The year 2020 has been challenging on many fronts for the whole world. It is not an exaggeration if we say there is no family that was not impacted in some way or the other due to the social, financial, health and emotional challenges it brought. It is also a year where the need to help each other and heal together the most. VT Seva volunteers have demonstrated the same as always. Several youth volunteers have come together to plan, lead, and execute several COVID-19 relief activities working along side VT Seva leadership team in all the branches across USA. A few of the highlights from our activities for year 2020 for you.
COVID-19 Relief Aid
Under the guidance of our CEO, Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, all the branches of VT Seva came together to help local communities as the pandemic started spreading in USA in mid March. We tapped into our supporters, raised funds to support the local Food Banks, Hospitals in every possible way we could.
Food Banks and Hospitals at the following cities were supported for COVID-19
RELIEF AID
Gratitude To Our Frontline Heroes
VT Seva supported with 17,000+ N-95 masks to various hospitals in highly COVID-19 impacted hospitals - Newton Medical Center, Saint Clares Hospital, Robert wood Johnson University Hospital, St. Peter's University Hospital, St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia, Atrium Medical Center, Metropolitan Ministries, Multiple Hospitals in Tampa and many other hospitals in highly affected cities.
VT Seva Detroit Youth created a GofundMe page and raised funds to support Hospital. Several youth volunteers hosted lunch for the Medical staff at Hospitals and other City officials to convey Gratitude for their support to community during the pandemic. VT Seva Dallas youth volunteers created GofundMe page to support Health care during COVID-19 as well.
Several branches have hosted events to convey gratitude to health care professionals and essential workers of the city by providing warm lunches.
Volunteers from Cary, Atlanta, and Boston made reusable face masks that were distributed in their local senior centers and others to use.
Innovation During COVID-19
Free Professional Seminars in Health Care, Personal Finance, Career Exploration, College Preparedness, and Real Estate events.
Art for Equality
VT Seva conducting "Equality Depicted through Art" competition in 2020 to provide a platform for all to express what Equality means to them. We had a great response with 400+ entries and people from 40 countries participating in voting. More info
Several branches across USA have come up with innovative ways to virtually engage students who were getting used to virtual learning environment by providing various interactive fun workshops, while supporting Schools for Visually Challenged and Tribals. 60% of the planning, execution and coordination was handled by youth at each of the branches.
Public Speaking Contest- Detroit, MI
Teaching Refugee Children - Charlotte, NC
Chess Competition - Dallas, TX
Musical Event in collaboration Swaravedika, Detroit, MI
Quiz Contest, Detroit, MI
Summer Camp, Boston, MA
Robotics Class - Houston, TX
Career Exploration Series, Houston, TX
Go Online with VT Seva - Houston, TX - Yoga, Music, Dance, Reading, Coding, Creating Writing and many more
Science in Action, Pittsburgh, PA
Seattle Summer Camp - Coding, Reading, Dance, Music, Cooking,
Charlotte, San Antonio and Dallas Summer Camp for Youth, Coding, Math, Reading, Public Speaking, Debate and many more
Solving Rubik's Cube, Tampa, FL
Fun with Lego Workshop, Tampa, FL
Little MD Workshop, Houston, TX
Virtual Yoga for Health - North Jersey
North Jersey Virtual Camp - Programming, Public Speaking, Calligraphy, Dance, Science Experiments, Scratch Programming, Stories, Origami and More, North Jersey, NJ
Katy Youth Workshop - Music, Creating writing, Coding, Robotics, Public Speaking, Katy, TX
Speech and Debate Workshop - Virginia,VA
Our Bharath and Her Story - Seattle, WA
Fun and interactive Cricket Camp - Seattle, WA
13 Day Shred Event by Seattle, Seattle,WA
A Guide to Composting - Workshop by Youth - Dallas,TX
Annual Events
Annual Fundraising Events - Tarangini, Raas, Utsav, Prerana, Alok, Vasantham, Teja, Subhada, Utsav
International Yoga Day Celebration By New Jersey, Houston, Dallas, Katy, Cary Centers
Mother's day Celebrations by Katy Team
Virtual Walk-a-thon by Boston, Bay Area
Public Speaking Contest, Boston
Virtual Music Event, Detroit
10th Annual Walk-a-thon by Dallas Team
This year due to COVID-19 the Annual Cancer Awareness Walk-a-thon has been switched to a virtual one and was made open to everyone around the world. The event was used to encourage healthy physical fitness practices to be followed by all for physical and mental well being while supporting Cancer Awareness Camps in Bharath. The event was concluded by recognizing three top participants who put in the most miles, Vikasa Tarangini Mahila Arogya Vikas Team virtually participated to provide insight into the events being conducted in India.
Together the participants completed 20,000 Miles by doubling the goal of 10,000 miles to mark the 10th Annual Cancer Awareness Walk-a-thon. VT Seva CEO Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji participated in walk-a-thon virtually and lead us in this amazing event. Read more
VT Seva stands by to Fight over the Hunger
Our volunteers participated in sorting, packing, making sandwiches and donating food at 32 events prior to lockdown - here are a few :
FMSC Minneapolis,
Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, New Jersey,
Somerset Food Bank, New Jersey,
Forgotten Harvest Food Bank, Detroit, MI,
Central Texas Food Bank, Austin, TX, Food Bank at Raleigh, Cary,
North West Harvest, Seattle, WA,
Houston Food Bank, Houston, TX,
Lunches of Love, Houston, TX,
Food Drive for Parsippany Food Bank, North Jersey,
Operation Sandwich Program - Soup Kitchen of Urban Ministry Center in Charlotte, North Charlotte,
Morristown Food Bank, North Jersey,
Food Bank, Chicago, IL
Feed My Starving Children - Libertyville, Chicago, IL,
Bay Area Homeless Shelter, San Jose, California,
Food Banks of Central and Eastern North Carolina,
Child Hope International,
Metro Ministries, Tampa, FL,
Gleaners Community Food Bank, Detroit, MI
Annual Food Drives by Virginia, Houston Teams
Our volunteer from Bay Area shares about volunteering at a monthly Burrito Wrapping
event.
Volunteering at Senior Living Centers
Our youth volunteers visit senior living homes at various Centers to spend sometime and entertain them with games, presenting a song or skit, reading a book for them. It is a great way to give back.
Veranda House Visit - Katy
Lifecare Transition Hospice Hospital - Cary
VT Seva Dallas Volunteering at Senior Living Center
LSS - Lutheran Senior Services - St Louis
MacArthur Hills Senior Living - Dallas
Villa at Riverstone- Assisted Living - Houston
Parsippany Adults Old Age home - North Jersey
Environment Protection
One of the core pillars of service of VT Seva is Environment Protection and raising awareness. Many branches globally celebrate Earth Day by hosting awareness events, planting, helping clean the creaks and adopted several streets , parks across USA to clean up.
Serving the Differently Abled / Special Needs Children/ Adults
VT Seva serves at Houston Council for Blind, Houston, FCSN, Bay Area and Camp Sunshine and Camp Snowflake, North Jersey. The teams visit and spend time engaging, entertaining, assisting, coaching.
Celebrating Volunteerism
VT Seva Houston, Atlanta, New Jersey, Seattle branches celebrated volunteers who won President's Volunteer Service Awards for the year 2019.
Our Volunteers utilize their time and talent, sometimes cultivate a skill to support
Ananya Suthram, Seattle Team a middle schooler raised funds by stitching and fixing clothes to support education of a student. Meghana Madhura Kavi a middle Schooler raised funds hosting a lemonade stand in New Jersey.
Sandhya Yellapragada, Atlanta raised funds through donating all the proceeds from a book she authored and published
VT Seva Seattle, Charlotte, San Antonio, Virginia, Dallas, Cary, Pittsburgh, Houston, volunteers raised funds by hosting Summer Camps
Detroit Youth by hosting a GoFundMe page
New Jersey Team collaborated with Sadhaka Sadhana - 15 days virtual musical concerts to raise funds
Detroit collaborated with Swaravedika Team for 3rd consecutive year to raise funds.
These are a few examples how their passion to support drives them.
Our humble gratitude to each of you for your support - together we continue the journey of joyful volunteering.
You are our strength to serve
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