Today Atlanta VT Seva youths made cheerful holiday cards for the seniors of Assisted living 🎄🤶 🎄By making cards with thoughtful messages filled with inspirational qotes and cheerful holiday🔔🧑‍🎄 wishes, our youths have showed how much they respect and care about our seniors, aiming to combat their loneliness, and cheer them up during holiday time ⛄🌟🎄

Atlanta VT Seva youths participated in the Meals By Grace event on November 30, 2024 in which they sorted, packed, loaded food items for the needy families of North Georgia. During Holiday season(month of December)these families are in desperate need of food items to take care of their children. We are very happy to help the needy families Georgia so children can go to bed Happy not Hungry. It’s a great gratifying experience for us 🙏

Many members from the Northview school club in Atlanta came together to set up lights and festive decorations for the winter holidays for a neighborhood. They partnered with the HOA of the neighborhood to allow them to set up the lights. Overall, they all had a good time setting up decoration for the upcoming holidays.

**VT Seva Atlanta’s Books for Africa Drive - A Huge Success!** On November 24, 2024, over 50 youth volunteers came together to make a difference through VT Seva Atlanta’s *Books for Africa* drive. Collectively, they gathered an incredible 1,500 books and 500 new notebooks for children in Africa. We are immensely proud of our VT Seva youth for their generosity and commitment to empowering African children through education. 🌍📚 📖 **Education is the great equalizer, and books are the foundation of a strong educational system.** For many children in Africa, the gift of books is truly a *gift of hope*. 🙏 The collected items were delivered to the *Books for Africa Warehouse*, the only drop-off facility of its kind in the entire USA. This journey from collection to warehouse offered students a comprehensive perspective on their impact, emphasizing the significance of their efforts from *start* to *finish*

Atlanta VT Seva 30 youth members participated in the Meals By Grace event on November 17, 2024 in which they sorted, packed, loaded food items for the needy families of Georgia. These families are in desperate need of food items to take care of their children. We are very happy to help the needy families of Georgia so that their children can go to bed Happy not Hungry. It’s a great gratifying experience for us 🙏

On **November 9th**, VT Seva ATLANTA organized a special workshop to address the vital connection between mental health and physical well-being. Led by **Dr. Smitha** and **Dr. Nandini**, the session explored the impact of obesity on mental health and highlighted the importance of nurturing one’s physical, emotional, and spiritual self. Participants gained valuable insights into managing stress, preventing anxiety and depression, and adopting healthier lifestyle habits. The interactive discussion emphasized that prioritizing mental health and addressing obesity are key steps toward a balanced and fulfilling life. The workshop provided practical takeaways for attendees, inspiring them to embrace self-care and continue making a positive impact within their communities. Together, let’s strive for a healthier and stronger future!

🍫🍫🍫Awesome VT Seva Candy Drive leaders! Special shout out for Rithvi, 7th grader from Desanna Middle school and her brother Vidur for donating their candies and collecting more than 100lbs candies from their schools and neighborhood🎉🎉 We convey our heart-felt appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Praveen Gudipati of Cumming Dental for always being very supportive to VT Seva projects. He will deliver all our candies to the US Troops on the borders. He has donated $1000 for the visually challenged kids of Bharath 🙏🏻🙏🏻 VT Seva team has build a strong relationship with Cumming Dental and next year we will do more collaborative projects with them 🤝🤝🤝

VT Seva Atlanta has organized a Dental Workshop on Oct 24, 2024 to provide hands-on training to our Atlanta youths. Around 20 youths participated in this workshop organized by Dr. Praveen & Dr. Vivek of Cumming Dental. In this Dental workshop, youths learned - - Dental care process start to finish - ⁠Procedures & X-rays - ⁠Sterilization of instruments - ⁠Patient privacy (HIPPA) - ⁠Brushing, flossing, and taking good care of their dental hygiene - ⁠Careers & Opportunities in the Dentistry field In a nutshell, it’s a great hands-on pragmatic learning for our Atlanta youths. Handful of youths were interested to pursue their career in the field of dentistry and found this workshop very useful and beneficial!

SUBHA 2024 was a youth-led inspiring and electrifying afternoon filled with magnificent performances and meaningful messages. The program started with the lighting up the lamp and prayers by the Prajna students. Our Guest of Honor was Mr. Krishna Kanth Vennamaneni, VT Seva Advisor and former VT Seva President. Our other guests were Mr. Corey Jackson, CEO of the Laurel Heights hospital, Dr. Sheth, Dr. Krishna Mohan and Dr. Vivek. The event began with the Emcee welcoming everyone to celebrate the spirit of service and support the cause of empowering 250 Nethra students of Bharath. Later, American national anthem was performed, honoring the opportunities provided by this country, followed by the Indian national anthem, signifying respect for our heritage. This tribute to both nations reflects our deep pride and gratitude. Afterwards, a welcome note was rendered by Dr. Madhu Nemani, VT Seva Atlanta Director by highlighting & embracing the spirit volunteerism and sharing the progress and progression of VT Seva Atlanta from 2021 to 2024. The Atlanta chapter growth is phenomenal in terms of establishment of youth clubs, activities, volunteers’ increment, and fundraising. Later, a presentation on VT SEVA Atlanta 2023-2024 activities and accomplishments was presented which represent year-round volunteer work of our youths in the field of Education, Environment, Disaster relief, and Healthcare. Thereafter a video highlighting our beneficiaries and their accomplishments were showcased. Next, was the special segment featuring our youth fundraising endeavors to empower their Nethra friends. A presentation on Animal welfare was presented by Alliance Academy youths which highlighted the importance of animal well-being and correlate it with human well-being. The best VT Seva Youth Award goes to Kaundinya Challa. The best youth club and best SUBHA 2024 contribution awards goes to Alliance Academy. The evening continued with fantastic music, dance, and instrumental performances which thrilled and delighted the audience. In addition, a heartfelt skit by Prajna students on the recent inauguration of the Hanuman statue by H.H. Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, symbolizing unity and service was portrayed. It was a joyous celebration of community spirit with enthusiastic participation from the Atlanta VT Seva family. More than 300 VT Seva volunteers attended the event and each one of them was inspired with the spirit of giving and service mindset of the youths. With Acharya’s blessings, we were able to accomplish our goal of raising funds for 250 visually challenged students of Nethra Vidyalaya. In nutshell, the SUBHA environment was truly electric from start to finish. From thrilling performances to the energy radiating messages from our vibrant youth, the event was a perfect mix of sharing, caring, and empowering ourselves and others. The joy is ours to see others in joy and we have spread this joy and happiness with all through our SUBHA Annual event on Oct 19th, 2024.

SUBHA 2024 was a youth-led inspiring and electrifying afternoon filled with magnificent performances and meaningful messages. The program started with the lighting up the lamp and prayers by the Prajna students. Our Guest of Honor was Mr. Krishna Kanth Vennamaneni, VT Seva Advisor and former VT Seva President. Our other guests were Mr. Corey Jackson, CEO of the Laurel Heights hospital, Dr. Sheth, Dr. Krishna Mohan and Dr. Vivek. The event began with the Emcee welcoming everyone to celebrate the spirit of service and support the cause of empowering 250 Nethra students of Bharath. Later, American national anthem was performed, honoring the opportunities provided by this country, followed by the Indian national anthem, signifying respect for our heritage. This tribute to both nations reflects our deep pride and gratitude. Afterwards, a welcome note was rendered by Dr. Madhu Nemani, VT Seva Atlanta Director by highlighting & embracing the spirit volunteerism and sharing the progress and progression of VT Seva Atlanta from 2021 to 2024. The Atlanta chapter growth is phenomenal in terms of establishment of youth clubs, activities, volunteers’ increment, and fundraising. Later, a presentation on VT SEVA Atlanta 2023-2024 activities and accomplishments was presented which represent year-round volunteer work of our youths in the field of Education, Environment, Disaster relief, and Healthcare. Thereafter a video highlighting our beneficiaries and their accomplishments were showcased. Next, was the special segment featuring our youth fundraising endeavors to empower their Nethra friends. A presentation on Animal welfare was presented by Alliance Academy youths which highlighted the importance of animal well-being and correlate it with human well-being. The best VT Seva Youth Award goes to Kaundinya Challa. The best youth club and best SUBHA 2024 contribution awards goes to Alliance Academy. The evening continued with fantastic music, dance, and instrumental performances which thrilled and delighted the audience. In addition, a heartfelt skit by Prajna students on the recent inauguration of the Hanuman statue by H.H. Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, symbolizing unity and service was portrayed. It was a joyous celebration of community spirit with enthusiastic participation from the Atlanta VT Seva family. More than 300 VT Seva volunteers attended the event and each one of them was inspired with the spirit of giving and service mindset of the youths. With Acharya’s blessings, we were able to accomplish our goal of raising funds for 250 visually challenged students of Nethra Vidyalaya. In nutshell, the SUBHA environment was truly electric from start to finish. From thrilling performances to the energy radiating messages from our vibrant youth, the event was a perfect mix of sharing, caring, and empowering ourselves and others. The joy is ours to see others in joy and we have spread this joy and happiness with all through our SUBHA Annual event on Oct 19th, 2024.

SUBHA Dress Rehearsal on October 5, 2024 - We did full dress rehearsal on Oct 5th consisting of the National Anthems, VT Seva highlights, Bollywood and classical dances, Instrumental etc. Our Subha team also discussed in detail about the decoration & fundraising by the Atlanta youth. We also discussed about the food and registration logistics of the Subha event. Overall, it’s a great teamwork of dedicated VT Seva Atlanta volunteers to celebrate the spirit of service and empower 250 Nethra students of Bharath!

Atlanta youths are spearheading SUBHA 2024 by participating in large numbers in the cultural program, fundraising, decoration, food packing etc. We finalized the program and assigned roles and responsibilities to the youth and adult leads. We practiced our cultural program items and brainstormed decoration of the hall during SUBHA event.

We gathered in the library and start creating groups for the cultural items - national anthem, Dance, Singing, Emcee etc. We also discuss the process of participation, dress code, and outside participation from music and dance schools of Atlanta!

SUBHA 2024 Kickoff Meeting at on Sep 1st, 2024 - In this meeting, we discussed - 1.⁠ ⁠Youth participation in SUBHA Cultural 2.⁠ ⁠⁠Youth participation in Fundraising for a Cause 3.⁠ ⁠⁠Youth participation in volunteering activities - decoration, stage help, tech support etc Our SUBHA 2024 goal is to empower 250 Nethra students, of Bharath and celebrate the spirit of volunteerism ✌️✌️✌️

In Celebration of India's 78th Independence Day in August 2024, Atlanta VT Seva initiated a project to highlight the achievements of 53 Bharat Ratna awardees from 1954 to the present. Throughout the month, 53 dedicated youth from VT Seva Atlanta participated by creating and sharing daily  infographics that detailed the contributions of these distinguished individuals. Due to the high level of enthusiasm and participation , we completed the presentation  of all 53 Bharat Ratna awardees and we ran out of Bharat Ratna awardees due to over response from our enthusiastic youth.We are greatly proud of their exemplary dedication and enthusiasm and look forward to their ongoing contributions to our future initiatives.

SUBHA kickoff is a start of preparing for Atlanta’s annual event. Our goal this year is to empower 250 Nethra students. Our youths and adults are super excited and we created various teams in our SUBHA Kickoff such as cultural team, decoration team, food team, fundraising team, tech support team, and communication team to work together and accomplish our goal. The theme this year is animal welfare - ‘Be the Voice of the Voiceless’!

After working together to make pins to sell at the independence day event, members of VT Seva Atlanta gathered at Gas South Arena and put out a word for both VT Seva and for raising funds for disabled education in India. Before setting up the booth, members participated in the flag march. Members held up the flag to show their pride in India and its independence. After the flag march, members set up the booth and offered face painting, the flag badges, and tulsi plants. This also advertised for our Subha event coming up in October.

VT Seva held a Graduation Ceremony on 8/11/2024 🎉🥳🎊🥳 We are very proud of everyone that helped make the 2024 Summer Camp a success. 84 Students graduated and 56 Youth Tutors were recognized for their dedication in teaching the students. The parents were in support of the students and tutors! 👏👏👏 Laurel Heights Tutors were also recognized at this event! The VT Seva team along with the Laurel Heights Hospital CEO and Director of Education truly appreciate their commitment, dedication and service mindset. VTS Summer Camp was a great memorable event. We look forward to meet you all again in summer 2025!

ATL Zero Waste Paper Drive was a big success! It was our eco-friendly project in which Atlanta youths collected more than 250 used notebooks for recycling. They took out unused papers from the used notebooks through seam rippers, sort & stack papers, and later bind papers & build new Notebooks of 80 pages each. We created 6 new notebooks yesterday and 50 new notebooks are work-progress ✌️✌️ It’s a great hands-on inspirational project for our youths to implement reuse / recycle technique and transform used notebooks to new the new Notebooks 📘📕📗 Each ton of recycle paper saves 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 7000 gallons of water, 4000 KW of energy, and 3 cubic yards of landfill space. Together 🤝🤝 we can make a difference and conserve our natural resources!

VT Seva Atlanta team organized 1st youth-led Walkathon - ‘Be Yourself’ on August 24, 2024 for the blind / visually impaired community of Atlanta. VT Seva stands for ‘Volunteering Together For Service’. We are a non-profit org with branches in more than 25 plus cities all across US. All our service activities are focused towards 4 domains - Education, Environment, Disaster Relief, and Healthcare. In Atlanta, we have 14 youth clubs in High schools and Middle schools which actively participate in the year-round community services in Atlanta. Our youths organized ‘Be Yourself’ Walkathon which started on Aug 1st, 2024 in virtual mode and successfully completed on Aug 24th with in-person grand finale. We had 10 plus youth teams who registered for this event and who walked every day and logged their miles virtually on our portal. We invited Ms. Lisa Kennedy, CEO & President of the Atlanta ‘Center For Visually Impaired’ as our Chief guest for this special walkathon to empower the vision loss community of Atlanta. Among the other guests, we had Senator Carter, GAPI President, Dr. Lalitha, Abigali Parkes, and Bharat from Assureguru for this Walkathon. More than 200 people registered and participated in this Walkathon to stay healthy and support the visually impaired of Atlanta in 'Be Yourself' initiative. Innovation academy youth team was in the 1st place with the highest miles walked followed by the Lambert Highschool team. On August 24th, VT Seva volunteers dressed-in VT spirits & blue color shirts and walked 3 miles distance. We raised $1000 for the Center For the Visually Impaired. We arranged healthy snacks for all participants and gave special award to Ms. Lisa Kennedy, Senator Carter, Gapi President, and business event sponsor AssureGuru. According to Pantanjali, "The longest journey begins with a single step", and VT Seva has taken a single step on August 24, 2024 to empower and support wholeheartedly the vision loss community of Atlanta. We’ll take many more steps together in future to empower them with hope, light, and success. Our Chief Guest, Ms. Lisa Kennedy other distinguished guests were highly impressed to see the dedication, commitment, and service mindset of the VT Seva Atlanta team. We are very thankful and grateful for this wonderful opportunity to empower the vision loss community of Atlanta!