VT Seva Detroit successfully celebrated the 6th Annual Cultural Event RAAS-2021 on October 30th, 2021. RAAS is our Annual Celebration event, culminating a great year of various fundraising activities and volunteering service to the community.
Some of the key highlights of the event:
Raised funds for 253 Blind and Tribal students’ education
300+ people attended
Sumptuous Dinner with Mesmerizing Entertainment
Special Thanks to Hon. Senator Jim Runestad for reading out the historic resolution of Deewali festival recognition in the state of Michigan from the stage of VT Seva Detroit RAAS on an auspicious Thirunakshatram day of H.H. Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swami ji.
H.H. Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swami ji Artwork by VT Seva Detroit member Shreya Srivatsan.
Shreya's artwork was auctioned to benefit Tribal Student's education
A memorable evening with marvelous Entertainment & Sumptuous Dinner
VT Seva Detroit board acknowledged the year-long hard work of our dedicated volunteers and kind donors with an evening of music, dance, skits, food, fun, and celebration.
Dhol Tasha & Team welcomed all the guests with their spectacular and roaring drumbeats.
With her melodious voice, Ananya started the evening with the American & Indian National Anthem, followed by Prayer by Prajna kids.
Motivational & Inspirational Speeches from Hon. Jim Runestad (State Senate of the 15th district), Hon. Padma Kuppa (Member of the Michigan House of Representatives) & Mr. Cory Joyrich (Director of Major Gifts and Corporate Partnerships)
Eight Detroit Youth Board (YB) members did an excellent job as Emcees and started the evening with an upbeat Bollywood dance. Then, they entertained the crowd with a surprise mob dance. This group brought a positive and energetic vibe on the stage and kept the crowd engaged throughout the evening.
Harish & Sanjana quoted testimonials from Nethra Vidyalaya and the tribal schools.
Oviya, Hiba, Kaavya & Saisha scripted and played a script about pillars of VTSeva (Education for Visually Challenged, Education for Tribal Students, Cancer Screening Camps, Disaster Recovery, Youth Empowerment).
VT Seva Detroit Youthboard Activities
Priya Jaisankar (VTSeva Detroit YB Director) delivered a speech about the progress of the VT Seva Detroit Youth Board. They had a fantastic year in 2021. Some of their key accomplishments:
18 events
3 Fundraising events
The first-ever Chess camp (conducted by YB member Tarun).
The first-ever Walkathon (proceeds were given to Angel of Hope, MI, and Covid relief activities in India)
28 YB members raised money for 28 Nethra Vidyalaya students through Student - 4 - Student Outreach Project.
8 YB members received PVSA awards
Gold: Harish, Oviya, Risha, and Saisha,
Silver: Shreya
Bronze: Abhinav S, Hrudya, and Aishani.
YB members had a terrific opportunity to lead and participate in the community services and enhance their writing skills by writing blogs and showing their creativity in their videos about the events.
VT Seva Detroit Volunteering Activities
Vanitha Gopalan (National YB Director and Detroit volunteering coordinator) and three YB team members Sai Sahasra, Rohan Patil, Sidharth presented statistics on VT Seva Detroit volunteering and fundraising activities on the RAAS stage.
For more information, please review the below PDF presentation.
Registration Desk
The registration team did an excellent job welcoming the guests.
Bighearted local restaurants sponsored delicious food. The Volunteers packed and served the food.
Rocking Dance performances:
We had a gala of professional teams and local talent that rocked the stage from classical to Bollywood.
Nrithyala School of Dance Team
Emcee Dance Team
Smrithi Dance Team
Mathangi Dance Team
Usha Dance Team
Melodious Singing Performances:
Both professional and our local talent mesmerized the audience.
Kalyani Ji Team (Swaralapana Team - Medley)
Suresh Ji, Aravind Ji and Ratna Giri Ji
Sandeep Ji
Pleasant Flute Performance by Kids
VTSeva Detroit Thanks to all the Sponsors and Volunteers for their services.
Roaring Dhol Tasha & Team: Pranav Ji, Sathish Ji & Team
Singing Performances: Swaralapana (Kalyani Ji Team) - Medley
Dance performances: Nrithyala School of Dance, Smrithi Dance, Mathangi Dance, Usha Dance
Impressive Stage and Lobby Decoration: RAAS Clicks, Subha Ji & Ram Ji
Excellent Cinematic Videography & Facebook Live: Vathsal Ji & Team
Beautiful Pics: Anoop Ji
Rocking D.J. Services: Srinivasa Raju Ji & his son Teja (Lucky)
Media Sponsor - MI India
Delicious Food by local Restaurants.
Our Dedicated Volunteers
Special Thanks to our Detroit Director Srinath Karnati ji for his dedication and leadership throughout the year.
Special Thanks to Sudhakar ji, Sudheerji, Srinath ji, Narsaraj ji, Zahara ji, Swapna ji, Lathaji, Anand ji, Priya ji, Jaisankar ji, Vanitha Ji, Suresh ji, Nandini ji, Sreenivas ji, Jyothi ji, Asha ji, Srivardhan ji, Keerthi ji, Raghunathan ji, Akshay ji, Srikanth ji, Vamshi ji, Ramya ji, Nivedhita ji, Pavan ji and many more Volunteers.
Our Dedicated Youth Volunteers
Aditya, Pranav, Jishnu, Nikhil, Surya, Yug, Abhinav, Harish, Oviya, Hiba, Kavya, Sai, Saisha, Sai Sahasra, Sidharth, Anirudh, Veeksha, Vasudeva, Abhisrishti, Hrudya, Teja, Arya, Varnik, Shivani, Aditi
This was one of the best events we ever had. Thanks to all Event Sponsors, Donors, Supporters, and Volunteers who helped this event make it a big success.
Thanks to all the unsung supporters for this great cause. It would not have been possible to pull off such a HUGE event without your constant support and help.
For more pictures, please check out this link
Please go to Facebook Page to 'Like' and 'Comment'
Watch complete RAAS event
RAAS 2021 FLYER
For other events and activities from Detroit, please visit
Blog created and published by
Nandini Cheemalamarri (Detroit Communications)
THANK YOU SO MUCH ALL!
YOUR SUPPORT IS OUR STRENGTH TO SERVE
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