Hi folks! Interested in cooking or wanting to learn how to cook? We invite you to join our virtual cooking workshop! Come learn some fun and simple recipes that you can make with the most basic ingredients and minimal heat! There will be four sessions conducted in October Every Saturday, 4 - 6 PM PST. You will learn from several young hosts on how to make easy appetizers, entrees, desserts, and drinks. It will be interactive, as we'll all be cooking as well! No experience is required. Step-by-step, our hosts will lead you through the process of making super easy and enjoyable recipes from the comfort of your own home! By Cooking for a Cause, you will be helping provide meals for underprivileged students in India (All the proceeds (including fees and donations) go to those students!) We hope to see you there! Event: Cooking for a Cause Date: Every Saturday in October - November 2021; 10/30, 11/6, 11/13 & 11/20 Time: 4 - 6 pm PST Ticket Price: Per person, the participation fees are $12 per class, but if you pay forward for the entire workshop, it's only $40! *Participant Details Needed: First and Last Name Age Email and Phone Number Which sessions can you attend? (We suggest attending all four! It’ll be super fun!)

Welcome to VT Seva’s Charity Game Night! Thanks to those who attended last year and donated, we raised around $1500 for underprivileged children in need in India. We deeply appreciate all of your help to achieve this goal and we couldn’t have done it without you! Our Mission This year we hope to make VTS Game Night even bigger and better, raising more funds to help underprivileged communities. This year, we are running this contest to raise funds to feed visually challenged and underprivileged students in India through the Feed-A-Student Program. A $200 donation is equivalent to providing enough resources for one child. Our goal for our game night event is to support 12 students, so around $2400, so we would greatly appreciate any donations as well as registrations! About the Event: The main event will be a fortnite tournament with prizes, and If you don’t want to participate in the competition, please feel free to join our game night zoom meeting to have fun by playing many virtual different games with others, such as Jackbox Party, Uno, and skribble.io! Other games that you think we should add? When you register, you can suggest any other free games that can be accessible to anyone and we’ll consider adding it. Specific Event Details: Game Night Event Date - Dec 4th 2021 Event Time: 4:00-8:00 PM Main Event: Video Game competition Fortnite tournament Bracket-Style Tournament Prizes for the winners Gift cards prizes Other potential prizes might be given away! Casual Zoom Game Night Event: Gimkit Jackbox Party Skribble.io Spyfall Mafia Leave any suggestions for other video games on the registration form! For any information, please contact: vtsgamenight@gmail.com. Thank you!

Wonderful opportunity for kids to learn and brush up their knowledge on Ramayana & Mahabaratha. We encourage all to register at the below link. All proceeds will go to Visually Challenged schools.

A true sense of commitment and passion is seen when things don’t go per the plan or when circumstances don’t support an existing model. The year 2020 has been a tiring year for almost every person on Earth and specially for children. Many were blessed with an option to continue their education online, but for few who can’t afford a proper house or facility or who depend on schools run by non-profit organizations, online education was not an option. As the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates mentioned, “Desperate times call for desperate measures”, our schools in the tribal villages of India have taken that desperate measures of going to the homes of the students to provide them continued education. The staff of our schools have taken up the task of assigning a teacher to a group of the children according to their grade levels and the villages(Thandas) they live in, The teacher’s responsibility is to coordinate this group with a study plan. All the students had a single point of contact at any point of the time for any consultation or guidance. This model has been very successful in ensuring that the children were getting the education needed and graded accordingly instead of merely promoting them to next grade as suggested by the government. This reveals our teachers compassion and deep care towards these children whose only hope is continued education, this demonstrates our commitment to our donors for the trust they have in us to empower these children and grow them to be responsible citizens of the community, this establishes the desire of these children to become someone, to become successful and say ‘Thank You’. As Darling-Hammond wrote, “When all is said and done, what matters most for students’ learning are the commitments and capacities of their teachers” . This is so true in our journey, these desperate times made us see those commitments and capacities of these incredible teachers. Everyone one of us has a role to play in this success, and that pivotal role is YOU, without the donor, all this would not have been possible. Thank you for your continued support and trust in us to empower these children. As we continue making strides in providing education and transforming communities, we look forward to your continued support. Below are the pictures from School for the Tribals from Beersaipet and Allampally.

“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” – Nelson Mandela As the old quote from Nelson Mandela describes, it is human nature to be resilient in tough times. Although, the world saw the unimaginable effects of pandemic last year, there always was light at the end of the tunnel and rightly so, we all are being resilient to come out of it slowly but steadily. The epitome of resilience is demonstrated by the visually challenged children of Nethra Vidyalaya & the underprivileged Tribal area school children every day by their persistence, perseverance & patience. They go through unimaginable situations in their lives, yet these gifted & talented kids come out of it with great success. In 2021, VT Seva Detroit has pledged to support the education of over 200 visually challenged and tribal students. We are committed to raising the appropriate funds for the 200 children by our Annual Fund Raiser program of RAAS 2021 which is scheduled for October 30th 2021 at 25335 W Nine Mile Road, Southfield, MI from 5:00 PM onwards. Be a part of this noble cause to bring smiles to the faces of over 1500 school children. You can make a big difference in their lives. Give the gift of education by sponsoring a child for just a $1.00 a day!! Guests gracing the event : HON. POPPY SIAS - HERNANDEZ, Executive Director, Global Michigan. Hon. Poppy Sias-Hernandez, a brilliant Latino was born and grew up in Muskegon, West Michigan. She went to school in Muskegon, West Michigan, received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley and her master's degree from Western Michigan University. Ms. Sias-Hernandez has served in the executive office since day one of the Governor Whitmer’s administration in two roles, first as the West Michigan Regional Director of Community Affairs and currently, as the Michigan State’s Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer. Recently Ms. Sias - Hernandez has been appointed as the Executive Director of Global Michigan by the Michigan Governor, Whitmer. Ms. Sias-Hernandez has spent her life working on behalf of youth and families in West Michigan. She has tremendous knowledge of her childhood experiences that not only propelled her into careers advocating for equity and social justice who can speak the numerous languages of community but, which are informing her current position as the Executive Director of Global Michigan. With deep roots in the region’s public health and public education spheres, she’s worked for Planned Parenthood of Michigan in Grand Rapids and the Muskegon County Health Department, as well as served as the assistant to the Superintendent and the Director of Special Projects for Muskegon Public Schools. As a “Master Trainer” in the National Adverse Childhood Experiences study, she has fought to improve public health outcomes here—and across the country. She’s led a nonprofit (Good for Youth), overseen a Muskegon County Farm-to-School initiative, advocated for state policy, and more. In new role working for the governor, Ms. Sias-Hernandez is advocating for Muskegon, championing equity & social justice throughout West Michigan. HONORABLE JIM RUNESTAD, Member of the Michigan State Senate, representing the 15th district. In November 2018, residents of Michigan’ 15th Senate District elected Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, to the state Senate, representing the cities of Northville, Novi, Orchard Lake, South Lyon, Walled Lake, and Wixom and the townships of Commerce, Lyon, Milford, Novi, West Bloomfield and White Lake. Sen. Runestad is committed to looking out for the most vulnerable, fighting fraud and corruption in government, and defending western Oakland County families to the best of his abilities. Sen. Runestad has been appointed by his colleagues to serve as the assistant majority caucus chair. He also serves as chairman of the Finance Committee. Prior to joining the Senate, Runestad served four years in the Michigan House of Representatives, representing the 44th District. There he led the efforts to reform child abuse and neglect investigations to better protect children, and passed a law to crack down on felons who took bribes while in government. As a foster parent himself, Sen. Runestad spearheaded legislation to require foster care quality standards statewide. As the son of two educators, Runestad chose to pursue studies in the field of education. Runestad earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Central Michigan University with a concentration in history, economics and politics. Upon graduation, he spent time working with at-risk students in classrooms all across the state. For the last 15 years Jim has been operating his own insurance company, Runestad Financial Associates LLC. Runestad was an active member of the North Oakland Board of Realtors Legislative Affairs and Grievance Committees, as well as having been involved with other various activities with the local Chamber of Commerce, including Meals on Wheels. The Honorable Padma Kuppa, Member of the Michigan House of Representatives from the 41st House District. Hon. Padma Kuppa is a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from the 41st House District, which encompasses the cities of Troy and Clawson. Kuppa is an Indian-American. She is the first Indian immigrant and Hindu in the Michigan Legislature. She is from Hyderabad, in Telangana State , India. She speaks very good Telugu. She has been named Assistant Whip in Michigan. Kuppa is currently President of the Troy Historical Society and a board member of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion Honorable Padma Kuppa is serving her second term representing Michigan’s 41st House District, which encompasses the cities of Troy and Clawson. The first Indian immigrant and Hindu in the state legislature, and a Michigander for more than 20 years, she is focused on serving the people of Troy and Clawson in the Michigan House of Representatives. Throughout her life, Kuppa has sought to bring people together to solve problems both in the professional world and in the community. Kuppa is a mechanical engineer and project manager with a career spanning the higher education, marketing, automotive, financial, and IT sectors. Kuppa has been a civic leader, volunteering with the PTA throughout her children’s K-12 education, founding the Troy-area Interfaith Group to bring people of all faiths together, and serving on Troy’s Planning Commission. She is currently President of the Troy Historical Society, a board member of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, and on the Advisory Councils for South Asian American Voices for Impact and the Great Lakes Political Academy. She brings her small business, nonprofit, and civic experience to the committees she currently serves on in the House: the Local Government and Municipal Finance Committee, the Tax Policy Committee, and the Rules and Competitiveness Committee. Beyond her committee work, Rep. Kuppa has introduced and co-sponsored legislation and resolutions advocating for election reforms, earned paid sick leave, ensuring health care for those with preexisting conditions, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, protecting Michigan’s water, promoting polluter accountability, and calling for the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act to support senior wellbeing. In her first term, Rep. Kuppa was appointed to the Prescription Drug Task Force and the MiSTEM Council. She continues to serve on the Council in her second term, encouraging a focus on STEAM in our public education, as it is a critical foundation for a strong economy. VT Seva sincerely thank Hon. Sen. Jim, Hon. Kuppa and Hon. Poppy Sias-Hernandez for graciously accepting our invite. All Proceeds to benefit Schools for Tribal, Visually challenged ! Sponsorship Opportunities Please join us and support for this noble cause!! Annual Cultural Event on October 30th , 2021. Venue : 25335 W Nine Mile Rd, Southfield, MI 48033 at 5:00 PM

VT Seva Detroit conducted its first-ever Chess Camp. Youth Board member Tarun is passionate about Chess, participated in many tournaments and won them in State level competitions and is a leader in his Chess club. He wanted to help Nethra Vidyalaya kids with his passion. Tarun conducted our 1st ever chess camp online from Aug 2nd to Aug 4th, 2021. Tarun has his own website “Need4Needy.org”; he created the registration page on his website for this camp. Thanks to Harish for creating a flyer for this camp. 9 students registered and learned chess curiously. They were all enjoying the class thoroughly and liked to continue learning and playing chess. This camp did create a spark in them. All 9 participants were joining the camp each day happily and explored the tools and learned the techniques. Tarun was able to raise $365 which will help one student’s education for a year. VT Seva Detroit Youth Board thanks Tarun’s passion and contribution and would like to extend the thanks to Tarun’s mom Sowmiya & dad Rajesh also for their support from the beginning to the end of this camp. Thanks to our Detroit Communications team (Nandini) for her support in publishing content provided by event leads in all our Social media channels ( Whatsapp, Facebook, VTSworld Blogs, and Event logs) from start to the completion of the event. Message from camp organizer Tarun: Hello! My name is Tarun Rajesh and I’m going to be an incoming junior at International Academy East . I held a chess camp during the summer of 2021 in order to teach some of the basic fundamentals of chess of all ages. There were approximately 10 kids and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. This camp was held for three days with interactive quizzes and puzzles and collected $365 and the collected money was donated through VT Seva to Nethravidyala schools in India. I chose Nethravidyala , specifically, because these blind children don’t have many opportunities to live a successful life. Last summer, I held a similar chess camp and displayed all the details on my website: Need4needy.org. I still remember me as a 7 year old being introduced to the game of chess. I wish I could relive those moments and see how far I have come, but I know that I wouldn’t be the man I am today without chess. Lastly, I would like to thank VT Seva during this process and I hope to impact the community in other ways as well. Thanks, Tarun Blog created by Priya Published by Nandini

The VT Seva Detroit Youth Board initiated their first-ever charity walkathon in 2021. Not only was it a first for our group, but it was also a hybrid walkathon, taking place both virtually and in person. Walkathon participants were able to head to vtwalk.org, a custom website designed for this event. Rather than walking for just one day, the walkathon lasted all summer and supported two amazing causes. When someone is diagnosed with cancer, money becomes another issue on top of everything else. Angels of Hope provides financial assistance to Michigan families in need due to cancer so families can focus on supporting their loved ones. COVID-19 has hit India extremely hard, and the entire nation is in desperate need. VT Seva Bharath has been working relentlessly to support the nation with its fight against the pandemic. All the proceeds from this event were donated to Angels of Hope and VT Seva Bharath. It was a very successful Walkathon, raised $3214 and splitted equally with both organizations. We received a Thankyou letter from Angels of hope. So proud of all youth volunteers who made a difference in so many people's lives. The first step was building a brand new website for participants to register at and track their steps on. Weeks before the walkathon, the Detroit team worked with the Dallas team to create this website. It was amazing to collaborate with other branches and the website was done very professionally. A special thanks to Dallas Branch Director, Uttam for his dedication and support towards our website development and thanks to Harish, Oviya & Priya for doing the QA testing and load testing. Thanks to Harish for creating a flyer for Walkathon. On June 18, 2021, vtwalk.org was launched at our Walkathon Kickoff Meeting. We had a ton of youth board volunteers in attendance, allowing for an interactive discussion to better understand our hybrid walkathon and the responsibilities associated with being a team lead. The youth board members who signed up as team leads created their own teams for the walkathon and motivated their team members to actively walk and track their steps. 29 team members 162 participants, 43 days walked more than 20 Million steps (1000+ miles) VT Seva Detroit has always wanted to contribute towards its healthcare pillar. In 2020, the VTS Detroit Youth Board started off by supporting the St. Mary Mercy hospital in Livonia by raising money to fund the purchase of N-95 masks and other COVID-19 treatment supplies. In 2021, the youth board continued this mission by supporting Angels of Hope and VTS Bharath’s COVID-19 relief activities. All of our 29 team leads worked incredibly hard to promote the cause and get more people to join their team. This event’s success could not have been accomplished without these team leads. Our wonderful Team Leads were Hiba, Oviya, Harish, Kaavya, Sanjith, Amogh, Supraja, Udhayaa, Srihari H, Niharika, Hrudya, Rashmitha, Nikita, Siddharth, Sai Sahasra,Abishristi, Pranav T, Saisha, Arya, Teja, Shrikha, Eesha, Kalki, Chakrika, Rohan, Sanjana, Genea, Aditi & Peter Genea, a company that provides property tech solutions, partnered with us to support our causes. 15 of their employees joined us virtually and supported our cause. Peter Trajkoski’s family also joined in his memory to support our cause. Linda Auge’s family from Trinity Health also joined us to support our cause. All of our team lead family members and friends participated in our first walkathon and made it a real success. Special shout out to Chandrashekhar ji for donating towards this great cause. For the first 42 days, all the volunteers walked virtually and motivated each other with friendly competition by logging their steps at vtwalk.org. On the 43rd day, they all met for an in-person walkathon. Suzie Jovcevski and her family also joined us in representing Angels of Hope. In-Person Walkathon was conducted on July 31, 2021 at Shiawassee Park, Farmington. Starting at 8 AM, volunteers helped with the set-up, check-in, snack distribution, and cleaning. Suzie and her family members set up a stall to explain about Angels of Hope and distributed promotional materials. Our set-up volunteers made a balloon arch, tied the balloons and ribbons on the trees in the park with the VT Seva Walkathon Flyers, arranged the tables for check-in, a t-shirt stall, and a Gatorade stall. All of our VT Seva Detroit members who all showed up chipped in all of the activities made this a true family event. Our check-in volunteers did an awesome job at the registration desk by going through the COVID-19 questionnaire and checking in walkers. Once the check-in was over, our snack table volunteers handed out gift bags to the registrants. Once again, without our amazing team, it would not be possible to hand out gift bags filled with water bottles, apples, snack bars, and hand sanitizer. Special shout out to Zahara for sponsoring water bottles, Vani for apples, Architha for snack bars and Priya for hand sanitizers. Geetha sponsored the Gatorade bottles to sell during the event. Architha & Venkat for printing out certificates for the winners. Priya for printing out the flyers to distribute in stores and parks. Sudheer for getting balloons for the arch. Our RAAS promotion volunteers were doing an awesome job in explaining our annual fundraising event RAAS to the newcomers and our t-shirt stall was handled by our treasurer and the youth volunteers. Our volunteering coordinator Vanitha made sure all of the tasks had been done properly. Priya Jaisankar, the VT Seva Detroit Youth Board Director, started our walkathon with her welcome speech. Each one of our participants walked 3000 meters! The park was lively, buzzing with happy chatter and beautiful morning weather. Many youth members began to race down the track, inspiring other adult participants to start racing to finish their 3Ks. This event was insanely fun, jovial, and light-hearted. All the moments were captured beautifully by our Media volunteers. Our wonderful volunteers who signed up to help with In-Person Walkathon were, Youth Volunteers: Amogh, Arya, Eesha, Harish, Hiba, Hrudya, Jethri, Kaavya, Oviya, Sai Sahasra, Sai Karnati, Shruthi, Siddharth, Teja & Udhayaa Adult Volunteers: Architha, Nandini, Suresh, Durga, Anitha, Geetha, Kishore, Vani, Bhanu, Sreenivas, Anand, Veena, Vanitha, Srinath, Jyothi, Sudheer & Priya Whole team was doing such an awesome job entering their steps every day during the virtual walkathon, even though it was virtual there was a friendly competition going on to see who walked more steps each day. Every night there was a statistics posted in the walkathon group to provide updates on walkathon statistics. Our special guests Latha and Suzie handed over the certificates to our winners Top 3 teams who had more steps were Hiba, Siddharth, and Genea Top 3 individuals who had more steps were Abhinav, Zahara, and Zareena Top 3 team leads who had more participants were Peter Trajkoski, Harish, and Genea Detroit Branch Director Srinath and National Secretary Sudheer and Youth Board Director Priya gave a thank you speech appreciating all the volunteers The clean-up volunteers did an amazing job at taking down all the decorations and stalls, leaving the park even better than we found it. Thanks to our Detroit Communications team (Nandini) for her continuous support in publishing content provided by event leads in all our Social media channels ( Youtube, Whatsapp, Facebook, VTSworld Blogs, and Event logs) from start to the completion of the event. Even though we had volunteers sign up for specific tasks, lots of our volunteers and participants pitched in any area without any hesitation. They made this event feel like a family event rather than a charity event. Our Detroit Team rocks without any doubt they will keep rocking and shake the world with their compassion! Watch the compilation of the VT Seva Detroit First-Ever Virtual Walkathon Video below. Please visit our Facebook page for the Live Videos (Round 1 and Round 2) captured on the event day, and also for other VT Seva Detroit events and activities. Please do like and share and spread the news about VT Seva. Blog created by Priya Published by Nandini

Did you know according to American community Survey, about 3.6% of US population consider themselves deaf or have serious difficulty hearing ? Did you know studying ASL (American sign Language) promotes better awareness of and sensitivity to the deaf and hard of hearing community. Sign language are an extremely important communication tool for many deaf and hard of hearing people. Did you know being fluent in ASL has fascinating benefits: - ASL leads to higher reading levels in kids - ASL signers have incredible spatial reasoning - ASL brings long term cognitive benefits ASL Leads to higher reading levels in kids Now you can learn the basics of ASL in our upcoming sessions. What you will learn: Conversational ASL Basics - how to introduce yourself, survival signs Touch on deaf history and culture Each session: 4 classes Class length: 1 hour and 30 minutes Dates: (Select only ONE session to join - a date/time convenient for you). Session 1: Wednesdays: 09/01-09/22 → 7:00pm - 8:30pm Session 2: Saturdays: 09/04-09/25 → 11:30am - 1:00pm Session 3: Sundays: 09/05-09/26 → 3:00am - 4:30pm Session 4: Wednesdays: 10/06-10/27 → 7:00am - 8:30pm Session 5: Sundays: 10/03-10/24 → 3:00am - 4:30pm Fee: $60 / session / per person Additional family members: $40 each Proceeds from this event benefit Feed a student program. Learn more about this below. For any questions, please contact: Email: ISHYABAHL@GMAIL.COM Whatsapp: 408-718-3764 Our feed a student program: Each year VT Seva supports both tribal and visually challenged students for free education and free food. Your support via programs like these help us maintain their support and future. We highly encourage you to see the videos below from our schools and colleges in support of this program. Each dollar you donate goes directly to the cause. VT Seva is a non-profit organization run by volunteers. VT Seva in 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 further questions about this program, reach out to bayarea.director@vtworld.org

VT SEVA DETROIT Food Drive for Gleaners food bank & Capuchin Soup Kitchen / Services with the help 🙏of KROGER NOVI STORES *DATE: Aug 22, 2021 TIME: 10 am to 4.30 pm( every 2 Hrs volunteering slots) Location: Kroger Store, 47650 Grand River, Novi, MI 48375* Please find all the details at the link below and appreciate🙏 whoever interested and available please signup asap🙏 We need both adults and youth volunteers help for each shift🙏 https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c45aba723a75-vtseva5 Also, kindly please signup our In-person Covid waiver form link below as well, please mention the name of this event as "VTS Detroit Food drive at Kroger Novi stores" http://shorturl.at/ahAL8 *Your Support is our Strength to Serve for more details on how to get involved on VT Seva Detroit Volunteering Projects* Please contact : Vanitha Ji : Detroit.volunteercoordinator@vtsworld.org/ 248-227-3094 Priya Ji : Detroit.youthdirector@vtsworld.org / 313-529-0824 Srinath : Detroit.director@vtsworld.org / 949-232-9477 Thank You🙏✌️ Srinathbabu Karnati Detroit Volunteer Director

2021 VT SEVA DETROIT: SOCCER FOR A CAUSE We had a very successful 1st VT Seva Detroit Soccer Tournament back in 2019. But 2020 proved to be a real disappointment with the extended hiatus. Nevertheless, it was time to dust off the cleats and get onto the field once again in 2021!! VT Seva Detroit organized a boarded indoor fundraising soccer tournament at Total Sports Novi (East), MI on July 18th 2021 to benefit the blind and visually challenged children in India. Like past years we had 3 different groups: - Group 1: 6 to 9 years’ old - Group 2: 10 to 13 years’ old - Group 3: 14 and above We had around 40 registrants until a week before the event and the organizing team was still struggling to make up teams. Then in the last week, we had 2 Adult teams registering and several more eagerly registered to complete 67 registrations in total. During the run-up to the event, VT Seva Detroit Team members were ‘all guns blazing’ in all departments. To list a few: Promotions – Our Youth & Adult Volunteers did an amazing job in promoting the event. Apart from reaching out to the past participants via email, phone, and voicemails and new participants via distribution list and MIindia, we had several outreach sessions at Total Sports Novi, Vani Foods, India Grocers, Sai Grocers – Farmington and Novi and also pasted Flyers at different important locations throughout. You can view more pictures from the Event Promotions here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/mUVeM4mFh3V3V7Tp9 Volunteers who participated in the promotion events: Event Sponsors – Sudhakar ji, our own VT Seva Senior Adviser/Mentor & Vidhya ji of Vani Foods were so kind enough to Sponsor the Venue, Medals and Trophies. Sudhakar ji has always blessed our VT Seva Detroit team with their constant support & encouragement by physically volunteering in-person & financially Sponsoring several events regularly throughout the years. Vijitha ji of Vani Foods came forward to Sponsor after listening to the great cause this event was being conducted for. She also graciously offered us her Storefront Parking Lot for any future VT Seva Events. Thank you so much Vijitha ji! Venue - Total Sports – It would be an injustice if we don’t mention Bryan Bartig, Total Sports Facilities Manager, and his associate Michelle. They were simply amazing and without their help and support, it would not have been possible. Right from when we decided to go for our 1st in-person sports event after the long break, Bryan and the team were so appreciative of the cause and promised to go all the way to help us organize this. The earlier managers were no longer working at TS hence we had to work with the new team all over again. They not only subsidized the Venue fees for us but went above & beyond to help us so easily organize the logistics. Food Sponsors/Coordinators – What more could have one asked for during the break time at the Food Stall with mouth-watering delicacies: - Mint Rice, BisibelaBath, Chocolate Cake, Samosas, Pizzas, Mango Lassi, Masala Chai, Ice Cream, etc. beckoned the participants, visitors and volunteers to have lunch, snack & dessert at a very nominal price. Thank you so much to Nandhini ji, Asha ji, Veena ji, Jyoti ji, Vanitha ji & all the food stall volunteers who provided us with amazing food and beverages. All the proceeds from the food stall also went to Nethra Vidyalaya Schools. Event Volunteers - We had over 35 Youth & Adult Volunteers working enthusiastically in different departments during the event. Right from the setting up of desks & chairs for check-in, arranging the food items, coolers, putting up banners, Café price tags, setting up soccer cones/nets for the younger kid’s games, ensuring the players are on the right teams, Photography and clean up. Referees - Our in-house referees Darshan ji and Abhinav are the coolest!! We can always depend on them to referee the games every year and they both oblige us without even a second thought. Special thank you to both of you! Teams & Winners – We had an amazing Game Roster and Schedule this year with several first time youth players, two new High School Teams, and two new Adult League Teams from Utica. Group 1 (6 to 9 years’ old): Had 10 players that were placed in 2 different teams Yellow & Green to verse against each other in there 10 min. games. The kids had super fun time playing and scoring against each other in a friendly competitive kids Soccer game. Group 2 (10 to 13 years’ old): Twelve players were matched up against each other depending on their different skill levels in Red vs Blue teams. Superb demonstration of soccer skills amongst the players made up for an interesting three 15 min. sections of the game. All players from Group 1 & 2 received Medals and Trophies for their fantastic performance on the field. Group 3 (14 and above): The second half of the day became more intense with the Group 3 games. 2 Adults team, 2 High School Teams and 2 League Teams faced off against each other in the group matches. All the games were high energy games with friendly competition between each other. Final: OHWTF #1 Vs. OHWTF#2 Winners were OHWTF #2 Special Mention – We had one energetic person who stood out and acted as an inspiration to forming All Women Soccer team for next year’s event. It was none other than Zahara ji. She was the only Adult Female Player who took part in the Soccer Games and what an amazing Defender she was!!! Special Surprise Guest – We had a super surprise special Guest during our 2nd Soccer Event. It was none other than Ford Motors CEO – Mr. Jim Farley, who happened to be there. He was gracious enough to talk to us regarding our Organization, Cause and the Event. He congratulated all of us and gave a Photo opportunity as well!! Guest of Honor – Our guest of honor Sudhakar ji, was kind enough to stay for the entire event and present the Trophies and Medals to the participants. He has always been our mentor, core volunteer and key adviser for all the events. Treasurer, National Secretary & Detroit Director – Our driving force have always been Anand ji, Sudheer ji and Srinath ji who have become the three pillars of VT Seva Detroit branch without whom any event will not be a success and so was Soccer. Right from idea initiation to clean-up and wrap-up, these three individuals have been a constant force of strength and support. WAY TO GO & THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Volunteering Coordinator/Game & Event Coordinators – Vanitha - Volunteering coordinator & Venkat & Suresh - Game & Event Coordinators – like in 2019, the coordinators met frequently during the run-up to the event, burnt the mid-night oil, extreme planning and execution till the end. Detroit Communications – Nandini, for her support in publishing content provided by event leads in all our Social media channels ( Youtube, Whatsapp, Facebook, VTSworld Blogs, and Event logs) from start to the completion of the event. In the end, it turned out to be a fruitful success for the hours of preparation that was put in. CONSOLIDATED PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE EVENT ARE AVAILABLE AT: https://photos.app.goo.gl/E9mmK263B7Wo1fHGA *** All COVID-19 protocols were in place as per MDHHS & the venue's rules & regulations during the event. *** Please visit our Facebook page for more information, like & share to promote VT Seva activities. https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/4833849193308738

“All I have learned, I learned from books.” Abraham Lincoln On the occasion of 75th Independence day of India, we are glad to announce the launch of new initiative - Digital Book Library for the Blind & Print Disabled. 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 disabled 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. Sugamya Pustakalaya is a collaborative effort of TCS, Daisy Forum of India and NIEPVD (National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities), Government of India to end the book famine faced by people with print disabilities. This is a wonderful opportunity for all to get involved and make a difference in the life of all the visually challenged individuals.

Do you enjoy reading? Why not Read for a Cause? Every book you read can also feed underprivileged children. During this fundraising activity, we request you to pledge a minimum of 5 dollars per book read. In addition to pledges, parents can make a flat donation to our cause. This fundraiser runs from Sept 1st to October 31st. Anyone can register and you can either pledge a certain amount of money for each book or just make a flat donation. Register below. All proceeds go to feeding underprivileged children and donations are tax deductible. If you have any questions, contact Read-a-thon Fundraiser lead, Parth Ganga, through email: parth.ganga@gmail.com.

VT Seva volunteers come together to celebrate India's 75th Independence Day by singing National Anthem. Another wonderful project done by a few centers lead by Detroit team is encouraging youth to pick one freedom fighter and present a brief infographic about them. These posts were done starting Aug 1st. Please don't miss the link at the bottom of this blog. “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, where knowledge is free. Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls. Where words come out from the depth of truth, where tireless striving stretches its arms toward perfection. Where the clear stream of reason has not lost it's way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit. Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever widening thought and action. In to that heaven of freedom, my father, LET MY COUNTRY AWAKE!” ― Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali: Song Offerings "Every citizen of India must remember that... he is an Indian and he has every right in this country but with certain duties"- Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Tribute to Bharath More info

In the early Spring of 2021, VT Seva Detroit started off a brand new Project – ‘SOW A SEED EDUCATE A CHILD’ with a vision to encourage every volunteer, be it Youth or Adults, to bring the Gardener within them out of the deep slumber of the pandemic year and spend some time outdoors planting seeds, nurturing them and in turn contribute towards a great cause of helping the Tribal & Nethra Vidyalaya School Children in their education. We had a great response from 19 Youth Volunteers who registered to take part in this eco-conscious project. The parents and adult volunteers were equally enthusiastic about this project. We had a fantastic kick-off meeting on the 11th of April 2021 to plan about the different kinds of seeds that we were planning to sow, the finer details of starter kits, types of soils, tools, watering cycles, sunlight vs. grow light, and how to care for the saplings when the weather is still cold. The plan was to get fast-growing and most saleable plants such as Squash, Beans, Okra, Cucumbers, Peas, Eggplant and Tulsi. All the seeds were pre-planted in starter kits before they were distributed to the participants. Once the seeds started germinating and saplings started turning up under the indoor grow light conditions, they were picked up by the participants and nurtured in their homes. During our 3 subsequent meetings, the Youth participants eagerly showed the growth of their plants on a regular basis and were really excited to take the next steps of selling them to raise money for the cause. Youth volunteers encouraged by their parents, did an AMAZING JOB in marketing their plants to their neighbors, teachers, friends and family members explaining about the great cause of this project and how all the proceeds from the sale of plants would go directly to towards the education of visually challenged children of Nethra Vidyalaya and Tribal Schools. Almost all the plants were sold except for few that did not survive. At the conclusion of this project in June, our 19 participants raised over $600.00 by selling their plants as a part of this unique hands-on project. This was quite a learning experience for everyone. Youth and Adults enjoyed every bit of this project and are eager to grow more plants in their backyards. The Youth Volunteers wanted to express their experience through a quick video blog. 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐓𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐰 𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝟏.𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐯 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢 𝟐.𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝟑.𝐓𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢 𝟒.𝐀𝐫𝐲𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢 𝟓.𝐎𝐯𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐉𝐚𝐢𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐫 𝟔.𝐀𝐛𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐯 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝟕.𝐒𝐚𝐢 𝐒𝐫𝐢 𝐑𝐚𝐦 𝟖.𝐒𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝟗.𝐇𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐲𝐚 𝟏𝟎.𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐧 𝟏𝟏.𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐡𝐢𝐥 𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐢 𝟏𝟐.𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐍𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐚 𝟏𝟑.𝐀𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢 𝟏𝟒.𝐒𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐲𝐚 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐮 𝟏𝟓.𝐀𝐝𝐡𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝟏𝟔.𝐘𝐮𝐠 𝟏𝟕,𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐉𝐚𝐢𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐫 𝟏𝟖.𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢 Ananthalwan 𝟏𝟗.𝐑𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧 Don’t miss to watch this 3.5 mins video compilation of their project culmination: Please see our Facebook page for more photographs, like, and share. https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/4900815513278772

Penrickton Center is a private non-profit organization that provides care and support to blind, multi-disabled children and their families.Penrickton Center for Blind Children provides services to families at no charge, and relies entirely on donations from the community. Throughout the year Penrickton Center sends out requests for donations, and invitations to raise funds. VT Seva Detroit volunteers got this opportunity to help them assemble their Mailing Supplies items in envelopes as per their directions for their fund raising purposes. FIRST BATCH MAILING SUPPLIES PROJECT SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED Timeline: May 1st, 2021 to June 5th, 2021 Items Delivered: June 6th, 2021 We received 20 signups within an hour of project release in groups. The mailing supplies were picked up from the Penrickton Center, sorted and organized as 20 kits with 250 counts of each items. The kits were later distributed to volunteers to do at their homes and then to be dropped off before June 5th, 2021. We had 20 youth volunteers who participated in this remote volunteering project. Each volunteers assembled perfectly 250 envelopes with those mailing supplies items provided. On the whole we delivered around 5000 envelopes in this first batch of our Mailing Supplies Project to Penrickton Center for Blind Children. We received lots of appreciations from the Penrickton Center coordinators for this great help by our volunteers since it saves a lot of their time in doing this task before proceeding to their next step of sending these mails to all their donors. Youth volunteers who participated: Aarush Arun; Abhinav Suresh; Ananya Ramanan; Harish Jaishankar ;Ish Niranjan Patel; Ishani; Kaavya Karnati; Karthik Tilak ;Likitha Gidijala;Nikhil Aerabati; Oviya Jaishankar;Rishi Adduri;Rohan Patil; Sai Sahasra; Sai Karnati ;Saisha Srivatsan;Shreya Srivatsan;Shruthi Adduri; Siddharth Tirumala Kanduri; Tarun Rajesh This project was so successful & liked by our Volunteers that many wanted to do more of the mailing supplies. Hence we have brought in the second batch of the supplies from Penrickton Center and we will be executing that as our next remote project for Penrickton Center. SECOND BATCH MAILING SUPPLIES PROJECT Timeline: June 11, 2021 to July 2nd, 2021 After successful completion of FIRST BATCH of Mailing Supplies Project we are ready to go with our SECOND BATCH Mailing Supplies Project. The mailing supplies were picked up from the center on June 6th, 2021. 15 volunteers have already signed up for this second batch project. The supplies will be sorted, organized and will be available as kits to be picked up from our volunteer coordinator residence in Novi. The project kicked off on June 11 and July 1 st will be the due date for kit’s to be dropped off. 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭: 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡, 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐣𝐚, 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢, 𝐇𝐢𝐛𝐚, 𝐑𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐚, 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧, 𝐍𝐢𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧, 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐲, 𝐀𝐦𝐨𝐠𝐡, 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐤𝐚, 𝐊𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐡, 𝐔𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐚, 𝐊𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥 𝐕 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐚, 𝐓𝐞𝐣𝐚 On the whole we delivered around 4000 envelopes in this second batch of our Mailing Supplies Project to Penrickton Center for Blind Children THIRD BATCH MAILING SUPPLIES PROJECT Timeline: June 26, 2021 to July 17, 2021 Due to popularity of this remote project, we reached out to Penrickton for our Third Batch to do more help for them in assembling their mailing supplies. They were kind enough to give more kits for our volunteers to help them. The supplies were picked up on June 24th from Penrickton; the items are sorted and organized as 18 kits ready to be distributed to volunteers. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭: 𝐃𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐚 𝐑, 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐚 ,𝐘𝐮𝐠, 𝐇𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐲𝐚 , 𝐀𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐚𝐠 𝐀𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐭𝐢, 𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐇, 𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐀, 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐯 𝐌, 𝐏𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧, 𝐀𝐫𝐲𝐚, 𝐄𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐚, 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐚, 𝐓𝐞𝐣𝐚𝐬, 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐯 𝐉, 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐯 𝐓, 𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐒, 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢 On the whole we delivered around 4000 envelopes in this second batch of our Mailing Supplies Project to Penrickton Center for Blind Children All the mailing supplies project kits from our 2nd batch project youth volunteers and 3rd batch project youth volunteers all were sorted, organized in bins and were dropped off on July 20,2021 at Penrickton Center, Taylor, MI. On the whole, we did around 13,000 envelopes assembled including our first batch which is simply amazing work We greatly appreciate all above youth volunteer’s awesome work and their parents support to coordinate with me for picking and dropping off their kits on time. We are grateful that Penrickton Center was kind enough to give us 3 times this opportunity to help them in a big way towards their Penrickton Center fundraising efforts to support Blind Children. We are also looking forward to visit their special ed school where their kids goes in Wyandotte sometimes next year once they open up for group visits. We would definitely continue to serve Penrickton Center every year in whatever ways we can. Please see our Facebook page for more photographs, like, and share. FIRST BATCH MAILING SUPPLIES SECOND AND THIRD BATCH MAILING SUPPLIES AS ALWAYS, YOUR SUPPORT IS OUR STRENGTH TO SERVE

Elementary School Public Speaking Public Forum What is Public Forum? 2 teams debate against each other over a topic, called a “resolution” These resolutions are usually policy related What do we teach? Teach Debate Terminology (either separately or whenever we are teaching) Case: Cover CWI Method, Explain Speaking Etiquette, Argument Formation What skills will you learn? With Public Forum being a partner event, you'll surely learn communication, collaboration, and overall teamwork Organization Critical thinking PF will help you better understand vocab, arguments, and crafting essays –through building cases, and rebuttals, and countering your opponent's argument– which will help you on the SAT and in college!!! Lincoln Douglas Extemporaneous Speaking Humorous/Dramatic Interpretation What is HI/DI? This is a speech category in which the competitor will use a script from a book or movie and act it out! Pretty simple right? Well it's not so easy. Here's the catch, you have to be all the actors at the same time using different voice impressions, different body languages, and different attitudes to sell it off and for the story to make sense. What do we teach? We teach you how to control your tone, your pitch, how to improvise, to be more aggressive, to be LESS aggressive and everything else it takes to be a good actor and best of all how to be funny, or how to be dramatic. What skill will you learn These 2 events can greatly build public speaking skills and also confidence in situations under the spotlight It is also a great way to express yourself You can also gain tremendous skills in acting which can help you a long way and can get you into school plays and many more great opportunities! For information on our VT Seva supported Schools for Tribals - Tribal schools | Vtsworld If you would like to pay by Zelle - please transfer using treasurer@vtsworld.org and send the receipt to sanantonio.director@vtsworld.org - The Registration form also accepts PayPal.

This unique program offers a great opportunity for high school students to develop leadership skills and receive guidance from prominent and industry leading experts. This leadership program delivers an excellent learning experience for students to understand and gain perspective in the careers they like to pursue in future. During each session, two guest speakers will share and discuss their experiences in leadership. After a short Q&A with each speaker, the students will be presented with a case study and will have until the next day to solve and present the solutions as a team. Presentations will be judged by a panel based on guidelines that will be shared shortly. Eligibility Criteria: Must be in high school (Grade 9 - 12) Dates: 08/01 - 08/10 Timings: 1 PM - 5PM Total of 40 hrs training Fees: $75 (Fee collected is donated to local charities) Payment link will be shared post registration Thank you so much and we hope to see you soon!

VT Seva (Volunteering Together for Service) is organizing Ra:ga, our annual dance and musical performance festival in Bay Area. We would like to personally invite students of your prestigious school to participate in the event. Due to current Covid restrictions, this will be an online performance event, spread over 4 weekends in September. In 2019, we had 15 schools participate with more than 40 participants ! Why participate ? In 2020- art competition, we had ~19,500 viewers from 23 countries ! ( link to winners is HERE). No other platform provides this wide range of audience from so many countries. In 2019, we had 15 schools participate with more than 40 performers. Scroll down below to view the pictures ! Let's make 2021 a grand success ! Show case your talent as never before to a large audience ! We are connecting with more than 100 schools in and around Bay Area (all the way to Sacramento, Roseville) ! Avail this opportunity to showcase your talent worldwide. Date: September 4, Sept 18, Sept 19, Sept 25 & Sept 26 Timings: 11 am - 3 pm Show your individual talents ! Group performances ! Music, Dance, Vocal - it's a dance and music performance showcase ! Don't miss-out Registration, rules and other details: Rules: Participation is from a dance and music school only (no solo performance from independent candidates, not associated with a school) Please register for the event and each school gets a 30 min time slot for your performances. Ra:ga team will contact you on your allocated time. Once you register, school can decide who can participate and how long the performance will be. Record the performance with your phone in a landscape mode. Ensure participant is in the center of the frame. For group performances, ensure the entire group fits into the frame. Combine all performances in a single file for a total of maximum 1/2 hour. If you have challenges with combining the performances, please send the files and we can combine it for you. Upload the file to a google drive and send us the link. WE will download the file You can have as many performances as you want in the total 1/2 hour slot you have selected. Ra:ga team will work with you on the receipt of the video files after registration Our feed a student program: Each year VT Seva supports both tribal and visually challenged students for free education and free food. Your support via programs like these help us maintain their support and future. We highly encourage you to see the videos below from our schools and colleges in support of this program. Each dollar you donate goes directly to the cause. VT Seva is a non-profit organization run by volunteers. VT Seva in 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. Please contact us for any questions at naatyaraag@gmail.com ThanksRa:ga Team Below is our 2019 live dance and music content ! Below is our 2019 live dance and music content ! March 30, 2019VT Seva Bayarea conducted first Annual Dance and Music contest in Fremont. Event was a grand success with 15 schools and 40 participants around Bay Area to support our cause. 15 Schools, 40 participants ! We had great representation from esteemed judges with nearly 3 decades of experience in BayArea and India. Participants, parents and Judges were spellbound with the event arrangements. We were able to connect to our cause individually with most of the parents/Judges. They appreciated how important the cause is and how critical it is for all of us to be part of such noble cause. All the judges were really excited to make this an annual event and assured us that they would bring many schools around BayArea to make this even more successful in the coming years. See all photos here See all photos here Thank you ! Professional photographs courtesy of Amar Hariharan Tel: 916-941-5592 amars.snaps@gmail.com Professional photos are here: All photos

Date: June 6, 2021 Time: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM What an exciting way to start off our first in-person volunteering outdoors today (06/06/21) by our VT Seva Detroit Volunteers helping in Yard Beautification at Penrickton Center for Blind Children in Taylor, MI. All our volunteers followed the COVID-19 Safety protocols during the entire stay there. Penrickton center has a very beautiful front yard and our volunteers were helping by pulling weeds, raking, edging the grass around driveway areas and finally cleaning the front yard. The center had all the necessary tools and gears to work with volunteers. While all of us were working at the yard, we were also greeted by the 3-mile-long Bikers who were 'Riding for a Reason' in support of the Penrickton Center. There were over 500 Bikers riding through the street outside the Center escorted by the Cops on Motorbikes as well. We were thrilled to wave at them and appreciate their support for the full 10 minutes of their Bike Caravan. We were also given an opportunity to tour their facility by the center coordinator Chelsea. Volunteers were split into 2 groups and were taken inside following all the Covid-19 safety protocols. It was a great opportunity for all of us to see their facility, to know more about the Penrickton Center. It was enriching to learn how they provide great care and support to the visually challenged, multi-disabled children and their families. Chelsea took us through a day in the life of the children at their center. She was kind enough to show us the Kitchen, Bed Rooms, Activity & Therapy Rooms, Educational and Batch rooms that were all adorned with lovely painting on the wall mostly painted by volunteers. Their Childcare Workers & Staff go above & beyond to help teach important Life Skills to the challenged children to make them independent. We were shown a video about the Penrickton Center Children and were so touched seeing those children's faces and hearing their stories. Due to COVID restrictions, we were unable to meet the children this time but they promised us future tours whenever the situations come back to normalcy. Our volunteers could very much relate to the whole experience at the Center since it is very close to what the children go through at VT Seva Nethra Vidyalaya institutions. These are our 13 VT Seva Detroit volunteers who attended today. Youth: Abhinav Suresh; Anand Brijesh; Anirudh Venbakkam; Nikhil Aerabati; Siddharth Tirumala Kanduri; Srihari Hebbar Adults: Asha K Puranam; Gopal Brijesh; Raghunath Aerabati; SrinathBabu Karnati; Sudheer Koppu; Suresh Rajan; Vanitha Gopalan Kudos to all their wonderful help & time. The Scorching sun didn't make them to stop their excitement and all their volunteering spirit. AS ALWAYS, YOUR SUPPORT IS OUR STRENGTH TO SERVE Please check out our Facebook page for more pictures and other news from VT Seva Detroit.

AUGUST 14TH, 2021 from 9:00 AM onwards One of the most awaited Sports events of VT Seva is back in action in 2021. Unfortunately, 2020 turned out to be a complete washout due to the COVID pandemic. What better way to get yourself outdoors than participating in the VT Seva Volleyball & Throwball Tournament benefiting visually challenged children. Please mark your calendar for Aug 14th, 2021 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at Founders Park, Farmington Hills. All proceeds from the event will go towards the education, food, and clothing for visually challenged children of Nethra Vidyalaya. Join us in making this event a successful one either as a Player or an audience. Lunch & beverages will be provided at a nominal price. Register as a Team or an Individual Player by clicking here Rules & Regulations: All Teams/Individual Players must go through the rules & regulations and sign the Waiver Form. COVID Waiver: All participants must submit the COVID Waiver form as well: Please click the link below for the form. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3jfSevzuAIxUG-hlb8aNw_loG4Hob4MbhoZyr5Ls0by2O9A/viewform?fbclid=IwAR07HSVFMBpwcYMOsPEBm-qL6mvSiaPFyJfHVmwhMFByE4rXs3TBXoNnYGU

VT Seva Settle invites you to participate in Virtual Walk-a-thon July 18th - August 14th, 2021. Check out the details and join us. Instructions on How to Register Register & Track Your Progress

VT Seva Bay Area will be conducting a 4 week math and python course from July to August! These classes will contain 8 sessions each that are 1.5 hours. The classes will be taught by our youth volunteers for upcoming 4th to 7th graders. The math course will develop your child’s math skills for the upcoming school year! This course will create a challenging but helpful environment teaching them the introduction to math for their grade. The python course is meant to foster a passion in coding and python in general. The course will teach the introduction to python such as data types, lists, statements, and much more! All proceeds from this course will go towards feeding visually challenged students in India. For one visually challenged student to be provided meals everyday it costs 120 dollars. Our goal is to help provide meals for 50 students! Signing up your kids to our courses will not only help them excel in school but benefit the underprivileged children in India. Please do not hesitate to contact us regarding any questions or concerns!! Sahasra Vellanki: 4084105495 Anvith Konda: anvith.konda@gmail.com

My name is Anoushka Kunder and I am currently a senior at JP Stevens High School in Edison New Jersey. I am very passionate about women's issues. Instead of sitting in silence or virtue signaling on social media, I want to learn more about the economic and social inequities in our society and understand them in a nuanced way. I am particularly interested in delving deeper into the gender biases and the experiences of marginalized women who face discrimination on multiple fronts in the South Asian community. I actively participate and volunteer for several causes surrounding social justice issues, international affairs, and women’s issues. My latest project focuses on the movement to end period poverty, broadly defined as limited access to menstrual hygiene products, including sanitary products, toilets, and waste management. In many regions of the world, women and young girls are unable to afford sanitary products either due to financial hardships or a lack of accessibility. A few years ago, I viewed the Hindi movie "Pad man" highlighting the struggles of an Indian woman from a less fortunate, remote village who was condemned to sit in isolation from her family, eat from separate utensils and use a dirty rag during "that time" of the month. The shame and stigma surrounding periods stems from a lack of education and conversation surrounding the topic. Consequently, I wanted to educate myself and take action, I questioned; Does this happen only in India? Asia? What about the rest of the world? Unfortunately, I discovered that the problem persists in varying degrees all over. In today’s world, period products are considered a privilege to many rather than a basic necessity. A study conducted by U by Kotex reveals that one in four people struggled to purchase female hygiene products due to lack of income. Due to financial hardships one in five women miss work or school since they can’t afford these products. The women associate their periods with shame, disappointment, and depression. According to UNICEF, in India, only 12% of menstruators have access to sanitary products, leaving the rest to use unsafe materials like rags and sawdust as an alternative. After continuing to read up on Arunachalam Muruganantham, the man who inspired the movie “Pad man”, I found that he devised a low-cost machine that could be operated with minimal training and used cost effective natural and sustainable raw material. This machine allowed for new jobs to be produced, household income for many women, and affordable pads to enable many more women to live their livelihood during menstruation. The project - Drawing inspiration from Arunachalam’s model, I put forth a project proposal to VT Seva Mahila Arogya Vikas that involves manufacturing sanitary products in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India. In this place, we intend to procure raw materials, employ underprivileged women, and train them to operate the machines to manufacture and package sanitary napkins. These low cost (or free) sanitary napkins will be distributed to women in local slums and surrounding villages. Overall, this model offers livelihood, hygiene, dignity, and empowerment to women using a sustainable business framework. I truly want to thank VT Seva for believing and supporting the vision and guiding me through the process. Through this project, I hope to spread awareness on this issue, destigmatize periods, and genuinely make a change. If possible, we’d love it if you could donate to help us achieve our mission. Your support is crucial!

VT Seva Detroit Youth Board had a busy 2nd quarter. The team implemented 3 projects which were initiated by 3 Youth Board Members. ● Eco-Conscious Project ● Mother’s Day Greeting Card Project ● Father’s Day Greeting Card Project In addition to that, they celebrated their 2nd year anniversary with lots of live and recorded entertainment programs and a live game. ECO – Conscious Project: Since 1970, 𝑬𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝑫𝒂𝒚 has been celebrated to educate about and activate environmental awareness. The 𝑽𝑻 𝑺𝒆𝒗𝒂 𝑫𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝑩𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 joined this movement by learning about and creating awareness for the need to take care of our earth through our 𝑬𝒄𝒐-𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕. 24 Youth Board Members came together and exhibited their creativity and talent in creating media content towards environmental awareness This project was initiated by the youth board members Harish & Oviya. They've created videos, infographics, cartoons, comics... to persuade the public to be environmentally aware. Their creations have been posted on VT-Seva Detroit Facebook each day for the whole month of April 2021. 3 Projects conducted by the Youth Board in the 1st quarter of 2021 also reflected the need of 3R's Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. "𝑹𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒃𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓" "𝑹𝒆𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑭𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒆" "𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒚𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅" One youth Board member Oviya reached out to her school to promote the 3R's campaign. She put together a video with the tips to follow 3R's which was played in her school TV's on the hallways for the whole day on Earth Day. Overall the Youth Board members learned a lot through this project and started following those tips in their everyday life and promoted it to the rest of the world too. Youth Board Members who participated in this project are Abhinav, Amogh, Anand, Eashan, Harish, Hiba, Nikhil, Varun, Nirvan, Oviya, Rishi, Rohan, Saisha, Sanjana, Shreya, Sanjit, Sathvik, Shruthi, Siddharth, Srihari A, Supraja, Tarun, Yasaswini, Yug Eco-Conscious project video created by Youth Board Member: Eesha Mother’s Day Greeting Card Project: 𝑴𝑨:𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑼 𝑫𝑬:𝑽𝑶: 𝑩𝑯𝑨𝑽𝑨 Revere your Mother as god 𝑯𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆!!! “𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒑, 𝒏𝒐 𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆, 𝒏𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒔.”—𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐨𝐧 The VT Seva Detroit Youth Board celebrated Mother's Day with the mothers in senior centers in Livonia, MI. 44 volunteers came together and created 163 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. 44 Youth Board Members who worked on this project are Abhinav, Adhvaith, Aishani, Anagha, Anand,Ananya R, Anjana, Anurag, Arya, Dhanya, Eashan, Harish, Hiba, Ishani, Kaavya, Neha, Niharika, Nikhil A, Nikhil S, Nirvan, Oviya, Pranav T, Rashmita, Risha, Rishi, Rohan, Sahasra, Sai Sriram, Sanjith, Sathvik, Shrikha, Shriya, Shruthi, Siddharth, Srihari A, Srihari H, Sravya, Supraja, Sveya, Tarun, Teja, Tanvi, Shruthi & Sanaa. They brought smiles to 163 wonderful moms from these 3 senior centers and made Mother's day special for them. Father’s Day Greeting Card Project: 𝑷𝑰𝑻𝑹𝑯𝑼 𝑫𝑬:𝑽𝑶: 𝑩𝑯𝑨𝑽𝑨 Revere your Dad as god 𝑯𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒅𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆!!! "𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 " - 𝑷𝒂𝒎 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 The VT Seva Detroit Youth Board celebrated Fathers's Day with the dads in 3 senior centers in Livonia, MI. 44 volunteers came together and created 77 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. 44 Youth Board members who participated on this project are Aishani, Anagha, Anand,Ananya R, Anjana, Anurag, Arya, Dhanya, Eashan, Harish, Hiba, Ishani, Kaavya, Neha, Niharika, Nikhil A, Nikhil S, Nirvan, Oviya, Pranav T, Rashmita, Risha, Rishi, Rohan, Sahasra, Sai Sriram, Sanjith, Sathvik, Shrikha, Shriya, Shruthi, Siddharth, Srihari A, Srihari H, Sravya, Supraja, Sveya, Tarun, Teja, Tanvi, Shruthi & Sanaa. They brought a smile to 77 wonderful dads from these 3 senior centers and made Fathers day special for them. Greeting card project video created by Youth Board Member: Sai Sahasra Please review VT Seva Detroit Facebook for more details on these events. https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/4639396279420698 [Mother's day] https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/4767373989956259 [Father's day] 2nd Anniversary Celebrations: The VT Seva Detroit Youth Board celebrated our 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 with an evening of family, fun, and festivity! We all met virtually and reminisced about many of the amazing volunteering events that the youth board has run over the past two years. Many of our talented youth board members then graced us with dance and song, showing off their special skills to all their peers in celebration of two years of service. We kicked off the program with a rendition of 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗸𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗯𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗯𝗮, followed by 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘃𝗶𝗸'𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗮 𝗱𝘂𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗵𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗼. Next came 𝗥𝗮𝗴𝗵𝘂𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶 𝗥𝗮𝗴𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗮 𝗥𝗮𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗯𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗿𝗮 on her violin. The 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗨𝗦𝗔 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗠𝗿. 𝗞𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗮, delivered a motivational speech to all the youth board members, encouraging them to continue their service. A big thank you to Kiran ji for his encouraging words! Our youth board members 𝗞𝗮𝗮𝘃𝘆𝗮, 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵, 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵, 𝗔𝗯𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘃, 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗷𝗮𝗻𝗮, 𝗢𝘃𝗶𝘆𝗮, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗶𝗸𝗵𝗶𝗹 recapped many of the community service projects that the youth board has run over the past two years. Next, 𝗢𝘃𝗶𝘆𝗮 performed a Bollywood dance to the song 𝗥𝗮𝗷𝘄𝗮𝗱𝗶 𝗢𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶, followed by 𝗞𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗵'𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗲𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗮 𝗥𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮. Our 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿, 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗮 𝗝𝗶, gave us all a presentation about future events for RAAS 2021, an annual fundraising event run by VT Seva Detroit to support the Netra Vidyalaya schools for the visually challenged and tribal students. Her presentation was succeeded by two incredible instrumental performances! 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘃 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝗴𝗵𝗶 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻 and 𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝘆𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘅𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗷 𝗝𝗶, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿, gave a guest speech, congratulating our youth volunteers on all their accomplishments and encouraging them to keep volunteering. A live performance of 𝗢𝗸𝗲𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗻𝘂𝘃𝗮𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗶 came after these guest speeches. 𝗛𝗶𝗯𝗮 then performed a dance to 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘆𝗮, followed by 𝗨𝗱𝗮𝘆𝗮'𝘀 playing of 𝗩𝗮𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗺 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱. Our 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿, 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗝𝗶, came on and spoke about future projects for our youth board. 𝗞𝗮𝗮𝘃𝘆𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗷𝗮𝗻𝗮 then led a fun 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝘁 for all the attendees! Everyone was given the same list of 19 household items and two minutes to gather as many as possible. It was incredibly amusing and engaging! The 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗨𝗦𝗔 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆, 𝗦𝘂𝗱𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝗶, gave us all an amazing speech recognizing all of the youth board's efforts and inspiring us to keep on giving back to their community. To finish off the night, the𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗝𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗝𝗶 delivered a vote of thanks and a wrap-up to the fun-filled night! Additional Projects: In addition to the youth board-initiated projects, Youth Board members participated in Toy drive, Penrickton Mailing Supplies Project, Gardening help for Crossroads Community Garden, Yard beautification help for Penrickton Center. Blog Consolidated by Youth Board Member: Oviya

“To plant a seed is to believe in tomorrow” - Audrey Hepburn Seeds for Tomorrow is an eco-fundraiser intended to not only support our local charities and businesses but also inspire our community to take up gardening and protect the environment. Our VT Seva volunteers are playing a vital role in this project by nurturing seeds into plants until they are mature enough to go to different homes and inspire service in the community. With the funds raised, we are supporting various charities and businesses in Austin. By inspiring our community to support our environment, we are helping to eliminate the use of chemicals, plastic packaging, and other toxins that pollute our earth. The versatility of plants allows for them to not only provide us food but to serve as bioplastic, medicine, paper, habitats, dyes, and much more! Knowing all that our earth has provided us to live every day with ease, and encouraging our community to preserve our earth is the least we can do to show our gratitude. Thank you to all of our volunteers who are taking part in this project and we hope to see more of you step forward and join this amazing cause! Lokavya Marreddy VTSeva Austin

Attention all Dance & Music Enthusiasts! The Austin VT Seva youth board is conducting a virtual musical event Beats For A Cause from Aug 6th-8th to support women in local and international communities facing cancer. This event is a chance for you to showcase your talents while supporting these incredible causes: The Breast Cancer Resource Center (BCRC), Austin VTS-Bharath Women’s Health Care COVID-19 Relief Aid in India. A diagnosis of breast cancer changes one’s life in an instant. BCRC strives to empower those affected by breast cancer with personalized support and compassion to help ease the path to recovery. BCRC envisions a future where no one has to face breast cancer alone. VT Seva has been instrumental in providing free health, cancer awareness camps, and served over 1 million women in India. How can you help? Showcase your talents for this event and fundraise as an academy or individual participant Music / Dance Schools & Individuals Who Would like to support by fundraising, please sign up here. REGISTER HERE If you are a director and are signing up your music/dance academy, we will provide the registration form to track your students' participation. (Send us your logo) and a fundraiser campaign link you can socialize among your contacts. If you are signing up as an individual participant, or would like to host a campaign to raise funds, you will be provided with a personalized fundraising link. Individual Participants - Showcase your talents for this event If you are an individual performer and want to participate, please register using the link below. The registration fee is $25 as an individual participant who is not fundraising. Individual Participants, please sign up here If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out using the contact information in the flyer above We thank the following Volunteers and the Music/Dance Academies for supporting this cause! Donate Want to join us in supporting the causes, please support by clicking the “Donate Here” button below. We thank you for your support!

VT Seva Detroit Youth Board 1st Walkathon VT Seva Detroit Youth Board is conducting its first-ever walkathon from June 19, 2021 - July 31, 2021. In-Person Finale Walkathon will be conducted in Shiawasee Park, Farmington on July 31, 2021. The detail will be shared later. Start the summer break by being healthy and support 2 causes. Our Bharath needs our support more than ever for the COVID-19 relief activities. 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 VTS-Bharath COVID-19 Relief Activities in India and 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: http://bit.ly/VTSDetYBWalkathonTeamLeadSignup You can have your own team and motivate your team members to walk every day and stay healthy by registering in our Walkathon. Walkathon Registration Link: vtwalk.org We had a kickoff meeting on June 18, 2019. Many parents and youths participated in the kickoff meeting. Many youths signed up as Team Lead, come join us and support two different causes by being healthy.

Four youth volunteers from Dallas learnt about the hardships people are going through in India during COVID-19 second wave and extend their support for the relief aid. Lets learn in their own words: We, Krishna Charugundla (7th grade), Samanvita Meka (7th grade), Devayani Nagabhushan (7th grade), and Ram Bonthala (9th grade) live in Frisco and Plano, Texas. We have worked together and formed a bake sale to raise money for VT SEVA. We worked for one week and were able to donate $ 1000+. The cause of this bake sale was to raise money for the families that have been struck with the 2nd wave of Covid-19 and have been struggling and didn’t have the money to finance their treatment and other basic needs. How We Did It ? To do the bake sale we had to prepare a flyer explaining our cause, what we are selling, and our delivering date. We prepared an Excel sheet for taking orders. That night we took these items and went from door to door asking people to support us by purchasing our baked goods. This was repeated for the next two days (~50 times). Once finished we were finally able to start baking! We made lots and lots of batter and icing, after two days we started building an excessive amount of boxes and finished this step by packing the cupcakes and icing them. The next day we went out in the scorching hot sun to deliver a few and then the dripping rain! Finally, we came home knowing that in the past week we did something helpful to society! Why We Did It ? Helping others is something that makes people happy, and aiding people through a bake sale is what made us happy. All the steps to earn our money brought us all closer together. With the money we earned we are able to donate it to kids and their families who have been affected by the Covid - 19 second wave in India. By doing this we knew that we would be giving back to those in need, and this made us feel good. Our motivation for this act was to help people that needed support, and to help others to get back to living a healthy lifestyle. The whole process was something that taught each of us to give back to the community. The whole bake sale had lots of positives like serving the community, and growing closer! Conclusion All in all, this entire experience was so fun as we were able to volunteer for such a noble cause. The people that we met and the entire process was very enjoyable. Though the scorching sun and pouring rain was not very fun to put up against, we had to make sacrifices for the greater good. At one point, when we were delivering cupcakes, a lawn mower working in our neighborhood curiously came up to us and asked what we were selling. After we told him our cause and purpose of the bake sale, he bought a few cupcakes. The worker's curiosity and eagerness to help made us realize that we have to work together to fight this pandemic. Thank you to VT SEVA for bringing together today's youth to work together to help people struggling back in India and for this wonderful opportunity to put together this fun bake sale. Lemonade Stand: Taking their siblings as an inspiration, the little siblings Dhanwin, Tulsai and Abhiram wanted to do something to help India fighting COVID-19 second wave. They conducted a neighborhood lemonade sale and were able to raise $ 150 which they wanted to donate towards COVID-19 Relief Aid as well. They offered four varieties of lemonade which was appreciated and supported by the neighbors in the community. Learn more about VT Seva's ongoing relief aid activities - at https://www.vtsworld.org/post/supportindia and join us in supporting the activities.

About 100 VT Seva Dallas Youngsters are volunteering to lend their voices to empower the visually challenged by participating in "Lend Your Voice" (LYV) project to compile an audio library. More details on the program can be obtained by joining one of the two sessions: Session 1 - Monday, 7/14/2021 - 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM CST : https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZTU1NDJlZjItYzIzOC00YjkzLTk2ZDUtYWM4MDJlM2Y4ZDYx%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22d95e877d-e6c0-40c4-ab50-499cdece63d4%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22ff6d3b58-e9ba-465b-a9fc-55b639f69356%22%7d Session 2 - Tuesday, 7/15/2021 - 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM CST : https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZDA3M2JjZjQtMThlNC00ZmQ4LWFjODMtODE3MjUzOTFlYzgx%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22d95e877d-e6c0-40c4-ab50-499cdece63d4%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22ff6d3b58-e9ba-465b-a9fc-55b639f69356%22%7d

VT Seva Cary will be hosting a 3-week long summer exploration to further augment education skills and help prepare students for the upcoming year. Classes will be available for ages in Kindergarten till 8th grade and will be taught by VT SEVA Volunteers! Mentioned below are the subjects that will be taught throughout the duration of the 3-week exploration: Mathematics English Science History Spanish Writing Python (programming) Art Music Theory Chess Classes will be held online from July 12, 2021, to July 30, 2021. Classes will be on Monday to Friday from 10 AM - 5 PM -Morning classes are from 10 am to 12 pm -Lunch Break: 12 pm - 1 pm -Evening Classes are from 1 pm - 5 pm Please do not hesitate to contact us regarding any questions or concerns!! Kalyani Sanka: 804-334-3117 Narasimha Tirunagari: 732-986-0596 Thank you kindly for your interest and consideration towards the Summer Exploration! We look forward to seeing you in July!

Sanjana Chada from Alabama is getting ready for her Arangetram on July 24th, 2021 and she intends to support Visually Challenged students from Schools supported by VT Seva. VT Seva appreciates her kindness in supporting the great cause through her art form and wishes her the very best! Let's know more about Sanjana and her wonderful journey in her own words. Hi, my name is Sanjana Chada, and I am currently a rising junior at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. I have been learning Bharatanatyam for seven years with Guru Smt. Sheila Rubin at Natyananda School of Dance. Bharatanatyam is a dance form that emphasizes on Indian culture and history, as well as the dancer's emotions. This put forward an opportunity for me to delve deeper into my own culture in order to learn about different stories expressed in the art form. My fascination towards Bharatanatyam began at an early age when I came across different photographs of my mom’s dance performances; since then, the poses and gestures piqued my interest. The precise hand and foot movements, as well as the coordination of the dance, further enhanced my interest. At age 8, I was able to follow my passion for dancing by beginning classes under the guidance of Smt. Sheila Rubin, my Guru. Ever since, I have had the opportunity to perform with my fellow dancers at a number of events over the last few years. I have learned the value of perseverance and patience from my years of practice, which will help me with my upcoming arangetram preparations. An Arangetram is similar to a graduation ceremony in which the dancer has completed their initial training and will proceed further. I am blessed and thankful to have come this far and hope to continue on my path. I first learned about VT Seva through my dad who had previously donated to help the visually impaired. As their purpose became more apparent to me, I hoped to contribute and be a part of it as well. Bharatanatyam is an art form that also incorporates music. Music is recognized as the universal language and everyone can use it to express themselves. This art should be shared among different people, so I would like to contribute to the Netra Vidyalaya School, which provides education and access to various types of training for the visually and physically challenged. My belief is that everyone deserves equal opportunities and access to various types of training that might assist them in education, art, and life skills. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. Learn More about Netra Vidyalaya -Schools for Visually Challenged. Join Sanjana to support Visually Challenged Students

He that plants trees loves others besides himself. - Dr Thomas Fuller Starting in February, Seattle VT Seva youth group began the Eco-Fundraiser “Plant it for the Planet” project. This project had an amazing impact on our environment and also helped India fight COVID-19. With the help of VTS youth volunteers from Seattle, we were able to raise a total of $2500+ to help India’s COVID relief efforts. As part of this project, youth volunteers all signed up to grow a diverse number of vegetable plants at home. Each volunteer nurtured and grew their organic plants for several weeks. After these vegetable plants were ready to be planted outside, we held an event in Sammamish, Washington where we set up a tent with 100+ plants. People passing by our tent were amazed by the dedication and hard work our youth members put into growing these plants. They picked up plants they wanted for their spring garden and in return, they donated an amount to help with India’s COVID-19 efforts. This project wasn’t only focused on raising money but another goal we had was to raise awareness about our earth. By encouraging everyone to grow vegetables at home, we are helping eliminate the use of chemicals, plastic packaging and machinery. In the end, preserving our own earth is the least we can give back for everything our planet has given us! The eco-fundraiser was absolutely an amazing project that many dedicated youth volunteers were able to take part in and make it a success. Thank you to all the volunteers who took part in this great initiative in not only raising funds but also creating awareness in community about the planet. Thank you, Sumedha Kanumuri VTSEVA Seattle

Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. - Martin Luther King Jr Every year VT Seva as a token of appreciation announces Presidential Service awards for the great work the volunteers do as during the year. We would like to introduce the winners from VT Seva Cary and a small intro in their own words. Ms Srichandrika Changalvala Active volunteer for the past 2 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Creativity and organization Year-round volunteer In Srichandrika's Own words - " I love the artistic side of VT Seva! Especially when we have our monthly meetings where we get to see our volunteers virtually and I get to make colorful presentations. I think the biggest way I impacted the community is through our card projects or something small like those activities. Although we aren’t able to donate thousands of dollars, we are able to give what matters most: gratitude and love! For 2021 I hope to work and plan more activities to involve out volunteers, especially as Covid-19 dies down." Mr Ashrith Desu Active volunteer for the past 3 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Leadership, communication, focus Year-round volunteer In Ashrith's Own words - "During my years with VT Seva, I have learned a lot about how our small help causes a greater impact on the community. So far, I have volunteered at many places, such as food banks, marathons, and even helped set up events online. I have learned to be grateful, determined, and hard-working from volunteering with VT Seva. Doing something small, like packaging food at food banks, will help many people in need get food and stay healthy. Setting up virtual events, such as Happy Hour, will help volunteers spend time with others and have a little fun during this time. Volunteering gave me the ability to serve the community, make new friends, and help people in many ways. In 2021, I wish to help many people around me and serve the community. " Mr Thanuj Desu Active volunteer for the past 3 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Graphic Design, Communication Skills and Writing Skills Year-round volunteer In Thanuj's Own words - "Over the past few years, I have worked on many projects with the VT Seva Cary Youth Board and all the other volunteers that work with VT Seva Cary. One of my favorite experiences from volunteering with VT Seva was the VT Seva Cary Summer Camp that was conducted last summer. In this camp, I was able to teach Scratch and Python to middle school and elementary school students. This camp helped me in multiple ways, from introducing me to teaching, improving my organization skills, and even helping me find a potential career path. For 2021, I hope to improve on my personal skills and volunteer in more events (hopefully in person). I want to try and have a larger role within VT Seva Cary, and I want to make a larger impact on my community." Ms Neeraja Boppana Active volunteer for the past 3 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Teaching , violinist Year-round volunteer In Neeraja's Own words - "I have had a wonderful time working with VT Seva and I have been able to give back to the community. I have been able to spend my time doing something that I will never regret and that will help a lot of people. I have been able to go to the food bank and package different types of food like fruit, veggies, and pasta to give to people who need it. I have also been able to do Adopt-A-Highway which is a program where you adopt a highway and you have to take care of it and clean it. I have been able to go to trash clean ups to make the environment cleaner and have less litter and pollution. Some of my goals of 2021 is to try to volunteer more than I did last year." Ms.Dhriti Koneru Active volunteer for the past 6 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Leadership and Compassion Year-round volunteer In Dhriti's Own words - "Everything that I experienced from Vt Seva helped me with other projects and opportunities that came along the way, being in this amazing group taught me leadership, compassion, and to always have determination. My goals for 2021 is to choose one big project and do it all year long." Ms Manasvi Gudibandi Active volunteer for the past 1.5 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Leadership and team work Year-round volunteer In Manasvi's Own words - "My experiences with VT Seva have been very eye opening and have changed me as a person. In 2020 I participated in teaching in a summer camp. I think that my services have impacted the community in a positive way. I believe that I have made a difference, even if it is a small one. My goals for 2021 are to work on new and innovative projects such as the toy drive I am participating in, and to help the community as much as possible." Ms Rohitha sanka Active volunteer for the past 8 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Communication, flexibility, persistence Year-round volunteer In Rohitha's Own words - "My services impacted the community by not only locally but throughout the world. When I first took up my bike riding project, I started reflecting. I realized that through the activities provided I could create myself an advantage of benefitting me as well as my community. From making food bags to plucking weed, VT Seva has taught me more than basic life skills. My goals not only consists of leading my fellow volunteers but to bring an emphasis of how volunteering can change ones life. I want to use the skills I learned to gather a diverse group of volunteers in 2021." Ms Mahathi Mallela Active volunteer for the past 2 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Leadership, Problem solving Year-round volunteer In Mahathi's Own words - "My experience and leadership significantly augmented while volunteering with VT Seva. Knowing that your service at events like the FS Series helped give nourishment and encouragement to the runners is enough to continue doing such events in the winter. Additionally, it is very beautiful when racers or the event organizers thank us for our efforts. Another event that gave me a few interpersonal skills would be the VT Seva Summer Booth-camp, where we tutored elementary and middle school children. I tutored Spanish for elementary and middle school children. It was an amazing experience to see how engaging and interested these children were to learn Spanish. Overall, the feedback from parents is enough to do such event again. I hope that in the 2021 year I am able to do such event again." Ms Sribhaavita Nekkalapudi Active volunteer for the past 10 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Social skills, Artistic skills, Drumming, Robotics, Graphic design Year-round volunteer In Sribhaavita's Own words - "VT Seva has always encouraged me to volunteer. I have been learning how to get creative and branch out in my volunteering activities. Last year, I took on the initiative of stitching over 150 masks for a local senior center near my home. Even though this was a small gesture, the staff and residents at the senior center were thankful as they were in short supply of masks at the time. This motivated me to keep doing more. In 2021, I have set a goal to take up a few volunteering initiatives that will help my community." Ms Lakshmikrutica Annugu Active volunteer for the past 3 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Organization, problem solving, teamwork, leadership skills Year-round volunteer In Lakshmikrutica's Own words - "I loved organizing at kramden. I also like sorting food at food banks. This year I would like to help contribute more time in helping the community. I would like to help more people through my volunteering." Mr Srinivas Tirunagari Active volunteer for the past 3 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Leadership,communication, time management Year-round volunteer In Srinivas's Own words - "For the past 2 years, we at VTSEVA did a lot. I am grateful to be apart of some of the things that we did. In the summer we did a summer camp virtually and it was a lot of fun. We got to spend our time with kids and they helped us with a better understanding of how to work with kids. In the food drive, we went to the house of the people who registered and we took food from them and gave it to the community and people who needed it. My goal for next year is to make a bigger impact in my community and aim to get the silver medal." Mr Manaskrishna Annugu Active volunteer for the past 5 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Being Flexible, Determination/Persistence and managing my time well. Year-round volunteer In ManasKrishna's Own words - " Through volunteering at Kramden I was able to fix and refurbish computers that were then given to those in need. When I was volunteering Adopt-A-Highway I was able to help make the community streets be clean and prevent materials from polluting the bodies of water in our community. With the Save Mother Earth project I was able to spread the awareness on climate change. When I was volunteering at food banks I was able to help those who were financially struggling and needed good food. One of my goals for 2021 is to be able to contribute more back into the community than what I had done in previous years. " Ms Ishani Dasyam Active volunteer for the past 2 years & raised awareness and funds for all the service of the organization. Acquired skills: Collaboration and Writing Skills Year-round volunteer In Ishani's Own words - "I've had a lot of different experiences in VTSeva, there's a wide range of volunteering opportunities, so you get a different perspective and experience whatever you do. One of my favorite experiences over my years was cleaning and taking apart computers at Kramden. Kramden is an institute that collects and refurbishes computers, to award them to families with no computers in their homes. Due to the actions of us volunteers, we were able to help hundreds of families gain access to computers, and we will continue to do so. My goals for 2021 are to take more initiative in starting my own volunteering projects, and become more of a leader." Congratulations to all the winners!!

The VT Seva Detroit Youth Board celebrated our 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 with an evening of family, fun, and festivity! We all met virtually and reminisced about many of the amazing volunteering events that the youth board has run over the past two years. Many of our talented youth board members then graced us with dance and song, showing off their special skills to all their peers in celebration of two years of service. We kicked off the program with a rendition of 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗸𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗯𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗯𝗮, followed by 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘃𝗶𝗸'𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗮 𝗱𝘂𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗵𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗼. Next came 𝗥𝗮𝗴𝗵𝘂𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶 𝗥𝗮𝗴𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗮 𝗥𝗮𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗯𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗿𝗮 on her violin. The 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗨𝗦𝗔 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗠𝗿. 𝗞𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗮, delivered a motivational speech to all the youth board members, encouraging them to continue their service. A big thank you to Kiran ji for his encouraging words! Our youth board members 𝗞𝗮𝗮𝘃𝘆𝗮, 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵, 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵, 𝗔𝗯𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘃, 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗷𝗮𝗻𝗮, 𝗢𝘃𝗶𝘆𝗮, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗶𝗸𝗵𝗶𝗹 recapped many of the community service projects that the youth board has run over the past two years. Next, 𝗢𝘃𝗶𝘆𝗮 performed a Bollywood dance to the song 𝗥𝗮𝗷𝘄𝗮𝗱𝗶 𝗢𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶, followed by 𝗞𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗵'𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗲𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗮 𝗥𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮. Our 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿, 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗮 𝗝𝗶, gave us all a presentation about future events for RAAS 2021, an annual fundraising event run by VT Seva Detroit to support the Nethravidyalya schools for the visually challenged and tribal students. Her presentation was succeeded by two incredible instrumental performances! 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘃 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝗴𝗵𝗶 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻 and 𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝘆𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘅𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗷 𝗝𝗶, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿, gave a guest speech, congratulating our youth volunteers on all their accomplishments and encouraging them to keep volunteering. A live performance of 𝗢𝗸𝗲𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗻𝘂𝘃𝗮𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗶 came after these guest speeches. 𝗛𝗶𝗯𝗮 then performed a dance to 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘆𝗮, followed by 𝗨𝗱𝗮𝘆𝗮'𝘀 playing of 𝗩𝗮𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗺 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱. Our 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿, 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗝𝗶, came on and spoke about future projects for our youth board. 𝗞𝗮𝗮𝘃𝘆𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗷𝗮𝗻𝗮 then led a fun 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝘁 for all the attendees! Everyone was given the same list of 19 household items and two minutes to gather as many as possible. It was incredibly amusing and engaging! The 𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗨𝗦𝗔 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆, 𝗦𝘂𝗱𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝗶, gave us all an amazing speech recognizing all of the youth board's efforts and inspiring us to keep on giving back to their community. To finish off the night, the𝗩𝗧 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗝𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗝𝗶 delivered a vote of thanks and a wrap-up to the fun-filled night! Please check out our Youth Board performances during the celebration VT Seva Detroit YouthBoard 2nd Year Anniversary Videos - YouTube INVITATION VT Seva Detroit commenced Youth Board on 5/19/19. Yay! It's time to celebrate the 2nd anniversary. Come join us to celebrate this Friday, 5/28/21 at 7:30 PM From day 1 our Youth Board members are actively participating in the events and keep growing in strength. Join us to learn about their achievements and their future plans. There is no celebration without entertainment, our Youth Board members are going to perform live entertainment and some recorded acts. Songs, Instruments, Dance all are in line for entertainment. Please join us to have a fun-filled evening. Feel free to invite your family and friends. All are Welcome!!! Meeting Link: http://bit.ly/VTSDetYB2ndAnniversary YOUR SUPPORT IS OUR STRENGTH TO SERVE For More Details VT SEVA Volunteer Opportunities: Vanitha, Detroit.volunteercoordinator@vtsworld.org/ 248-227-3094 VT SEVA Youth Board Membership: Priya: Detroit.youthdirector@vtsworld.org / 313-529-0824 To become VT SEVA Member: Srinath : Detroit.director@vtsworld.org / 949-232-9477

VT Seva Detroit is organizing a soccer tournament, on July 18th, 2021 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 visually challenged in India such as Nethra Vidyalaya. These schools provide higher education to visually challenged students and enable them to be independent supporting themselves and their families financially. Date: July 18th at 11:30 AM 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 to support a great cause while enjoying a fun tournament. Come join us and play for a cause. For more details, please contact: Suresh: 734-612-4961 Venkat: 313-587-8011 For volunteering opportunities, please contact: Vanitha: 248-227-3094 If you would like to sponsor for the event 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 We request you to review the following consent forms, fill COVID-19 Waiver form and acknowledge the same in registration form. VTSEVA DETROIT SOCCER TOURNAMENT LIABILITY WAIVER FORM Participant Waiver & Liability Agreement I understand that there are risks associated with playing all sports and field-related activities. In consideration for the privilege to use the Novi Total Sports facility and/or attend the VTSEVA Detroit Soccer tournament, my participation indicates that I assume the risk of any injuries that myself or my children/wards may sustain while participating in any VTSEVA sponsored sports activity and for any injuries which myself or my children/wards may sustain while on the premises of Total Sports, Novi. I assure that I am or my child is physically and mentally able to participate in physical activities and have been examined by a licensed medical physician within one (1) year prior to attending this clinic/camp. By registering for the tournament, I am signing this Waiver and Liability Agreement. I acknowledge that I HAVE READ AND FULLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO ALL OF ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS INCLUDING PERMISION TO TREAT AGREEMENT. I further state that I have executed this waiver and liability voluntarily and with full knowledge of its significance to be binding on my, my heirs, executors, administrators and assigns. VT SEVA DETROIT COVID-19 SPORTS EVENTS WAIVER FORM Please fill the online waiver form for each participant: COVID-19 WAIVER FORM

VT Seva Detroit: Yard Beautification Help & Facilities Tour at Penrickton Center for Blind Children. After a year & half long hiatus since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, VT SEVA Detroit is organizing the first in-person outdoor volunteering event with all COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS as per the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) & Volunteering Organization Safety Guidelines. About Penrickton Center: Penrickton Center is a private non-profit organization that provides care and support to blind, multi-disabled children and their families. Penrickton Center for Blind Children provides services to families at no charge and relies entirely on donations from the community. Yard Beautification Help & Facilities Tour 1. Yard Beautification: The center has a very beautiful front yard and our volunteers will be helping Penrickton Center to beautify their yard by pulling weeds, raking, edging the grass around driveway areas, beautifying the flower beds, etc. The center will be providing the necessary tools and gears to work with volunteers. 2. Facilities Tour: The center coordinator will take our entire group of volunteers to tour their facility as well during our stay there. It would be a great opportunity for all of us to see their facility & to know more about the Penrickton Center and how it provides care and support to blind, multi-disabled children and their families. NOTE: ALL VOLUNTEERS NEED TO FOLLOW THE COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS AT ALL TIMES DURING THEIR STAY AT PENRICKTON CENTER. 1. COVID-19 WAIVER FORM WILL BE SENT THROUGH WHATSAPP TO BE SUBMITTED DIGITALLY 2. SIGN-UP REGISTRATION FORM AT THE EARLIEST TO HOLD YOUR SPOT. (First-come, first-serve basis) VENUE: 26530 Eureka Rd, Taylor, MI 48180 DATE: JUNE 6th, 2021 TIME: 1 pm to 4 pm. NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS: 20 MAX (8 ADULTS, 12 YOUTH); YOUTH AGE 14 AND ABOVE. VOLUNTEERS WILL RECEIVE 3 HRS AS SERVICE HOURS. Your Support is our Strength to Serve for more details on how to get involved on VT SEVA Detroit Volunteering Projects Please contact : Vanitha : Detroit.volunteercoordinator@vtsworld.org/ 248-227-3094 Priya : Detroit.youthdirector@vtsworld.org / 313-529-0824 Srinath : Detroit.director@vtsworld.org / 949-232-9477

Just like the seedlings that grow into big plants and bear fruits and vegetables, we wish that the dreams of the kids at Netra Vidyalaya will also be successful and fruitful. We hope and pray that we get more of such opportunities to serve and contribute in the future. Once again, big thanks to VT Seva for all the support and encouragement throughout the project. We are Aduri sisters - Meghana Aduri (7th grade) and Keerthana Aduri (4th grade) from Dallas, Texas. With the help, support and encouragement from VT Seva, we started the "Seedlings for Education" initiative in January 2021 with the goal of sponsoring 3D science models to our brothers and sisters at Netra Vidyalaya School in Vizag, AP, India. WHY WE DID WHAT WE DID: After we came to know about the challenges faced by the students at Netra Vidyalaya in pursuing education in the field of sciences, we decided to do something from our part to help them. We discussed various options with our parents and came up with the idea of growing seedlings, esp Indian vegetable seedlings as many in the community take very good care of the vegetable plants that they grow every year and we related that to taking care of the needs of the kids. Seedlings for Education initiative would not only benefit in raising funds to sponsor the 3D models, but it will also encourage and help kids, volunteers and sponsors grow more plants which will have a positive impact on our environment. HOW WE DID: We did not think that we were growing seedlings, but we considered each of the seed that we sowed as a dream and aspiration of the kids at Netra Vidyalaya and we have put in all our time and efforts to take utmost care of them. It was our first experience to grow seedlings, but the motivation behind the cause to help the kids inspired us to go ahead with this massive project. We had more than 100 volunteers registered for the initial phase when the initiative was announced, which was very encouraging and overwhelming. We grew about 2000 seedlings in our house in 3 phases of 500, 1000 and 500 each. We talked to these seedlings daily, watered them and played music for them - just like a mother that takes care of her baby. We were amazed and excited to see how the seedlings responded and grew into healthy saplings within few weeks. At about 3 weeks’ time after sprouting, during the first week of March, we handed over these dreams and aspirations to the VT Seva Dallas volunteer coordinators who in turn distributed them to other volunteers, friends and family members so that they can take care of them and donate them to raise funds for the cause. We are excited to inform that we far exceeded our own expectations for the first year of the initiative. We raised more than $5300 from the project and these funds would go a long way in providing the required 3D science models to the kids at Netra Vidyalaya. Just like the seedlings that grow into big plants and bear fruits and vegetables, we wish that the dreams of the kids at Netra Vidyalaya will also be successful and fruitful. We hope and pray that we get more of such opportunities to serve and contribute in the future. Once again, big thanks to VT Seva for all the support and encouragement throughout the project.

Stay tuned for more details

My name is Nigama and I am going to 10th grade. A month ago, my mom and I were planting seeds in our backyard, like every year around this time, but after seeing the enormity of the struggle India is facing, we decided to start a fundraiser at our home. After planting our seeds, and growing them for a month, my mom and I took care of the seedlings and eventually arranged them in our garage for sale. With the large number of orders we received, we reached out to our friends and local farms that provided vegetable/flower saplings. I made a google form to keep track of the orders and started by circulating our message throughout the community, and with an overwhelming response, we decided to open up our fundraiser to many more people to promote and help fundraise for - 1. 3D Science Models for visually challenged kids studying at Nethra Vidyalaya, supported by VT Seva Dallas' Seedlings for Education project 2. Covid relief in India to provide support to the affected families 3. Animal Shelter in Dallas Metroplex We surpassed our goal by reaching over 260+ orders over the past month! Throughout these several weeks, I have gotten to interact with so many people and spread awareness about VT Seva’s cause, pursue my interest in gardening, and turn our passion into a good objective. Overall, we successfully reached our aims and raised $3535! I am so thankful I got to take part in such an enlightening opportunity by serving my community here as well as outreach projects in India.

The magnitude of second wave of COVID-19 has made the demand for oxygen skyrocket. Since the beginning of the pandemic for over a year, Mahila Arogya Vikas(MAV) has been helping the patients around Vijayawada,AP, India in providing the oxygen cylinders whenever needed for free of cost. Mahila Arogya Vikas Mobile screening Vehicle has its own battery-operated oxygen supply device which was used for the Covid-19 patients when the oxygen cylinders were booked and unavailable. This Machine has served several patients during the pandemic. MAV has provided an oxygen cylinder to a 10-year-old girl suffering from a rare disease for a couple of months and happy to report she recovered. MAV will continue to provide this service as and when need.

Due to second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact in India is beyond imagination. Pretty much each family is impacted some way or the other. VT Seva counterpart in India, Vikasa Tarangini volunteers are stepping up to serve in every possible way. Supplying meals to Covid-19 quarantined patients, stranded travelers, bus drivers and other staff Providing essential food supply bags such as rice, pulses, sugar, snacks and more to frontline heroes - municipal and Asha Covid-19 testing staff. Providing oxygen cylinders to the Covid-19 patients. Partnering with Seva Bharathi and providing ambulances with safety measures to cremate the bodies of Covid-19 victims. Warangal VT Supports Sanitation Workers Lockdown due to COVID-19 does not apply to several essential workers including sanitation workers whose services are critical to keep city sanitation intact. To support City Sanitary workers and as a mark of gratitude towards their services, Vikasa Tarangini, counter part of VT Seva distributed essential groceries to all the sanitary workers and extended financial support to the covid-19 affected families. Grocery to the needy at Vijayawada VT volunteers on Jun14th distributed a Package of Rice, fruits, essential dry groceries, masks, etc to the needy, daily wage workers in presence of VT Seva CEO, HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, HH Sri Ahobila Jeeyar Swamiji. Partnering with Seva Bharathi Due to the sudden surge of COVID-19 cases in India, even conducting the last rites of deceased has become very challenging. A lot of families are finding it difficult to find means of transport for deceased COVID-19 victims. Even though the vehicles are available, due to fear of exposure to the infection, drivers were not willing to come. Mr. Ravindra, a very active volunteer from India, invented a solution whereby he customized a van to be completely safe for drivers which will leave no scope of exposure from the deceased. Seva Bharathi, a non-profit organization, wanted to provide vehicles for this service of transferring the victim bodies to crematoriums to receive last rites, and reached out to Vikasa Tarangini, VT Seva’s sister organization, as they were running into similar issues of not finding drivers. Vikasa Tarangini collaborated with Seva Bharathi and customized the vehicles for free, and also gave a vehicle for use in this service. This service is helping the victims’ families and giving them a little respite in ensuring the loved ones receive respectful last rites. Aahara Tarangini supplies Meals for Covid-19 quarantined patients: Accessibility to food is one of the many challenges for people who are in-home quarantine due to the pandemic. Under the banner Aahara Tarangini, Khammam VT Seva is helping those in distress or in need of meals during their isolation period. Registered patients are provided with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Service started with 50 people and now providing to 100 patients. Aahara Tarangini is providing meals for patients in hospitals, home Quarantine patients, and self-pickup service. Apart from the patients, Ahaara Tarangini is providing snacks and buttermilk in the evening to the Police frontlines who are performing duties during this lockdown. VT is also been providing food packets to at least 200-300 (Lemon rice and water packets) to the stranded travelers visiting Kammam govt hospitals for Covid-19 testing during this lockdown at Khammam old bust station. VT Bharath Serves Meals to stranded Travelers during COVID-19 Lockdown Due to second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact in India is beyond imagination. Pretty much each family is impacted some way or the other. VT Seva counterpart in India, Vikasa Tarangini volunteers are stepping up to serve in every possible way. One of the ways, they identified is patients and attendants having to travel to other cities, towns for treatment are getting stranded due to lock down for hours together sometimes until next morning. Many stranded travelers with Diabetics and other ailments are left with no choice but to wait at bus stations till the next day morning. There are no stores or restaurants open at least to quench their thirst or hunger. Hearing the troubles faced by the people Vikasa Tarangini volunteers with the permission from Bus depot and Police officials is providing meals and butter milk. They intend to continue these services until the lockdown is lifted. HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji advised the volunteers to identify such needs locally and provide food service taking COVID safety measures. Mahila Arogya Vikas provides Oxygen cylinders to the needy The magnitude of second wave of COVID-19 has made the demand for oxygen skyrocket. Since the beginning of the pandemic for over a year, Mahila Arogya Vikas(MAV) has been helping the patients around Vijayawada,AP, India in providing the oxygen cylinders whenever needed for free of cost. Mahila Arogya Vikas Mobile screening Vehicle has its own battery-operated oxygen supply device which was used for the Covid-19 patients when the oxygen cylinders were booked and unavailable. This Machine has served several patients during the pandemic. MAV has provided an oxygen cylinder to a 10-year-old girl suffering from a rare disease for a couple of months and happy to report she recovered. MAV will continue to provide this service as and when need. Join us, together let us support even more people in need.

VT Seva Detroit Volunteers are glad to contribute a little towards this amazing cause for the Children's Hospital Michigan Toys donations drive bringing smiles to the Children’s faces who are staying inside the hospital due to chronic illnesses. 𝐓𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 : 𝟏𝟔𝟓 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝: 𝟐𝟒𝟎 𝐆𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬: 𝟐 𝐀𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝟑𝟔 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝟒𝟐(𝟑𝟑 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌) These toys, books, and games would be handed over to all children in the hospital based on their age and category. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐕𝐓 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐭 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝. We hope to make similar donations and much more in the following years to come!! 𝐕𝐓 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐭 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬, 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲! 𝐀𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞. VT Seva Detroit Promotional Video for Toys/Books/Games Drive for Children's Hospital of Michigan 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐕𝐓 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐭 Please check out our Facebook page for more pictures and other news from VT Seva Detroit. Facebook link to Children's Hospital of Michigan

"We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives" -John.F.Kennedy During the National Police Week May 9th through May 15th, 2021, VT Seva Detroit hosted an Appreciation lunch for Novi Police Department on May 8th, 2021, at 11.30 am We had an opportunity to visit Novi Police Department today (May 8th, 2021) as a small team of VT Seva Detroit Volunteers to host a lunch and personally express our sincere gratitude, a thank you flyer photo frame, and a letter of appreciation to all the Officers there for their selfless services to protect our community. 🙏 We expressed our gratitude to all the Police officers who are always there for us. We know that they are there protecting the law, and therefore, we have nothing to fear. During our visit, we met Sgt. Manar, Sgt. Boody, Officer Woodley, and Cadet Morningstar. They were all very cordial and kind to us, very appreciative of our efforts and all community services that we do locally and globally. We had a great interaction with them in explaining about VT Seva, JET USA, and all the activities we do in the Detroit branch. We would surely continue these appreciation lunches or dinner visits to them whenever possible in the future. Also, plan it as a bigger group of Adult and Youth volunteers once we get their permission and the situation is favorable to all. ( Our Adult volunteers who visited include Sudheer ji, Narsaraj ji representing JET Michigan, Srinath ji, Anand ji, and Vanitha. Due to unavoidable reason's Sudhakar ji, Priya ji, Archita ji couldn't make it) Thank you to all the Police officers who don't give up and work day in and day out with alertness and make sure to keep the people safe in our community. WE SALUTE OUR BRAVE POLICE OFFICERS. GOD BLESS!! Please check out our Facebook page for more pictures and other news from VT Seva Detroit.

By Shraddha Potti, Grade 10 Cardinal Mermillod once said, “A mother is she who can take the place of all other but whose place no one else can take.” As Mother’s Day approaches, we are reminded of their importance in our family and in society as a whole. Through this pandemic, it has been the mothers who have worked tirelessly to take care of the family and create harmony among all. The contribution of these mothers has not been overlooked by VT Seva; on the contrary, VT Seva has facilitated many projects to assist and care for the women of our world. A Mobile Diagnostic bus sponsored by VT Seva traveled door to door, administering health checks to the rural women of India. In this way, VT Seva extended its reach to countless numbers of mothers and sisters. It raised awareness for diseases such as cancer, and assisted in pre-screening for cervical and breast cancer. The bus contained the machinery needed to run these specific tests. In addition, the Detroit Youth Board has initiated a project to create cards of gratitude for Mother’s and Father’s Day. Countless volunteers have worked to participate in this uplifting event and are spreading joy and creativity through their artwork. These cards will be distributed to senior citizens, who will surely appreciate the heartfelt messages and artwork that VT Seva youth have created. VTSeva has always been committed to serving the community through health-related activities. This month, we recognize VTSeva’s contribution to women’s health through the initiation of programs for awareness and the operation of numerous testing facilities. Through VTSeva’s efforts, women all over the world are destined for bright, healthy futures, and will continue spreading the initiative to their communities. This Mother’s Day, we encourage you to show gratitude to your mother for everything she has contributed throughout her life. "To the world, you are a mother. To your family, you are the world." Check out our services to Moms in need

VT Seva Detroit Appreciation lunch for NOVI Police Department on MAY 8th 2021 at 11.30 am A hero is a special person who faces extraordinary circumstances & acts with courage, honor & self-sacrifice. A police officer is a true superhero that does not necessarily wear a cape but wears a uniform! They protect us and continue to make it a better place for all of us, despite having to see the darkest aspects every day. If not for people like them, our cities wouldn’t have been a safer place to live, work, and have fun. During this National Police Week 2021. May 9-15, 2021.VT Seva Detroit would like to host an Appreciation lunch for NOVI Police Department on May 8th, 2021 at 11.30 am. Due to the Covid pandemic, we are restricted to go a few volunteers only. Hence, we have decided to go as a small group of 5 to 6 Adults and provide some lunch and personally thank them for their selfless services.