Newsletter 2021 GARIMA is the first newsletter of VT SEVA Atlanta which exhibits the highlights of all the major service projects carried out in 2021. It’s an excellent replica of Atlanta VT SEVA youths’ energy, synergy, and service attitude. In 2021, VT Seva Atlanta youths and adults have participated in various philanthropic projects such as Mask Making for the Special Needs Kids of the Laurel Heights Hospital of Atlanta, Eco-friendly April Cool Seedling project, Feed the Needy though Meals By Grace program, and serving the underprivileged by participating in American Kidney Services and American Heart Walk, just to name a few. Moreover, we started VT SEVA Youth Club in Lambert Highschool, successfully run Summer Camp program, and made motivational cards for the Nethra School Kids. In addition, VT youths demonstrated leadership skills by front running SUBHA Annual Event which was a memorable event for all. With the inspiration of Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swami ji and great support of kindhearted donors and volunteers, we were able to raise funds for the 100 visually challenged kids of Nethra Vidyalaya. To know more about our last year activities, read out GARIMA – GIVE- GROW-GRACE.

Atlanta Police Appreciation for Thanksgiving 2023 VT Seva Atlanta appreciates the selfless services of the Police officers on 2023 Thanksgiving - Highlights of today’s event on Nov 18th, 2023 - 1. Tour of the Police Dept 2. Interactive session with the police officers to learn & understand defensive driving, ticket handling, dos and don’ts of driving, how to handle citations, police encounters etc 3. Thank you cards and appreciation lunch for the police officers. Police officers were highly appreciative of the VT Seva services and announced that Johns Creek Police Department will organize a ‘Young Driver Workshop’ soon for the VT Seva youths to provide hands-on training to them. Overall, it was a grafting event for us to thank our front-line hero’s to keep our community & country safe! Where and When: Johns Creek City Council Building May 20th 2023 Time : 1:00 - 3:00PM EST Event Agenda: Welcome Tour of the Facility Interaction with the City Council Leaders & Police Officers PVSA Certificate Distribution Vote of Thanks Our 2023 PVSA Event VT Seva Atlanta celebrates National Police Week & pay tribute to the brave men & women in duty to keep our communities and families safe. Police Chief, Mark Mitchell, Sergeant Dimitri Caldwell, Sergeant Colin Belisle, Officer Dominique, Officer Jennis, Officer Hall, and Officer Gray attended the ceremony today. Also, Erin Elwood and Dilip Tunki, Johns Creek City Councilwoman and Councilman attended the function. They rendered PVSA Awards to our 37 Atlanta youths and were highly impressed with the service attitude & service projects of Atlanta VT Seva youths. We have built partnerships with the Johns Creek Police department and Johns Creek City Council members and soon will be launching collaborative projects with them. Atlanta VT Seva held PVSA Award Ceremony and Police appreciation event along with City council meet at Johns Creek City Council building on May 20, 2023. Dr. Madhu Nemani delivered the welcome note, appreciating the youths, police officers, volunteers and went over the initiative and projects done by the Atlanta youths. A beautiful and well-prepared video by our youth Nikhila was played to the audience which showcased all the great work out Atlanta youth has done during the year. All the Cards prepared by our youths for the police officers were also on display at the event. Council members, Police Sergeant and Dr. Madhu Nemani discussed some projects that will provide an opportunity for our youths to do more for the community. Further, Sergeant Dimitri Police gave the tour of gave a tour of Johns Creek Police Department and youths had the opportunity to ask questions and learn more about Johns Creek police department. It was also discussed to provide an opportunity for the other youths to have such tours to gain insight into the police officers day to day work. The event was concluded by thanking all the Police officers, city council members and volunteers for taking their valuable time out of their busy schedule to be present and making the event successful. Police officers were provided with Yummy Pizza and refreshments as a token of appreciation for their dedication and commitment in serving the community. We are very proud of 37 youths and 1 adult volunteer who were recognized for their contribution in serving the community during the year 2022 with Gold, Silver and Bronze Presidential Volunteer Service Awards. These awards were presented by the Police officers and Council members and each awardee also received a water bottle from the Police officers. Our 2022 PVSA Event VT Seva Atlanta was proud to organize a ‘Police Appreciation cum Award Ceremony’ at City Hall on May 12th, 2022, at Johns Creek City Hall. This event was organized in collaboration with Johns Creek Police Department (JCPD). During this event, our VT youths of Atlanta were graced with the presence of Sergeant Seymour and Officer Wear, as well as several other police officials that night, allowing our students to directly thank their heroes with homemade cards during the National Police Appreciation Week. The program started with a Welcome Note by Dr. Madhu Nemani, VT SEVA Atlanta Director and later a video was played exhibiting and highlighting the initiatives and activities performed by VT SEVA youths in year 2021 & 2022 which comprises of Mask Making for the Special Needs Kids of the Laurel Heights Hospital, Eco-friendly April Cool Seedling project, Feed the Needy though Meals By Grace program, and serving the underprivileged by participating in American Kidney Services and American Heart Walk, VT SEVA Youth Club in Lambert Highschool, Summer Camp program, Card Making for Nethra School Kids and SUBHA Annual Event. All the police officers were fascinated at the hard work, dedication, and diligence shown by the youths and adults of VT Seva Atlanta. U.S. Peace Officers Memorial Day falls on May 15 each year to pay tribute to the brave local, state, and federal peace officers who have died or been disabled in the line of duty. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as Police Week. Our police appreciation event was organized on May 12th which is during the National police appreciation week. Our VT youths gave ‘Thank You’ cards to the police heroes for appreciating their hard work in protecting our communities 24/7. In addition to this, 33 youths and 2 adult volunteers were recognized for their great service to the community in year 2021 with Gold and Bronze Presidential Volunteer Service Awards, which were presented to the nominees by Sergeant Seymour and Office Wear of Johns Creek police department. There were 35 Presidential Awardees which are listed below: Abhinav Adigopula, Abhiram Chilakamari, Abhiram Nalla, Adithya Karthik Upadhyayula, Aditya Thatavarty, Akshaj Nalla, Ameya Agnihotri, Anshi Rudraraju, Charishma Bijum, Dharanija Peram, Jayaditya Abbireddy, Naimisha Kodali, Nikhila Mannepalli, Omkar Konkimalla, Pranuti Kothapalli, Pranav Arkatala, Pranav Mocherla, Pranav Vempati, Rikhil Sai Duvvuri, Rishi Narendran, Rishi Vempati, Ritika Vemulapalli, Samved Gazzala, Shivangi Panda, Shreyas Medicherla, Shriya Yadavalli, Siri Arkatala, Sreeja Sappati, Srimayi Kukkadapu, Srivanth Magham, Sriya Gourisetti, Sujay Reddy, Trisha Vemulapalli, Dr, Madhu Nemani and Madhavi Kodali The students were honored by all the JCPD members present and thanked for their service to the community. Later, a tour was given of Johns Creek Police Headquarters and youths had the opportunity to ask questions and learn more about Johns Creek police department. At the end of the event, VT Seva Atlanta thanked police officers and provided wonderful dinner as a token of appreciation of their hard work and service to the community.

Education for the blind and underprivileged is one of the major service pillars of VT Seva. Through the Hikes for a Cause fundraiser, we are fundraising for the Nethra Vidyalaya and are improving our own health at the same time. These hikes are every Sunday, every week of the summer and are on different trails each week and are for only one dollar. Our first hike was held on June 5th 2022, where we explored the Great hills park trail and saw many sights, and got back to nature during our Sunday morning.

2024 April April Cool 2024 Kick off is here again with with more than 60 youths signed up to participate in this amazing journey of sowing, growing, caring, and selling the plant seedlings to support the education of blind / visually challenged Netra Vidyalaya students of Bharath. Let’s make April 2024 the best April Cooooool ever so far ✌️✌️ Atlanta VT Seva youths are enthusiastically participating in April Cool Seedling project. More than 40 youths are nurturing the plants and learning the science and the art of plant care, soil health, and nutritive values of various vegetable, fruits, and herbs. Our first plant sale will be in front of Patel Brothers on April 20 & 21st, 2024. 2023 May April Round 1 Atlanta VT Seva April cool plant project was a grand success for the third year in a row. Vt seva youth successfully raised funds for the education of blind children/visually challenged children in India. The sale event took place in front of the Indian grocery store, Patel Brothers on 15th and 16th April from 10am to 2pm. Around 60 VT youth volunteers and 40 adult volunteers participated. Youth explained the cause and sold various vegetable saplings, herbs, fruits, flower plants and seeds to the customers. The vegetable saplings were grown by the youth for 4-6 weeks.The vegetable saplings included tomato, eggplant, peppers, gourds (bottle, ridge, bitter, and snake) green chillies, cucumber, zucchini, chikkudu/papdi beans, long beans, ash gourd, chukka kura, dosakaya, and bathua etc. Fruit plants like strawberry and blackberry were sold. Different kinds of herbs like ajwain, mint, curryleaf, lemon grass, betel leaf, tulsi and basil were sold by the youth. Flower plants like canna lillies, hybiscus, other lillies, and chrysanthemums were also sold. Youth also sold some ornamental plants like pothos, monstera and tradescantia. Some vegetable seeds were sold in this sale event too. Several sponsors came forward and donated this year. It was really exciting to see community actively participate in this event and donate for the cause, raising money for the education of visually challenged/blind children in India. 2022 ROUND 1 April Cool Plant and Pot Sale on 23rd, 24th 2022 The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago. The second-best time to plant is today! Atlanta VT Seva youth believed in the second option and did exemplary work by planting more than 1000 plants under APRIL COOL 2022 initiative. More than 50 Atlanta youths and adults were involved in APRIL COOL 2022 project in which they sew more than 1000 plus seeds of various vegetables, fruits, and herbs in the month of March. They planted a variety of veggies, fruits, and herbs. Their plant list shows their commitment to service and their enthusiasm to support Mother Nature. They sew various seeds such as Cherry Tomato, Plumb Tomato, Regular Tomato, Eggplant Back Beauty, Kale, Malabar Spinach, Sweet Basil, Green Bell Peppers, Lettuce, Chikkudu Green, Chikkudu Purple, Bottle gourd, Long Beans, Ridge Gourd, Bitter Gourd, Dosakaya, Wax Gourd, Luffa Sponge Gourd, Curry leaf, Lemongrass, Pothos, Snake Plant, Ajwain, Chrysanthemum Yellow, Spider Plants, Brahmakamalam, India Kanakambaram, Rose, Strawberry, Daisy, Cucumber, Sastra Daisy, Chemanthi. Yellow one, Sudan Pink, Mint, Marigold, Strawberry, Batua, Tindora, and many more types of plants. Atlanta youths’ energy, synergy, and enthusiasm was outstanding in sowing the seeds, watering it every day, taking plants out for sunlight, and nurturing it well with care and love. They exhibited the empathy in several ways and donated $4000 proceeds for the education of the blind / visually challenged children of Nethra Vidyalaya. In the words of George Washington, ‘True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity, before it is entitled to the appellation”. Atlanta youths are committed to build true relationship with Mother Nature by planting more and nurturing it well through adverse conditions with love, care, and empathy. ROUND 2 VT seva youth had a successful second round plant sale for raising funds for education of blind children/visually challenged children in India. The sale event took place in front of Patel Brothers on 21st and 22nd May 2022 from 10am to 2pm. Around 25 youth volunteers and 15 adult volunteers participated. Various vegetable saplings, herbs and flower plants were sold. The vegetable saplings were grown by the youth for 4-6 weeks.The vegetable saplings included tomato, eggplant, different types of chillies, peppers, tomatillos, cucumber, zucchini, bottlegourd, ridge gourd, snake gourd, bitter gourd, chikkudu/papdi beans, long beans etc. Different kinds of herbs like ajwain, mint, basil and chocolate mint were also sold. Flower plants like canna lillies, hybiscus, rose, lillies, chrysanthemums, and marigold were also sold. Some house plants like pothos and crotons were sold. Youth also sold other plants like banana, curryleaf, lemon grass, betel leaf, tulsi and other ornamental plants. It was a huge success. We raised $6000 from the plant sale and It is evident from the community response that people are generous and willing to be part of this wonderful cause of education of blind kids/visually challenged in India.

The First 20 YOUTH participants will get the FREE plants & starter kit. Nurture, grow and finally SELL them to benefit the Tribal & Nethra Vidyalaya School Children. Our team will help you in every step of the process. If you miss the Early Bird Special, you could still participate in this event by getting in touch with one of the coordinators listed in the flyer. Sign-up at: https://bit.ly/3woUNIA

VT SEVA Dallas is excited to once again bring back a decade of Youth volunteering engagement at North Texas Food Bank in order to promote a hunger-free community. The Pack and Box Service Event will be held on June 11th at 3677 Mapleshade Lane from 1-3:30 pm. This event is only open to those who are 12 and above, and there are limited spots available, so make sure to sign up as soon as possible. The link to sign up for the event is https://secure.everyaction.com/9W6mvvdJ7EGIJMTBDoVaBw2 and if anyone has any questions or concerns, please reach out by emailing dallas.youth@vtsworld.org.

Celebrating Volunteerism 2021 #Limitless is all about celebrating how we as volunteers and as an organization have broken boundaries and made 2021 our biggest year yet. Our volunteers proved that even a global pandemic couldn’t stop their fire to serve our community and make an impact. With fun trivia questions, interactive activities, and messages from benefitting organizations, it truly was a trip down memory lane. We gave all the volunteers an opportunity to reflect upon their experiences with VT SEVA in 2021, and how their volunteering made a positive impact in our communities. In the year 2021, our volunteers have put in 35,000 hours hosting 217 events despite the fact that the pandemic was playing havoc, and most of the world was in the virtual realm. Guest speakers at LIMITLESS Corey Jackson the CEO of Laurel Heights Hospital in Atlanta, is one of our beneficiaries. Laurel Heights Hospital is a pediatric behavioral health facility in Atlanta, Georgia, that serves children and adolescents who face complex psychiatric, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Check out our Atlanta Team's support to Laurel Heights Hospital here. Dawn Dixon, FS Series North Carolina Volunteer Coordinator Dawn is a volunteer coordinator for FS Series which is an event production and electronic chip timing company based in North Carolina. They organize events for many charity organizations and since 2019, Dawn has supported our VT Seva Cary volunteers and also encouraged our youth volunteers to continue their efforts after each visit. She is also a consistent donor to our Nethra Vidyalaya students. Check out Cary Team's collaboration with FS Series here Steven Dillon, Volunteer Program Director at DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center, Seattle The DESC is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1979 and provides integrated services including housing, emergency shelter, crisis intervention, and healthcare to thousands of homeless and formerly homeless people every day. Steven is the Volunteer Program Assistant and works with other local organizations to build and maintain housing for the homeless in Seattle downtown. VT Seva Seattle hosted the 5th Annual walkathon on Aug 14th, 2021 at Ron Regis Park, Renton. This year, the team has adopted the cause of homelessness and started their walkathon a month before virtually and completed it with an in-person finale. The goal is to walk to end homelessness and raise funds to support the needs of homeless people. We have successfully raised a total of 5K and donated the sum to DESC. Check out our Seattle Team's contributions to DESC here Missed the event? Find the complete video here: We congratulate the team, Ms Pranuti Kalidindi, VT Seva National Volunteer Coordinator, from Seattle, Ms. Anushka Sharma, Seattle, Mr. Harish Jaisankar, Detroit, Mr. Shreyas Viswanathan, Dallas, Ms. Naimisha Kodali, Atlanta, Ms. Vaishnavi Mareddy, Austin, Ms. Sanjana Vellanki, New Jersey and Ms. Rohitha Sanka, Cary

Volunteering at Oakland’s HOPE Food Pantry for Families on January 29, 2022 Every year, more than 50 thousand people are fed 750 thousand pounds of food each year by the Oakland HOPE Food Pantry. They work daily to help package and distribute food for families in need. They help veterans, disaster survivors, hungry children, and seniors get the food they deserve. Additionally, they adopted a COVID-safe form of getting food to their clients by putting groceries in their trunks for them instead of having numerous people touching the food. As a volunteer-run organization, they require help to package the food each week and our VT Seva Detroit’s volunteers stepped up to undertake this responsibility. Together, we helped package enough food to feed 60 families and children. The volunteers completed many tasks to help so that they could help more people in need: · Worked as a shopper and picked out the right items from suppliers that could help people · Loaded carts with the designated food items needed for each family · Sorted food into bins so it could be used or recycled. · Cleaned up racks, surfaces, and carts for future food. Afterward, the food pantry director was amazed by their work and appraised them for their selfless acts. Together, they made a difference in people’s lives by supporting them during their time of need. These are our wonderful volunteers who participated: Youth: Nikhil Aerabati, Rishi Adduri, Hiba Zyna, Kushal Durga, Hrudya Kishore, Yug Patel, Supraja Pattangi, Surya Takawale, Lalitaditya Akkaraju Adult: Zahara Begum, Giri Varadhan, Raghunath Aerabati, Anand Renganathan, Vandana Durga, Ravinder Akkaraju, Vanitha Gopalan Please find below the appreciation received from the Oakland hope volunteer coordinator and some of our volunteers.: Norma Okonski from Oakland Hope Food Pantry VT Seva Detroit Youth Group volunteered at Oakland HOPE. Their goal is mentoring youth to serve in underserved communities. By volunteering in the Food Pantry Youth groups get the opportunity to understand food insecurity and the importance of social responsibility. Thank you for your support and time. Raghunath R. Aerabati (parent volunteer) Thoroughly enjoyed volunteering at this location. Time flew by just like that. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to do service. Durga Sangita (parent volunteer) Durga Sangita: A wonderful experience volunteering at Oakland Hope Food Pantry. Filled with gratitude for what we are blessed with and what we can give back to the community Check out our compilation of photos: Check out our Facebook Post: https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/5525078580852459 VT Seva Detroit: Capuchin Soup Kitchen, February 26, 2022 The Capuchin Soup Kitchen is a kitchen in Detroit that feeds people and families that are going through a hardship. They have served millions of meals since they started. They do multiple things to end poverty, hunger, and homelessness: · Provide service to anyone in need · Give away proper, hygienic food. · Maintain a clean situation in both the kitchens and the tables Our volunteers stepped up to help them in this fight against hunger and helped set up, cook, serve, and clean up the kitchens in their kitchen. Under the guidance of permanent volunteers at the kitchens, they helped feed multiple families and children: · Served customers · Packaged food bowls · Organized food in the kitchen · Got a hands-on experience of cooking basic food for some customers · Mopped, dusted and stored items in the kitchens so that they were ready for the next day. The volunteers enjoyed this experience to help in the community and together they were able to feed multiple families. The Capuchin Soup Kitchen employees were extremely appreciative of the help and hoped we could come back again. Volunteers that participated: Youth: Kushal Durga, Rishi Adduri, Sai Sahasra Namuduri, Veeksha Somula, Akshith Ashwanth Adult: Vandana Durga, Durga Sangita, Raghunathan Namuduri, Vanitha Gopalan Check out our compilation of photos Check out our Facebook Post: https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/5616618845031765 A Note of appreciation from Capuchin Soup Kitchen. Thank you to our youth and adult volunteers from VT Seva-Detroit who came by on Saturday to volunteer at our Conner meal hall. We are truly appreciative of all of our volunteers who can help us spread love and share meals with the community. God bless! From a parent volunteer: It was a wonderful opportunity and has had a humbling experience being able to serve at the Capuchin soup kitchen. Blog details was compiled by one of our Youth Board volunteers: Akshay Kumar. Blog published by Nandini Cheemalamarri

VT Seva Detroit is organizing a soccer tournament, on June 25th, 2022 from 11:30 AM in Total Sports Novi East. Proceeds from this tournament will go to schools in India for visually challenged children. VT Seva supports Schools for the Blind in India such as Nethra Vidyalaya. These schools provide higher education to visually challenged students and enable them to be independent and compete with other students. VT Seva Detroit is conducting its 3rd Annual Soccer Tournament this summer. All the proceeds go to VT Seva supported Schools for the Blind Date: June 25th, 2022 from 11:30 AM EST Venue: Total Sports Novi EAST 41550 Grand River Ave, Novi, MI 48375 Kids from age 6 and above are eligible to participate in this soccer tournament for a great cause. Come join us and play for the cause. More details please contact: Suresh: 734-612-4961 Venkat: 313-587-8011 Srinath: 949-232-9477 detroit.director@vtsworld.org For volunteering opportunities, please contact: Vanitha @ 248-227-3094 If you would like to sponsor for the event or company sponsorship or to place your business logo, banner, or any other type of promotion, please contact detroit.director@vtsworld.org / Srinath@ 949-232-9477 or Sudheer @213-399-2315

VT Seva Dallas celebrates its 15th Annual Earth Day !! Earth day is a day where everyone comes together to help our Mother Earth. It is a day to remind everyone to protect our world and to live a more sustainable, eco-friendly life. And that's exactly what we did this year. Every year VT Seva Dallas has been teaming up with the City of Frisco's "Clean it Green it' environmental program to celebrate Earth day. VT Seva Dallas came together as a community and helped clean up litter at the adopted street in Frisco. Approximately 70 volunteers participated in this initiative, about 45 of them being youth volunteers. It was a great chance for everyone to see the effects of littering and what damages it can bring to our very own planet. Participating in this initiative helped create awareness in our society about littering and how to help our world become a better place. Like every year, the event started off with a sloka(poem)on Mother Earth that we all recited together: namasthe: priyadaththa:yai thubhyam de:vi ! vasundhare: ! | tvam ma:tha: sarva bhu:tha:na:m pa:da sparsam kshamasva me: || The sloka emphasized the value of our Mother Earth and how we should always protect it. Following the sloka recital, we set to work. We were all given trash pickers and we separated into different groups to pick up the litter. And surprisingly, we all found that there was actually quite a lot of trash- plastic, car tires, paper, bottles, etc. It was in so many unexpected places, but we all did the best we could to pick up the most trash. And it brought a smile to my face seeing everyone help clean our environment and it seemed like they were enjoying it too. This year some of the youth members also had an opportunity to make plant seed bombs to distribute to volunteers on the day of the earth day. Seed balls are small clusters packed with wildflower seeds that are designed to bring greenery and colorful pollinator habitats to urban landscapes or neglected areas. Overall, this initiative has taught me a lot and I’m sure it has taught everyone else a lot too. Helping our environment made me feel so happy; to know I was helping my own planet for the future made me even happier. By working together as a community, we helped our Mother Earth sustain even longer. So, it can all start with a small change. Help our world by Reducing, Reusing and Recycling. And always remember, one small change can lead to making our world a better place. Individually we are one drop, together we are an ocean. - Shriya Aviur For more pictures related to the Earth Day event, please visit this link: https://www.facebook.com/VTSevaDallas/posts/1057155651536824 In the words of the youth volunteers who participated in the Earth Day cleanup - "My name is Arnav Senapathi and I had a great time participating in VT Seva Dallas’ 15th annual Earth Day. I am glad to have the opportunity to serve and help out mother nature in any way that I can. Me and my friends as well as many fellow volunteers picked up a lot of litter and filled up many bags of trash, contributing and fulfilling a portion of our part in making our world a cleaner place. Overall, the experience was phenomenal, and I will definitely participate in next year's Earth Day activity." - Arnav Senapathi "It was a nice experience, and quite frankly, a change from the fact that we haven't had any in-person volunteering events for quite a bit. It was nice getting to see everyone in-person, interacting with them, as well as helping clean the streets." - Shreyas Viswanathan "It was such a different experience, I had never done anything like it before. VTSeva Dallas’s street cleaning project for Earth day made me get a chance to help our environment and it really brought me back to reality. I got to see how much litter there was, affecting our own world. Overall, it made me so happy to be able to help clean our streets, city- contributing to make our world a better, cleaner place." - Shriya Aviur "The VT Seva Dallas 15th annual earth day was a very fulfilling experience for me. Getting to work together with all the youth group members to clean up the environment was not only very beneficial for the environment, but also a great opportunity for me to give back to the environment, and meet new people! The seed bombs were also a super fun end to the volunteering, and a great way for me to tell others about my experience!" - Vidya Sampath Kumar "Yesterday we picked up a lot of trash from the street that we adopted. The collection went pretty successfully because the street itself was full of litter. I think that we picked up a lot within two hours, and it’s definitely a step towards making Frisco cleaner. I thoroughly enjoyed getting my hands dirty and picking up things with my friends. It was a great experience working with others, and I strongly think that I will be participating again next year." - Teja Papaiahgari "Hi! My name is Sriram and I have been a VTSeva volunteer for almost 10 years. I found yesterday's Earth Day experience extremely satisfying and relaxing. I had a lot of fun spending time with my friends and I thoroughly enjoyed cleaning up Frisco as it gave me a sense of accomplishment. Overall I had a great time and I would love to be part of the next Earth Day. Remember, it doesn't matter how much of a difference you made, it's still a difference for a great cause." - Sriram Vennamaneni "Hi my name is Lakshman Vennamaneni and yesterday I participated in an earth day street cleanup by VtSeva. It was a very fun and relaxing experience as I got to help the planet, meet my friends and relax at the same time. My friends and I picked up enough trash to fill up 5-6 bags and we felt very accomplished. On the whole I really enjoyed the earth day cleanup." - Lakshman Vennamaneni "We really liked cleaning the earth and were surprised to see so much plastic. Would love to help clean the earth more often." - Siddarth Dwaram and Veda Dwaram "For the Earth Day activity, I participated in a volunteering activity called Adopt a Street to help clean a street. First we were given gloves, bags, and grabbers. When we saw the street there was so much trash. I saw plastic bags, cups, and cans. I loved the activity because it felt good when all the trash was going in the bags and the area was getting cleaned. Together we picked up at least 10 bags full of trash. I would love to do activities like this again because it makes Earth a better place." - Sahana K

“To forget to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” -Mahatma Gandhi. Spring is the time of hope and bloom. Join us in VTSeva Boston teams efforts to grow organic Indian vegetables to support education for Visually challenged. Nethravidyalaya provides holistic education for the students and the results in sports, cultural and educational has been Awe-inspiring . $1 per day supports the education and Volunteer suggested donation per plant $5

VTseva Detroit Youth board successfully wrapped up the 1st quarter of 2022! We implemented 7 projects that were all initiated by the youth board members. In the 1st quarter we completed 7 projects: ● Rescue Dogs Towel Donation Project ● Grocery Bag Donation Project ● Habitat For Humanity Volunteering ● CASS Community Service ● Teen Mental Wellness Event ● Open Door Outreach Center ● Statue Of Equality Project Video created by: Youth Board Member Sonika Rescue Dogs Towel donation project Project Lead: Youth Board Member 𝗢𝘃𝗶𝘆𝗮. Foster animals have gone through many things in their lives that are unimaginable. Animal shelters take in these animals and bathe them, feed them, and take care of them. The VT Seva Detroit Youth Board did their part to help these animals by collecting the used towels. The towels that we think are useless after some time are a great help to these shelters to take care of the dogs after giving them a bath, potty training, and for padding in beds and such. 30 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫s reached out to their friends and families and collected 90 big towels. Members who participated in this project are Abinav S, Abisrishti, Amogh, Anirudh, Anuraag, Arnav, Arya, Harish, Hiba, Hrudya, Kaavya, Kushal, Nikhil A, Nitya S, Oviya, Rachana, Rashmitha, Rishi, Rohan, Sai Sriram, Satvik, Sanjana, Shritha, Shruthi, Siddharth, Sravya, Srihari A, Teja, Varshini, Varun. 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐃𝐨𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞 - supports the rescue animals by fostering them. They were so happy to receive the towels. The towels are all used in great ways, they are given to many foster families and are used to clean animals, provide padding, etc. 𝗝𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗞𝗶𝗺 from Last Day Dog Rescue was overjoyed to see the number of towels we had for them and appreciate every single youth board member who has donated towels on behalf of Last Day Dog Rescue. Special shout out to the parent volunteers 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗷𝗶, 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗮 𝗷𝗶, 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗮 𝗷𝗶, 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗷𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗷𝗶 for collecting the towels in each city and dropping off. Without parent volunteers, it is not possible to conduct drive-ins in multiple cities. Thanks to 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝘆𝗮 𝗷𝗶 for being an adult coordinator. https://www.facebook.com/page/804058126287885/search/?q=dog 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗮𝗴 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 Project Lead: Youth Board Member 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗮. Many in our city don’t have enough food to enjoy 3 meals a day. By aiding a food bank, we are allowing these people access to meals that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to obtain. The VT Seva Detroit Youth Board did their part to help these people by collecting grocery bags. The plastic grocery bags that we get from stores are a great help to these food banks. It is a better way to reuse the bags to pack the food for distribution. 44 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝘀 reached out to their friends and families and collected around 𝟮𝟳𝟱𝟬 + grocery bags. Members who participated in this project are Abhinav S, Abisrishti, Akshay, Amogh, Anirudh, Anuraag, Anvika, Arnav, Arya, Deeptha A, Harish, Hiba, Hrudya, Kaavya, Kalki, Kaustubh, Kushal, Nikhil A, Nitya S, Oviya, Rachana, Rashmitha, Rishi, Rohan, Sai Sriram, Saisahasra, Saisha, Sanjana, Sanjith, Sathvik, Shreya, Sritha, Shruthi, Siddharth, Sneha, Sonika Panchakarla, Sravya, Siri Kashyap, Srihari A, Srinika, Teja, Veeksha, Varun 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 - a food bank that holds a weekly drive-through food pickup for those that need it. They support around 300 families per week and have supported 8100 families over the past 19 years. They also help with creating your resume, finding a job, and computer training. Through everything, they actively support 600 families each month. When dropping off the bags, the lead volunteer coordinator, Kevin, and the director Steve was overjoyed to see the number we had collected. He was so grateful for the Youth Board’s help! https://www.facebook.com/page/804058126287885/search?q=grocery 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. Project Lead: Youth Board Member: 𝗢𝘃𝗶𝘆𝗮 Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit housing organization that works in nearly 𝟭,𝟰𝟬𝟬 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 and in approximately 70 countries around the world. Habitat Oakland County’s mission has a hyper-local focus with a world vision that engages donors, homeowners, neighbors, and volunteers working together to build better living environments. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗮𝗸𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁 𝗢𝗮𝗸𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆’𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺. 31 youths and adults helped at Farmington Hills Restore by cleaning the furniture, organizing items, sorting things, and throwing away unwanted items. With this active volunteer group, the whole warehouse was cleaned in a couple of hours. Awesome work done by our VT Seva volunteers. Mrs.Laurie & Mr.Q were really appreciative of our support Our wonderful volunteers for this event are 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Hrudya, Oviya, Sai Sahasra, Rohan, Sathvik, Akshay, Kushal, Saisriram, Nitya S, Akshith, Eesha, Sravya, Veeksha, Rishi, Udhayaa, Pavan, Sonika, Anand, Anuraag, Ananya S 𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Priya, Savita, Asha, Vandana, Srinath, Venkat, Durga, Jisha, Nagaraj, Ramya, Raghunanthan Special thanks to 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗷𝗶 for being an adult coordinator https://www.facebook.com/page/804058126287885/search?q=habitat 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 Project VT Seva Detroit Youth Board volunteers spent this afternoon in CASS Community Service by helping them with decluttering items, flattening cardboard boxes for recycling, folding and stacking up blankets, transferring the wooden furniture to the 7th floor, mattresses to its floor, and glass items, books, household items to a different floor. They also stacked up all the food boxes in their pantry. All these items will be either donated to the people who are moving into their own homes from shelters or sold to support all of the amazing support provided by CASS. CASS prepares and serves 700,000 meals a year. CASS also provides a warming center, emergency shelter, rotating shelters, permanent supportive housing, and a free medical clinic. They also offer employment through their Green Industries. Overall, everyone enjoyed the experience and traveling in their gigantic elevator. Reflection from youth volunteer Oviya: “ It was good to know that all of our help was indirectly helping people in need. I loved the giant elevator too” The wonderful volunteers who participated today are: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵: Hrudya, Oviya, Anvika, Sravya, Veeksha, Rishi, Rashmitha, Shriya, Tarun, and Sreeninka 𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁: Priya, Jaisankar, Vanitha, Durga, Suresh https://www.facebook.com/page/804058126287885/search/?q=cass 𝗧𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱: 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗝𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗮𝗿 In celebration of 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 the Detroit Youth Board members send each other kind messages and thanking each other for their support. In light of recent global events, it's extremely important that we continue to promote peace and respect to each other. By letting others know that we appreciate their work, we show our support for our community as a whole and also make sure that they are appreciated. This event was an amazing opportunity for our youth volunteers to get closer as an organization. Members were assigned 3 other volunteers. Then, members head to each volunteer's Kudoboard, a virtual site where they can post messages addressed to a specific volunteer. Here, members sent encouraging words and appreciative messages to their fellow volunteers. 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀: Abhinav Suresh, Aditi Jethri Kompally, Amogh Pisipati, Anuraag Balaji, Anvika Perumalla, Dhanya Ramanujam, Harish Jaisankar, Hiba Zyna, Ishaan Sid, Kaavya Karnati, Kaustubh Dingari, Komal Yedla, Medhas Kollu, Niharika Prabhu, Oviya Jaisankar, Pranav Kota, Pravin Manojkumar, Ruthvi Ala, Sai Sahasra Namuduri, Sai Sri Ram Karnati, Saisha Srivatsan, Samhith, Sanjana Datla, Sathvik Tirumala Kanduri, Shivani Nimmagadda, Siddhant Bhirud, Siddharth Tirumala Kanduri, Sravya Saranu, Sreenika Perumalla, Tarun Rajesh, Veena Karthik https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/videos/1004660667144665/ 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿: 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗝𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗮𝗿 On March 26, the VTseva Detroit youth board volunteered at the Open-Door Outreach Center. The event was a very unique and eye-opening experience. Most of the time, people donate what they can to support people with low incomes or those who are less fortunate than they are. But not many get to actually see the work that is put in once they have donated or helped. When VT Seva volunteers arrived at the Outreach Center, they did not just start working. They were given a tour of the thrift store as well as a summary of how the staff organizes things from clothes and toys all the way to food which is a very broad range of necessities. The staff were very friendly as they were patient with the sorting and answered any questions with no problem. VT Seva volunteers were able to see the efforts that this organization puts in every day and were able to be a small part of that. All the youth volunteers found this project satisfying and fun-filled! Anuraag Balaji, a youth volunteer said, “The outreach volunteering was a great opportunity for me to realize the living conditions of the unfortunate. I was able to help organize clothes that would eventually go to the needy. This event was an eye-opener on how I take many things for granted and made me realize that many people don’t have basic necessities.” 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Anuraag, Anvika, Christeena, Dhruv, Sneha kiran raju, Srihari A, Tarun & Vishnu 𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Chandrasekar, Vijay https://www.facebook.com/page/804058126287885/search/?q=open%20door VTS Detroit YB & Prajna Collaborated Rise to Equality Poster Project Prajna - MI Students & VT Seva Detroit Youth Board Members are learning about the leaders who stood up for equality and created posters about them and published on social media every day in the month of January to celebrate the commemoration of the Statue of Equality. Prajna Students and VT Seva Detroit Youth Board members who are in kindergarten to high school created all the posters. Thanks to all the youths who created posters Oviya, Rashmitha, Kaustubh, Srivibha, Shritha, Varun, Nikhil, Hiba, Udhayaa, Abishristi, Namya, Kavi, Kalki, Advaith, Adhip, Pavan, Swathi, Siddharth, Varsha, Samiksha, Aditi, Srinika, Akshay, Mihira & Harish. https://www.facebook.com/page/804058126287885/search/?q=eqality%20project Blog Consolidated By: Youth Board Member Niharika Video Compiled By: Youth Board Member Sonika Blog Published By: VTSeva Detroit Comm Volunteer Nandini

“Communities and countries and ultimately the world are only as strong as the health of their women.” – Michelle Obama Lets walk for our women's health and Breast cancer awareness This year, VTSeva Austin Youth board is conducting a First virtual walkathon to support women’s health and Breast cancer awareness. These past few years have been unstable and by conducting it virtually, we are now able to raise more awareness and appeal to more people, as well as motivate them to exercise healthy habits on a daily basis, even through rough times. Our Goal? Her health and happiness is our goal. Creating awareness of Breast cancer and regular check ups is our goal. Make walking a daily habit for better health. Instead of walking for one day to spread awareness we will walk for 10 weeks (May 1st - July16) and continue to make it a habit. Who can participate ? Everyone who loves their Mom/Wife/Sister/Daughter/Friend and wishes them to be Healthy and Happy . If you wish to fundraise for a Medical camp by VTSeva at your hometown in India reach out to us for page set up with a goal. How to participate ? Participate as a group or an individual and track your miles every day until July 16th. You can walk anywhere and participate from any part of the world. Are you traveling out of Austin for a vacation this summer ? Don’t worry You can still track your miles with our online app. Steps For Registration and Tracking Click on the Register button. Click the drop-down menu with “Account”, and click “Register”. Fill out the required information (name, creating username and password, email, and phone number) Go back to the main page, and click “Track” to put in your miles! You can track your miles only from May 1st. 6. If you wish to donate for the cause, Click on the Fundraise Tab on the top after you Login.

May 2022 PODCAST April 2022 PODCAST March 2022 PODCAST

Empathy. Giving. Community Service. These form VT Seva’s triumvirate set of values that represent VT Seva’s mission and intent. It is these values that underpin our every effort and outreach. These very values are the cornerstone of every activity, event and program for VT Seva. It is all about service. And this commitment to service is fueled by something so pure, uplifting and motivating - inspiration. The inspiration to serve. And to make a difference. VT Seva’s youth and volunteers are incessantly motivated and inspired to bring their best, to make a difference in people’s lives and to serve our community. This is what brings out the best in each and every one of us. But how do we stay inspired? How do we ensure that our volunteers are constantly reinvigorated every morning to continue giving back to the community? With Tarangini, our annual cultural event, our volunteers and youth get to explore and learn about different parts of VT Seva and their importance. This event blends in all the different themes and values our organization stands for. VT Seva Dallas’s 13th Tarangini was held on March 20th, 2022. Our motto for Tarangini is “One act of kindness can cause a ripple effect.” Tarangini was led by a group of young and passionate emcees, including Arnav Senapathi, Shreyas Vishwanathan, Ronav Aviur, Rujutha Thakurdesai, Utham Koduri, Shriya Senapathi, and Ananya Ganni. The team’s goals for this year include the education of 200 underprivileged students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India, to sponsor accessible equipment and training for 100 visually challenged students pursuing higher education in New Delhi, India, and to support the Anganwadi Center infrastructure in Narayanpet, Telangana. This year, our 13th Tarangini, we had multiple motivational skits and drama, irenic songs, speeches from accomplished and inspirational speakers as well as dances that traversed through India, all performed by our young volunteers. We had speeches from accomplished and inspirational speakers with Mr Kanthi Rana Tata, the Commissioner of Police(Vijayawada, AP, India) as the Chief Guest, Mrs Harichandana Dasari, the IAS Collector(Narayanpet, Telangana, India) as the Keynote Speaker and Mr David Schilson, the Chief of Police(Frisco, Texas, USA). All three of them appreciated VT Seva youth for the services rendered to the community and encouraged us with the new opportunities to expand our services with commitment. Although Tarangini this year was a virtual event, it was a resounding success, with participation from over one hundred and twenty families watching the entire event. Here are the program events: - Welcome song by youth board member - Peace Prayer by PRAJNA students - Indian and American National Anthems - International Cricket skit with drama, music, and dance to understand the challenges of the visually challenged - Music Without Barriers: Singing performance from students of Mr Parameswara Rao(visually challenged), a Nethra alumni supported by VT Seva - Unity in Diversity depicted by a dance program with theme from every region of India - Singing performance of Heal the World by youth members - Inspirational speeches by eminent community leaders who are engaged in services - Kashish performance Tarangini is as great a showcase of arts and talent within the community as it is a platform to learn about VT Seva, its causes and the positive impact it has on communities. VT Seva Dallas branch director Mr Uttam Indukuri talked about the service activities and events we conduct throughout the year and encouraged one and all to participate in them, and expressed gratitude to our donors and volunteers for their generous support. He also listed the accomplishments of Tarangini 2021, which included the education of 500 underprivileged students for 1 year from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India, the sponsoring of 8 lakhs INR as the appreciation prize money for the T20 National Cricket tournament champions for the visually challenged in Andhra Pradesh, India, and the sponsoring of research and development of accessible equipment at the University of Texas, Arlington, USA. Mr Uttam also appreciated the leadership of Ms Amita Aviur, VT Seva Dallas Youth Director for forming the youth team and leading them with great commitment. Her dedication is motivating the youth to come forward and become leaders. He also thanked VT Seva National Youth Director Mr Phani Aduri for starting multiple initiatives such as the Digitization of Books for the visually challenged to empower youth with the value of volunteering. Tarangini 2022 was a resounding success, with over a hundred attendees, and we consider ourselves fortunate to have gotten an opportunity to contribute to its success. We, the Youth of VT Seva, deem it an honor to be part of this organization and be a cog in the wheel of VT Seva’s progress towards achieving its service goals. As Robert Collier put it - “Success is the sum of small efforts — repeated day in and day out.” दर्लु भर्ल ान्यपि कार्या णि सि द्यन्ति प्रोद्यमेन हि । शि लापि तनतु ांयाति प्रपातने ार्णसर्ण ो महुुः॥ “Even the Impossible things can be accomplished with consistent efforts. Like a hard rock gets thinner with repeated fall of water.” Most importantly, this event gave the youth the opportunity to take leadership roles and be emcees. Being an emcee meant learning in detail about VT Seva and its principles and showing both your love and knowledge for the organization and volunteering on the day of the event. I was an emcee myself, and I have to say that it was an absolutely wonderful experience for me. I learned about many parts of VT Seva that I didn't know about and about multiple experiences that the other emcees encountered through VT Seva, and the profound impact that it had on them. --- Tarangini Cultural Melang by Ronav Aviur Link to full Tarangini 2022 photos: https://www.facebook.com/VTSevaDallas/posts/1046478372604552

Adopt-A-Spot (Environmental Clean-up) Saturday, 23-APR-2022, 10:00 AM - 12:00 noon The intersection of Madison Oak Dr and Stone Oak Pkwy

Youth volunteer guidelines : 1. Be active on WhatsApp . Set a time in a day and check for messages and respond in the group . 2. Participate atleast one event a month . 3. ⁠ Participation in annual events like "walkathon", fundraising , beats for a cause , youth carnival, adopt a park is mandatory (Either on event day or preparation ) 4. ⁠spread the flyers in your groups . 5. ⁠should attend the monthly meeting actively and be interactive . 6. ⁠participate in Fundraisng and set a yearly goal to support a child education ($1/day =$365). 7. ⁠Be committed to your signed up activities. 8. ⁠submit your hours regularly 9. ⁠Committed volunteers will be given preference to lead a team . 10. ⁠Plan your calendar and be ready to actively participate in discussions and suggesting . Meeting Details : http://tinyurl.com/VTSevaMeeting Time : 11:00-12:00 Every first Saturday of the month VTSeva Austin Summer internship : VT Seva Austin is looking for passionate youth volunteers for our summer internship program. We are looking for individuals who are self-driven, compassionate, and hardworking. Here is the link to the list of positions available with the roles and responsibilities of each in detail. Interns must be committed for a duration of three months from June 1st to September 1st. Interns must actively participate in the Whatsapp group, join monthly meetings, fundraise a minimum of $180 for education for underprivileged and visually impaired students, and complete a minimum of 25 volunteering hours with VT Seva for the January to May quarter. Only hours that are logged in myservicehours.com will be considered. If applicants did not reach their fundraising goal of $180 or meet the minimum 25 hours with VT Seva by the application due date, they have until June 1st  to do so. Applications close at 7:00 am on April 15th. You will hear back from us by April 22nd through email communications. Short fifteen minute interviews will be held in the following weeks. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Siri Bandam (512-369-9572 or siribandam@gmail.com). VTSeva Austin Photography Workshop Limited seats available. Join us on a fun interactive workshop that introduces you to the basics of photography including exposure, composition and light. Be a pro for your next travel shoots. Monthly Events 1. Round rock area service center : Pantry sorting Every Second Saturday every month 10:30-12:30 pm Address : 1099 E Main St, Round Rock, TX 78664 For details email : vtseva.rrasc@gmail.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Ronald McDonald House of charities-Lunches with Love. Every Second Saturday of the Month. Limited Spots available. Sign up either for item donation or packing Lunch. Location : 1315 Barbara Jordan Blvd, Austin, TX 78723 For details WhatsApp our adult lead/Prajna coordinator Sriranjani @ 512-753-9980 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Hike4ACause (4 Week walking challenge) - Virtual walkathon saturday and sunday from Apr 15th -May 15th to combat the exam stress. https://forms.gle/Q3yn8jrXcrMHQgNt5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Ongoing event Digital Library The goal of the project is to convert print material (books) into digital format (epub) so that they are accessible by all the blind and print disab ed individuals across the globe. The e-books will be part of Sugamya Pustakalaya, India's first and largest online library for the blind - with more than 20,000 ebooks available in 17 languages. For more details click on Sign Up. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Audio Book recording for TSBVI (Texas School for blind and visually challenged) Our Volunteers will be lending their voice to record the books from Texas school of blind and visually challenged library to create a audio library for TSBVI students. Email : vtsevatsbvi@gmail.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Adopt-A-Park Lets all meet for the Ranch at cypress Creek Park Clean up on Feb 24th and Mar 30th. Location :2003 Rachel Ridge, Cedar Park, TX 78613

“Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity – Nat Turner” With thorough preparation and practice, one can build good communication skills. VT Seva Detroit provided a great workshop for our youths to enhance their public speaking skills with the guidance of the Distinguished Toastmaster, Mr. Raju Brahmandhabheri. Mr. Brahmandhabheri is passionate about public speaking and communication skills and has been a Toastmaster (a platform to improve public speaking and leadership skills) for the last 8 years where he achieved the Distinguished Toastmaster’s Award - the highest educational award in the Toastmasters program. By profession, he is an electrical engineer and has been working in the utility industry for the past 18 years. He is currently working as an Engineering Manager at ITC Holdings Corp., Novi, Michigan. He has a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Mississippi State University and teaches Electrical Engineering at Lawrence Tech University on a part-time basis as he passionate about teaching. He is a mentor for the high school students to coach/advise/prepare them for the annual Leadership Speech Contest hosted by the National Management Association (NMA). In April this year, he led the efforts to create a new corporate Toastmasters club at his workplace, ITC and continues to mentor the new club. He is one of the founders, past president, and current board member of the Detroit Telangana Community (DTC). On March 12, 2022, 54 youths attended our online workshop and learned amazing tips and tricks from this Toastmaster. It was a great experience with an interactive session. Public speaking techniques were shared with the youths. Youths were preparing their speeches with the techniques they learned in the workshop and presented their prepared speeches on March 19, 2022. < On March 19, 2022, youths' speeches were evaluated by 3 wonderful judges Mr. Raju Brahmandhabheri, Alison Jolliff & Raghuram Samudrala. Alison Jollif is originally from England and has been in the US for 10 years. She became a Toastmaster two years ago and is now President of the Novi Toastmasters club. Prior to joining Toastmasters Inter-national, Alison studied to achieve a Master's degree in training and organizational development, and she currently works as a tutor. Raghuram Samudrala lives in the Suburbs of Boston-MA. He works as Sr. Manager for Boston Scientific is a Medical Device Company. He is been part of the VT Seva Boston Chapter for over a decade. VTSeva helped him embody the true value of service. Involved in various service activities thru VTSeva including Public Speaking Competitions, Cancer Awareness Wlakthons, Health Camps in India, Bloom Fundraiser Events for Visually Challenged Students & Service at Soup Kitchens. He carried these same values to champion a series of health camps in India thru Boston Scientific making a positive impact on over 3000 primary school children. Every year this program is growing leaps and bounds. Priya & Architha welcomed the facilitator & judges and went over the rules of the workshop. VTSeva Detroit Director Srinath & VTSeva National Secretary Sudheer explained about VT Seva, Nethra Vidyalaya Schools & Tribal Schools. Thanks to Chandrasekar for sponsoring the workshop. Public Speaking Committee: Priya , Archita, Srinath & Sudheer Blog written by: Priya Jaisankar Blog posted by: Nandini Cheemalamarri

The 20th All India National Para Athletics were held at Bhubaneswar, Odisha from 27th March to 31st March of 2022. 1064 participants from different states have competed at the event. 8 students from VT Seva supported Nethra Vidyalaya school and colleges got a chance for participation in this national competition based on their state-level performances. Our Nethra Vidyalaya intermediate college 2nd year student Ms. Killaka Lalitha won 2 Gold medals, 100 meters running and 200 meters running races. She completed her 100 meters sprint in 15:01 sec and 200 meters in 31.34 sec. Because of her outstanding performance as a national champion in both 100 meters and 200 meters running, she got qualified to represent India in international athletics championships all over the world. Nethra Vidyalaya founder Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji greatly appreciated the accomplishment of Ms. Lalitha and encouraged all other students too to practice hard and win laurels for the nation. Your support is our Strength to Serve! We thank VT Seva volunteers and donors for your continuous support. You were put on this earth to achieve your greatest self, to live out your purpose, and to do it courageously. Dr. Steve Maraboli Join us in congratulating and wishing Lalitha all the very best for future endeavors by commenting on the post.

To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves. Mahatma Gandhi Indian Vegetable Seedlings for sale - April 9th, at Alanita Travel, 14339 Eldorado Parkway, Frisco - 10:00 - 2:00 PM. Richwoods Spring Fest. April 9th, 11:00 - 2:00 PM.

Environment Protection is one of the four major service pillars of VT Seva. VTSeva through the Adopt-A-Park Program, we seek to find the best practices and strategies to work together to enhance the park system. This is a monthly event by the youth and adult volunteers while planning the strategies to improvise the park and creating a small garden. Our first adopt a park clean up activity was held on Mar 26th 2022. Volunteers have picked up the trash around the park and racked the leaves.

In 2021, VTSEVA volunteers were #Limitless! Goals were surpassed, boundaries were broken, and an impact was made. On the eve of National Volunteer Week, join us to reminisce on everything the organization has accomplished in 2021. Come celebrate volunteerism with us on April 24th at 5:30 PM EST! Have an incredible story you want to share? Participate in our Be #Limitless campaign to have your story showcased at the national event and on the Limitless website. Reach out to your branch director now to submit! Deadline April 15th.

“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt VT Seva Dallas is excited to invite you all to Earth Day 2022 Celebration on April 23rd. We will be having a street cleaning activity on 8:30 - 10:30 AM. This event is open to all; adults, kids and youth members. Come join us as a family to make the Earth a better place to live in. Please register at the earliest possible since the Frisco department needs to order the required supplies. REGISTER by - APR 10th Please fill in BOTH forms to register. The below form is for the Frisco Department to get a free T-shirt (while supplies last ) and the required supplies. Please enter ‘VT Seva’ for the team name in the form.

VT Seva Atlanta conducted a webinar on ‘Plant Care For The Beginners’ on March 5, 2022 at 2:00 PM EST. Last year, Atlanta VT Seva youths participated in ‘April Cool’ seedling project in which children sew more than 500 seeds, natured the seedlings, and later donated the plants and raised $2000 funds for the Covid relief aid. To go the extra mile this year in regards to plants and funds raised, we organized a plant care webinar for youths to learn the dos and don’ts of planting. Two SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) were invited to share their insights of start to finish of plant care from buying the seeds, using organic fertilizers, temperature control, watering, sunlight, and much more. The webinar started with a welcome note by Dr. Madhu Nemani, VT SEVA Director in which she welcomed Ashwin Kattula, owner of Kattula Farms, Mr. Sreenivasulu Naidu, farmer, Kiran Kumar, Chaitanya, and Ashwin’s daughter Tanvi. This webinar was organized by April Cool leads, Malathi Apparala and Shoban Abhireddy. Shoban invited Tanvi Kattula to present her views on plant care. Tanvi presented the basics of sowing seeds by planting in small cups indoors with good soil and good drainage. Later, Ashwin Kattula shared insights on temperature control, soil health, watering the seedlings. Afterward, Chaitanya shared her firsthand information about prepping the soil by proper tilling, adding compost, and organic fertilizers. Next was Q&A in which detailed insights were shared on plant care, soil health, organic fertilizers, weeds reduction, pesticides, and composting. Lastly, Ashwin Kattula graciously gave a 25% discount on seeds/plants to all the VT Seva volunteers. It was a great hands-on session on the basics of plant care, soil health, and ground preparation.

VT Seva Austin's Seeds for Tomorrow Project is hosting a 5k walk/run to support the Austin Parks Foundation and the Saksham Trust on July 23rd at 8:00 AM CST. Please join us to show your support for our cause and to have fun with friends and family! The walk/run will begin at around 9 AM but please plan to arrive early to check-in and hear from our Youth Board comprised of diligent and motivated middle and high school students! Where: Old Settlers Park Soccer Fields, 3300 E Palm Valley Blvd, Round Rock, TX 78665 (we will be starting and ending the walk/run by this parking lot) When: 8:00 AM CST - 11:00 AM CST 100% of the proceeds from this event will be donated to the two organizations Seeds for Tomorrow is supporting this year - the Austin Parks Foundation and the Saksham Trust. Click the button below to buy tickets! Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you at our event! Meet our project's sponsors! ======= “To plant a seed is to believe in tomorrow” - Audrey Hepburn

Public Speaking: Category 1: Kindergarten- 2nd grade Topic: If you were a superhero for one day, what would be your superpower? How would you use your superpower to help our community? Category 2: 3rd grade- 5th grade Topic: How is poverty different in various parts of the world? What can you do to reduce poverty in our community and the world? Category 3: 6th grade- 8th grade Topic: The “Statue of Equality - Samatha Murthy” was inaugurated in Hyderabad, India on Feb 5th 2022. Share your views on how Bhagavad Ramanuja’s philosophies align with equality. Category 4: 9th grade- 12th grade Topic: Why are some groups of people at a higher risk of mental health problems like depression? What are some steps we can take to solve this problem? Public Speaking registration deadline: Friday, April 1 2022 Public Speaking live event: Saturday, April 16 2022 Registration individual fee (public speaking & video): $20 Video Contest: Topic: Imagine you are a famous youtuber. Use your platform to advocate for a cause you believe in through a creative video. Minimum time limit: 2 min. Maximum time limit: 3 min. Teams: 1-5 people Video Contest Registration deadline: Friday, April 1 2022 Video contest submission deadline: Saturday, April 16 2022 Video contest team fee: $50

In summer Three Youth from Dallas - Devayani, Samanvita and Krishna hosted a camp for 3 hours a day Monday to Friday for 2 weeks. One week they had 6 kids another week they had 8 kids from elementary. They got support from Mrs. Sridevi Challa, mom of Krishna who encouraged and inspired them to host the summer camp to make a schedule but every day one of them made a lesson plan. The daily schedule included warmup stretches, math, a craft, or a sit-down game and topic on which they use to write a few sentences and present taking turns. The camp was well received by the kids and parents who attended. The team raised funds and wanted to donate to support Visually challenged students at Nethra Vidyalaya. The funds they raised will support the education of 2 students with free food and boarding for a year. These three kids also raised funds previously by hosting a bake sale in their community. Wishing the three awesome youth volunteers Devyani, Krishna, and Samanvita a lot more success in their endeavors and continued joyful volunteering journey.

As a team, the young volunteers of VT Seva have implemented numerous successful projects that have benefited underprivileged kids in India and worldwide. During this stressful pandemic, VT Seva Atlanta wanted to come out with a project to contribute to society, especially during a time when lockdown prevented us from not being able to help in person. This project was led by Dr. Madhulika Nemani to produce masks for special needs kids at Laurel Heights Hospital. Numerous volunteers spent countless hours cutting, sewing and stitching to create quality masks for the hospital’s children. With every hour that went by, every stitch that was sewn in, we never once failed to consider and wish for the wellbeing of children no matter what their situation was. We created masks that had a vibrant assortment of colors and designs so that the kids’ would cherish them and enjoy wearing them. We utilized 100% cotton material for skin comfort and used the templates provided by the hospital. All sizes of masks were created - small, medium, and large - to cater to the needs of every kid or adult. In addition, these masks are washable and reusable, which would prevent trash and waste. In 2021, VT Seva delivered 10,000 masks, and in 2022, we will be delivering 2000 masks at the end of March. This project has truly come a long way as it not only allowed the safety of all people during this chaotic pandemic but also put a smile on the faces of the precious children and hospital staff. From this experience, we have all learned valuable lessons of our own as well. We have been invited to several events at Laurel Heights Hospital for receiving appreciation for our work throughout the past 2 to 3 years. The CEO of Laurel Heights Hospital, Corey Jackson, acknowledged our contribution to his hospital and community during several events we were invited to at the hospital. In 2021, “Thanks for giving our kids masks, this has been a great partnership for the last year end half. I will look forward to happening again in the years to come. On behalf of Laurel Heights and the staff, myself, I just want to say thanks a lot. We are truly grateful!” Recently, in 2022, “Once again you guys have done it again, We greatly appreciate your effort, Your work and dedication to ensure Laurel Heights for being able to stay safe. As you know we are in the uptake around the community and these masks come in around the right time at the beginning of this so we can be really prepared. I have to ensure that we remain safe and we remain Covid free, And also thank you guys for the great community service that you provide towards the community. As always thank you, continue the great work. I will look forward to seeing you guys here soon.” We all truly appreciate the efforts and work of Mr. Corey Jackson, Dr. Smitha Battula, the main doctor of Laurel Heights Hospital, all of their other staff members, VT Seva volunteers, and of course, our very own director of VT Seva, Dr. Madhu Nemani. Nothing can measure how grateful we are for being given the opportunity to contribute for the betterment of society. VT Seva Atlanta youths had donated 500 cotton cloth masks to the Special Needs kids of the Laurel Heights Hospital on October 30, 2022. These masks are stitched by our VT Seva Atlanta youths. The Laurel Heights staff highly appreciates our youths year round contribution and loving-caring attitude for the jewels of hospital. We have donated 6,500 masks till now in year 2022. It really helped them in minimizing flu break and Covid prevention at the hospital.

VT Seva Dallas is hosting its 13th Annual Tarangini on Sunday, March 20th at 5 PM CST (Dallas time). Please join on Zoom- https://tinyurl.com/mwwk5acv. Our rock star youth volunteers are hosting this event. Along with them, we have the following dignitaries joining us:

Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it she stands up for all Women - Maya Angelou If a woman is healthy, the entire family stays productive and happy. Society flourishes. Contributing to a happy society is what we want to achieve in the Health care and Education pillars and were able to accomplish a lot of progress in the past 10+ years serving hundreds of thousands of women. VT Seva is now very happy to host an interactive Women Empowerment Workshop. We want to touch upon the most important basics for the success of every woman. Please participate and encourage all wonderful women in your life to participate. Gentlemen are welcome to participate as you get empowered with the knowledge and as always be there to lift up the women in your lives. Day 1: Saturday, March 26, 2022 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm EST Dr. Nina Tamirisa Assistant Professor, Department of Breast Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX Dr. Preeti Prakash Mathur, M.D. Psychiatrist Proposed topics to be covered Physical and Emotional Well-Being What topics would you like to hear about? o Diet, Nutrition, Meal Planning o Physical Fitness, Exercise o Work-Life Balance o Family Dynamics and Parenting o Impact of COVID-19 on Overall Wellbeing o Shaping a Resilient Frame of Mind o Hormonal Shifts and Impact on Overall Sense of Wellbeing Meeting Link for Day 1 Saturday, March 26, 2022, 2.00 - 3.30 PM EST https://bit.ly/VTSWD _____________________________________________________________________________________ Day 2: Sunday, March 27, 2022 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm EST Proposed topics to be covered Dr. Madhu Nemani Wealth Management Advisor Financial Wellness What topics would you like to hear about? o Financial Selfie and Gap Analysis o College Planning o Retirement Planning o Tax Planning o Legacy Planning o Home Buying, Mortgage, and Refinancing o Asset Management o Stock Market Investment Women Back to Work Ms.Samantha Johnson, SVP & Executive Director, First Citizens Bank What topics would you like to hear about? o Back to Work Readiness o Work-Life Balance o Support System at Work o Job Trends o Hard and Soft Skills o Breaking the Bias Meeting Link for Day 2 Saturday, March 26, 2022, 2.00 - 3.30 PM EST https://bit.ly/VTSWD

VT Seva Dallas is hosting its 13th Annual Tarangini on March 20th at 5 PM CST. This event is virtual so you can join from anywhere. Many young volunteers have worked hard to put this together. The program will be emceed by youth. There will be entertainment with skits, dancing, and singing. We look forward to meeting you all there. The link to the event is https://tinyurl.com/mwwk5acv . If you're looking to see what you can expect on the day of the event, here's a video created by Youth Board Volunteers explaining what it will look like: VT Seva Dallas 13th Annual Tarangini Trailer - YouTube.

VT Seva Cary recently celebrated their first annual Sadaya event. Sadaya, meaning kindness in Sanskrit, was dedicated to Netra Vidyalaya Schools and responsible for uplifting and supporting the education of visually-challenged students. Through splendorous performances and stories, the event was highly successful and inspiring. Through videos that highlighted the struggles, journeys, and achievements of Nethra Vidyalaya students, we witnessed remarkable passion and determination. They provided details regarding their daily life and imparted insight on various other topics. Their most recent and most significant achievement occurred when they received the opportunity to march in the Republic Day Parade. Participating in this prestigious opportunity opened up new doors of opportunity and inspiration among the students and community. Additionally, during our Sadaya event, we discovered the awe-inspiring journey of two alumni students from the Nethra schools. They divulged their educational days and the current career paths they are pursuing. Throughout the event, the audience heard encouraging words about volunteering and the impact of service from the president and vice-president of VT Seva's National Board, Mr. Kiran Vangala, and Ms. Madhavi Donepudi, respectively. In addition to those top-notch speeches, the audience became well acquainted with world-renowned scientist John Cohn. He actively engaged the audience with his breakthrough career and motivated us with words about reaching your dreams and doing what you love. To convey his importance of enjoying one's life, he quoted from one of his favorite Irish play writers, George Bernard Shaw, "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." Moreover, VT Seva Cary's Sadaya incorporated entertainment that included a plethora of performances ranging from classical melodies songs to upbeat modern dance performances. Apart from these dances, musical medleys, drumline performances from a local high school, and a Karra Samu performance completed the event. Without a doubt, this incredible event with the meaning of kindness in the atmosphere sparked a movement of understanding and happiness among the audience. VT Seva Cary successfully reached their goal of supporting 80 Nethra Vidyalaya students. The impact from dozens of wonderful families is not lost. To see the audience determined to help and support our Nethra Vidyalaya kids is stupendous and extraordinary. The Sadaya event and the ever-circling meaning of kindness were not just bound to the walls of Zoom but rather augmented outward and beyond. Sadaya was truly an inspiring act of kindness. Thank you to all the donors and volunteers for their support to make this even successful.