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Fleece & Thank You, a Michigan-based non-profit organization, is dedicated to providing connection, comfort, and hope through its programs, services, and materials to children facing illness and their families supporting them. They host over 400 blanket-making events every year to help achieve their goal of making 30,000 fleece blankets one blanket for every child in MI that goes into the hospital for inpatient treatments. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿. Their warehouse is where all of their behind-the-scenes work happens. VT Seva Detroit Volunteers got their first opportunity on August 16th, 2021, got this opportunity to help them from 3 pm - 5 pm at their warehouse. Around 8 volunteers did these tasks. 1. Prepping their blanket kits 2. Quality check on those blankets 3. Folding the blankets after a final check 4. Wrapped them up with a plastic wrap 5. Packed them in kits for final delivery to hospitals. 6. Coloring the thank you cards that they were doing for Hug buddy postcards for mental health people that is for View spire organization. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗘𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗮,𝗩𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗮 , 𝗡𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗲𝗻,𝗞𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶 𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗮 ,𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗶, 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗮 Facebook link for August 16th, 2021 VT Seva Detroit Volunteers got their second opportunity on November 20th, 2021 to help them 9 am -12 pm at their warehouse. Around 12 volunteers did these tasks. This is our second visit there and we really loved helping them and being part of their kind wonderful cause. Our volunteers did various tasks such as 1. Cutting the strip cloth 2. Hot pressing labels on each blanket 3. Bundling all the blankets neatly and stack in covers & boxes 4. Folding blankets 5. Organizing warehouse blankets storage boxes finally cleaned their work area. On a whole we all worked on 1000 blankets which are ready for a child to use in a hospital Video Compilation of photos link: Facebook link for Nov 20th, 2021 VT Seva Detroit thank Fleece &Thankyou coordinators for giving us these opportunities and We are looking forward to provide our services to Fleece&Thankyou in 2022 as well whenever an opportunity arrives. Blog created by Vanitha Gopalan Blog published by Nandini Cheemalamari

VT Seva Detroit Youth Board successfully wrapped up 2021 by completing their goal of implementing at least one project each month which is initated by youth. In 4th quarter they completed 6 projects o Student – 4 – Student Outreach Project o Candy Drive o Eyeglass Drive o Book Drive o Salvation Army Bell Ringing o Rise to Equality Poster Video created by youth volunteer Harish . Student – 4 – Student OutreachProject: VT Seva Detroit Youth Board raised money by creating awareness of VT Seva who are not aware of VT Seva and its causes. This year 28 students participated and raised money for 28 students in Nethra Vidyalaya Schools. 170 donors donated $10,450. Please visit the blog for more details and video. Project idea was proposed by youth volunteer Harish . https://www.vtsworld.org/post/vt-seva-detroit-youth-board-2nd-outreach-2021 Candy Drive: 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 is the fun time for the children to go out for Trick-or-Treat in their costumes with friends and count the candies they collected and securing their favorite ones. Our Youth Board members went for Trick-or-Treat rather saving the collected candies for themselves, they donated it to the deployed troops through "𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲" a non-profit organization that sends care packages filled with snacks, entertainment, hygiene and handmade items to 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘀, 𝗩𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀, 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝘀, 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀. Local Dentistry in Livonia collects the candy and send it to Operation Gratitude. 11 Youth Board members from different cities collected and donated 42 pounds of candies to the deployed troops. Youth Board Members donated : Hiba, Rashmitha, Siddharth, Sathvik, Veeksha, Abhinav S, Anuraag, Srihari A, Nikhil S, Harish & Oviya Adult volunteers : Lavanya, Vanitha, Zahara and Priya https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/5194988527194801 Eyeglass Drive: Youth Board Member 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶 Proposed the idea Eye Glass Drive as part of their November month Project 22 youth board members collected 72 prescription eye glasses Rishi & Shruthi collected 24 eye glasses by canvassing in their neighborhood. Eye glassess were donated at Eyeglass World . Lions club partner with Eyeglass world in collecting them. Used eyeglasses that are collected by Lions and other volunteers are recycled at one of ten Lions Eyeglass Recycling Centers throughout the world. The used eyeglasses are cleaned, repaired and classified by prescription. The eyeglasses are then distributed to those in need by Lion volunteers and other organizations hosting optical missions in developing countries Thanks to Rishi for proposing this idea and all the youth board members who participated in this project. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘆𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲: Rishi, Shruthi, Srihari A, Anuraag, Anvika, Sreenika, Saisha , Shreya, Abhinav S, Abisrishti, Hiba, Rohan, Rashmitha, Nikhil A, Teja, Arya, Sidharth, Sathvik, Sai Sriram, Kaavya, Oviya & Harish 𝗔𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Sripriya, Srinath, Vanitha, Nalini & Priya https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/5292530994107220 Book Drive: We've collected 450+ books. This is the first time that Goodwill Store get a collection of books from a group of youths and getting books in high volume. These books will definitely help the children in need. Thanks to Amogh for bringing in this project and working with Goodwill. Thanks to Amogh, Kaavya and Harish to visit Goodwill and helping with book drop off. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞: Abhinav S, Abishristi, Adi, Akshay, Ananya Sankar, Amogh, Anuraag, Anvika, Chakrika, Harish, Hiba, Hrudya, Ish, Kaavya, Kalki, Kushal, Nikhil A, Nitya Sankar, Oviya, Pranav M, Rashmitha, Rishi, Sai Sriram, Saisha, Sanjana, Sanjith, Sathvik, Shruthi, Siddharth, Sreenika, Srihari A, Srihari H, Supraja, Sveya, Udhayaa, Veena, Yug 𝐀𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬: Sripriya, Architha, Giri, Srinath & Priya https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/5412863228740662 Salvation Army Bell Ringing VT Seva Detroit Youth Board Members making the change happen by ringing the bell for Salvation Army. 3 days (12/20, 12/21& 12/23), 8 youth volunteers rang the bell and impacted the the lives of neighbors by helping them in their time of need. They not only rang the bell, they sang songs and played christmas music in their instruments. This project was proposed and led by the youth volunteer Harish . 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉 - 𝑭𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 - 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒚𝒂 - 𝑪𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐 𝑯𝒊𝒃𝒂 - 𝑽𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏 & 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑨𝒌𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒚 - 𝑽𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏 𝑶𝒗𝒊𝒚𝒂 - 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈 Each year, The Salvation Army will serve more than 25 million people across America – including many here in your community. That means 55+ million meals for the hungry, 10+ million nights of shelter for the homeless, and countless Christmas gifts for children who may otherwise go without. So truly, you can make a difference with every ring. The funds you raise as a Salvation Army bell ringer will make a year-round impact in your community through social services assistance, homeless shelters, disaster relief, children’s programs, rehabilitation services, anti-human trafficking, and more. Youth Volunteers : Harish, Siddharth, Kaavya, Sravya, Pranav T, Hiba, Akshay & Oviya. Adult Volunteer : Priya https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/5387426054617713 Rise to Equality Poster: VT Seva Detroit Youth Board collaborated with JET MI in creating the posters about the leaders who stood up for equality to honor the commomeration of Statue of Equality. These flyers will be posted in social media. Youths who participated in poster creation : Oviya, Jethri, Pavan, Abisrishti, Kaustubh, Advaith, Harish, Hiba, Siddharth, Rashmitha, Akshay, Udhayaa & Nikhil Adult Volunteer : Priya Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers & donors who made this year 2021 successful. Watch this video to recap the memories from all the projects in 2021. Video created by Priya. Blog Consolidated By: Youth Board Member Oviya Blog Published By: VTSeva Detroit Comm volunteer Nandini

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead A group of 28 youth volunteers had one collective message to help the students of Nethra Vidyalaya. The VT Seva Detroit Youth Board members continued their tradition of creating awareness about VT Seva and its causes for the 2nd year in a row. Student-4-Student is an outreach project thought of by Harish , a youth board member, last year where our Youth Board members reached out to their friends, families, teachers, coaches, dance schools, and many more people who weren’t aware of VT Seva to explain one of VT Seva’s amazing causes: supporting Nethra Vidyalaya students and raising money through a GoFundMe campaign. 28 youths, 56 days, 168 new donors raised $10,050 which supports 27+ students. Every member who committed to this project made sure they reached their personal goal. However, they didn’t just stop there; they went above and beyond to help the Nethra Vidyalaya students and raised over $10,050, which supports the education of over 27 students for one year. They reached out to donors through social media, phone calls, door-to-door campaigning, and much more. The teachers of NethraVidyalaya and Jeeyar Gurukulam were the inspiration for our Outreach campaigners. Our volunteers were amazed by the love, dedication, and commitment that these teachers had for their students. Seeing those teachers going to their students’ homes and taking classes under trees and in sheds during the COVID-19 period to make sure these students are learning continuously without any hurdles showed their love for their students. The youths were committed to helping the teachers and the students in any way possible. Each day the statistics were sent out to all the participants with motivational quotes. The parents encouraged and motivated their children to reach out to people as much as they can. Kudos to all the parents who were helping their children be a voice for underprivileged students . This awareness project didn’t only help Nethra Vidyalaya students; it helped all these 28 youths with their communication skills. We had lots of new members who joined this project this year. Initially, they were shy about talking to people. However, after a couple of times, they were able to explain the cause to friends and relatives without diffidence. By participating in this project, all these 28 youths were training one of the basic qualities of a leader: “Speak up for others” Without any doubt, our future is in good hands with all these compassionate youths who have a desire to serve a purpose greater than themselves. There is a proverb in Tamil , ‘Oor koodi ther izhu’ , that implies the strength of community (outreach team) participation in matters of societal importance (Nethravidyalaya students). This is what happened in our team. We had youth volunteers who are as young as 9 year old Adhip and Vihaan to high school seniors. Thank you so much to every one of the youth board members who participated and supported Nethra Vidyalaya students Hiba, Oviya, Saisha, Siddharth, Rishi, Shruthi, Sai Sri Ram, Amogh, Harish, Kaavya, Akshay, Niharka, Advaith, Vihaan, Adhip, SaiSahasra, Ananya B, Shrikha, Sathvik, Sanjana, Udhayaa, Ananya R, Rashmitha, Rohan P, Varshini, Nitya S, Pranav S and Abisrishti Please watch this video to learn about our campaigners' experience, feeling, and their gratitude towards the NethraVidyala students, parents, and donors. Blog Written By: Priya Jaisankar Blog Published By: Nandini Cheemalamarri

Hello dear friends, my name is Akshaya. and an 8th grader. Some of my hobbies are gardening, reading and drawing. From a young age I was also eager to help others. But I did not know how to do this in a way that would have a greater impact on people, till I joined VT Seva to help less privileged kids. As many of you know, VT Seva is an organization that raises funds and donates to Netra Vidyalaya School for the blind, the homeless, and the less fortunate kids. Many people want to help with this mission but don’t know how to and/or do not have the time to volunteer. I joined VT Seva to see if I could change that in me . Because I liked helping others, I enjoyed this opportunity to change someone’s life for the better. I chose to sponsor a child's education because it would give them a possibility to create a new path in their life. In the spring, our VT Seva group decided to grow vegetable plants and sell them to get donations from people. I really enjoyed doing that project because of my love for nature, and being surrounded by plants and animals. This inspired me to grow Tulasi plants and give them to donors who were willing to contribute to this cause. Since Tulasi Matha is a form of Lakshmi Devi, I wanted to bring prosperity into a child's life and to all who supported my goal to help educate a child. I want to continue volunteering with VT Seva because it is an organization that works for a meaningful cause. The experiences I have gained through this project taught me a handful of unique skills, such as making fliers, communicating with people, and tracking donation information. I would like to thank Swamiji , my parents, the aunties and uncles who donated, and the VT Seva board for helping me in this journey. I was also able to execute this project with the blessings of God. This opportunity means a lot to me, and I hope that I will get to do more work like this.

Hello! My name is Oviya, and I am a proud volunteer of the Seattle VT Seva team . I want to share something that I did recently that started as a small idea, but turned out to be a project that I’m very glad I took on. I learn an Indian art form called Madhubani, which originates from Mithila, India. One day, my art teacher shared info about a business fair, where kids could be entrepreneurs for a day, and sell their own products. Me, and another girl from my art school ended up being the only ones who wanted to participate, and decided on creating Madhubani styled bookmarks and earrings. Eventually, when we had all the other details planned out, the topic of what to do with the money we earned came up. That’s when VT Seva popped into my head. I told my partner about the organization, and my vision to donate the money to VT Seva, towards empowering an underprivileged kids education. Knowing that we would be donating the money to someone in need, pushed me to work hard on our products throughout the summer. By myself, I managed to get 17 bookmarks and 7 pairs of earrings done. Since each of our products were original art (each one was made by hand), it could take a few hours just to finish two or three bookmarks or pairs of earrings. But with the help of my partner for the fair, we had a total of 23 bookmarks and 23 pairs of earrings. The day of the fair came and went quicker than it seemed at the time, and after weeks of preparation, we did very well. We were told we were one of the most successful stalls at the Children’s Business Fair. I am very happy to say that I raised $440 for VT Seva. I realize now that I was able to raise enough money to sponsor a child in India, and it brings me a lot of satisfaction to know that I helped someone who was in need. VT Seva taught me so many of the skills, like how to talk to people about the product, or building self-confidence and most importantly how to give back to community. I hope to inspire people who think they don’t know what they’re doing, to realize that it only takes a tiny idea and small steps to reach a big goal.

After a very busy school year, summer break is time to relax. VT Seva Detroit Youth Board used their summer vacation not only for relaxing but helping others in te community and learnt about their history. The team implemented 5 projects this summer 1. Brilliant Detroit Reading Program 2. Manoogian Manor Senior Center Visits 3. Walkathon 4. Tribute to Bharath 5. Essential Workers Appreciation Project 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿 am Brilliant Detroit is dedicated to building kid success families and neighborhoods where families with children 0-8 have what they need to be school ready, healthy and stable. During the COVID-19 pandemic BD created a program called "𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿" where the volunteers will record the story book and send the videos to BD and these videos will go on a playlist that can only be exclusively accessed by families who live and participate in the Brilliant Detroit kid success neighborhoods. There are 11 Brilliant Detroit community centers located throughout neighborhoods in Detroit full of families who benefit from programming aimed to increase the literacy rate of these children. This helps the children who are learning from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. VT Seva Detroit Youth Board partnered with Brilliant Detroit and created 87 videos. Youth Board Member Abhinav S coordinated with Brilliant Detroit to make it happen. This was a great summer project for all of the youths who participated to give back to community by supporting the kids education. 27 Youth Board members created 87 videos. YB Members Participated in this project are: 𝗔𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗮, 𝗔𝗯𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘃, 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗷𝗮𝗻𝗮, 𝗔𝗺𝗼𝗴𝗵, 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗻, 𝗘𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗮, 𝗡𝗶𝗸𝗵𝗶𝗹, 𝗡𝗶𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗻, 𝗥𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻, 𝗦𝗿𝗮𝘃𝘆𝗮, 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝘂𝗻, 𝗨𝗱𝗵𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗮, 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵𝗮, 𝗡𝗲𝗵𝗮, 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶 𝗛, 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶, 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗧, 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵, 𝗛𝗶𝗯𝗮, 𝗞𝗮𝗮𝘃𝘆𝗮, 𝗢𝘃𝗶𝘆𝗮, 𝗥𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗮, 𝗦𝗮𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗿𝗮, 𝗦𝗮𝗶 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗺, 𝗦𝗵𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗶 Please visit tinyurl.com/brilliantstorytime to see the published videos. Awesome job all the youth board members who participated in this project Brilliant Detroit video project created by: Abhinav S Please watch the video about this project Manoogian Manor Senior Center Visit In May, VTS Detroit YB members wrote Mother's Day and Father's Day cards for three different senior centers, including Manoogian Manor. Manoogian Manor Senior Center was impressed with the cards and reached out to Harish who initiated the Greeting Card projects and invited the Youth Board members to attend the bonfires with seniors on the summer. Volunteers spent their time there setting up seats on the patio, handing out pop and popsicles to the residents, socializing with the residents, pushing the wheelchairs, and cleaning up the area. The seniors in Manoogian Manor thanked the Youth Board members for their time and asked for them to come back in the future. They enjoyed talking with both the youth and adult volunteers, many of them shared their life stories and their experiences at the Manoogian Manor. The volunteers all said they had a good time and it was fun to do something they've never done before. What makes people feel happy and content is different for each person and often changes over time. But, our Manoogian Manor residents is always thrilled to see us back at their premises. YB members visited them 3 times during summer, each time both the seniors and the youth board members enjoyed their conversations. Youth volunteers who visited the seniors are : Aditi(3), Advaith(1), Eesha(3), Harish(1), Kaavya(1), Niharika (1), Nikita (1), Oviya (3), Tarun (1) and Veeksha(3) Adult volunteers who visited the seniors are : Vani (3), Srinath (1), Priya(3), Vanitha (1) Manoogian Manor Senior Center Visits video created by: Veeksha Please watch the video about their senior center visits. Walkathon 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. 29 team members 162 participants, 43 days walked more than 20 Million steps (1000+ miles) 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. For more details and pictures please visit https://www.vtsworld.org/post/vt-seva-detroit-youth-board-initiated-first-walkathon Tribute to Bharath On August 15, 2021 , India celebrated its 75th Independence Day . British traders had established outposts in the Indian subcontinent by the 17th century. Through overwhelming military strength, the East India Company fought and annexed local kingdoms and established themselves as the dominant force in India by the 18th century. Oviya , a member of the Detroit youth board , proposed this project as a way to pay homage to those responsible for India’s independence. This was liked by many branches and became a national project. Atlanta, Austin, the Bay Area, and Cary youth team joined the Detroit team in appreciating these freedom fighters on the anniversary of India’s independence. 31 Youth Board members learned about 31 leaders and created 31 informational poster and posted it for whole month of August Youth Board members who participated in this project are: Oviya Jaisankar, Harish Jaisankar, Rashmita Raghunathan, Rachana Raghunathan, Anand Brijesh, Sravya Saranu, Hiba Zyna, Sai Sri Ram Karnati, Veeksha Somula, Abhinav Suresh, Eesha Chigullapally, Kaustubh Dingari, Udhayaa Arul, Ishani Shetty, Pavan Nagaraj, Srihari Hebbar, Rohan Patil, Amogh Pisipati, Aditi Jethri Kompally, Hrudya Kishore, Nikita Talwar, Sanjay Sundarapandiyan, Nirvan Daram, Kalki Renga Anand, Adhvaith Suresh, Eashan Daram, Pranav Maringanti, Adhip Pisipati, Shruthi Adduri, Siddharth Tirumala Kanduri and Niharika prabhu Tribute to Bharath project video created by: Oviya Please watch the video about Tribute to Bharath project at For more details about this project please visit https://www.vtsworld.org/post/tribute-to-bharath Essential Workers Appreciation Project: VT Seva Detroit Youth Board members celebrated this labor day by expressing their appreciation to the essential workers who makes our life goes smoothly every day even during the pandemic. Either rain or shine, pandemic or non pandemic, we all got our mails, we all got our trash picked up, we all got our groceries, all of our kids went to school by bus. Can't even imaginge not having any of those services accessible to us. They came to our door steps to provide services to us. Our YB members gave thank you notes to 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘂𝗽𝗖𝗿𝗲𝘄, 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗸𝘀, 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀, 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀, 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘄 and many more 𝟯𝟰 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 surprised the essential workers by giving thank you notes, choclates, gifts and gift cards to all the essential workers. They did made a change in their life, workers were so grateful to be appreciated. Some workers even had a tears of joy. This project taught our YB members the value of Gratitude and how much it impacts the giver and receiver positively. All the members who participated in this project was really happy for the opportunity and start noticing whats around them Youth Volunteers : Oviya, Harish, Sravya, Eesha, Rachana, Kaavya, Sai, Hiba, Rashmitha, Advaith, Chakrika, Abhinav, Saisha, Udhayaa, Srihari A, Anurag, Sai Sahasra, Shruthi, Rishi, Nitya, Aditya, Ananya, Kausthubh Amogh, Pranav M, Dhruthi, Teja, Arya, Siddharth, Ishani, Akshay, Varshini, Aneeshwa, and Vibha Essential Workers Appreciation Project video created by: Siddharth Please watch the video about this project Newsletter Consolidated by: Harish Jaisankar Published by : Nandini Cheemalamarri (Detroit Communications)

In this first of its kind event, friends and supporters of VT Seva organized a Food Stall at Liberty Park Subdivision on September 11th 2021 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM in order to raise money for the visually challenged and tribal area school children. There was overwhelming support from enthusiastic volunteers who came forward to support in the areas of Planning, Set-up of Stalls, Cooking Equipment, Cooking, Serving & Distribution, Cash Register, Crowd Management, Safety & Security, Photography, Parking, Wrap up and cleanup. This event was very well received by the Liberty Park community and everyone pitched in with their contributions either through volunteering or through their contributions to buy food from the stalls. The response to the event really surprised everyone since it was a festive atmosphere throughout the subdivision. An estimated 300 people attended the outdoor event. This was a great opportunity to come outdoors, have a safe & delicious food made on the spot and contribute towards a great cause. We were able to raise enough money to support 10 children in total to benefit Nethra Vidhyalaya & Tribal School children with the support of great friends, family & LP community. Krishna ji, HOA lead and our hosts - Divya ji & Venkat ji, Liberty Park Residents, were extremely gracious to provide their Driveway to set up the Donation Stations, Tents and Food Stations. Their neighbors were also so kind to lend their driveways as well for any spillover stations, storage, etc. The entire Liberty Park community extended their helping hand so amazingly and embraced the event to make it their own. In the run-up to the event, Liberty Park Subdivision HOA and VT Seva Team met several times to discuss the logistics, supplies, location, volunteers, Safety precautions and menu items for the Food Stall. These pre-planning meetings were very important to ensure all the above aspects and much more are taken care within the community and the event location. There was a variety of food options – Plain Dosa, Podi Dosa, Onion Dosa, Pesaratu & Upma Dosa, Ghee Dosa, Cheese Dosa, Pongal, Kesari, Coffee, Masala Chai & Samosa. The Dosas were served with hot Sambar and Chutney as well. All the food items were sold out by 4:30 PM . At the conclusion of the event, every individual specially encouraged us to have this kind of an event every year and that they were eagerly waiting for the next one to happen soon! VT SEVA DETROIT IMMENSELY THANKS EACH & EVERY INDIVIDUAL WHO MADE THIS EVENT A GRAND SUCCESS & CONTRIBUTED TOWARDS THE CAUSE! Photos from the event: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1AxcPgx6xCY9aT4S9 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐬𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭

“The Youths of Today are the leaders of tomorrow” - Nelson Mandela Good Communication is one of the core leadership skills. One should be able to express their ideas and be able to speak up for others to be a leader. In this modern world, people want everything fast. In a short period of time we should be able to explain and convince our ideas to the world. This competition is designed for that, youths prepare a speech for 2 minutes on one of the topics listed below and present it to get feedback from experienced people such as teachers, Toastmasters, and senior management personnel. By participating in this competition these youths supported VT Seva’s mission and vision. Youth empowerment, this competition gave them an opportunity to express their views on the topics and by participating in it all the contributions went towards the Nethra Vidyalaya student’s education. On a fine Sunday afternoon Oct 3rd, 2021, 31 youths attended the public speaking competition and made it a successful first competition in Troy. There were 3 groups of students who participated in the competition: Group 1 : Grade 3-5 Group 2 : Grade 6-8 Group 3 : Grade 9-12 They get to pick from any one of the following 3 topics: Education is the best weapon against overcoming disability Impacts of remote learning Social effects of cyberbullying and how it can be curbed We had 4 wonderful judges who analyzed the speeches given by these youths and gave their feedback. Without them it's not possible to have a competition. Our judges were, Raju Brahmandhabheri: He is passionate about public speaking and communication skills and has been a part of Toastmaster International (the platform to improve Public speaking and leadership skills) for the last 8 years and achieved the DTM (Distinguished ToastMasters)- the highest educational award in the Toastmasters program. He is a mentor for the high school students to coach/advise/prepare them for the annual Leadership Speech Contest hosted by National Management Association(NMA). He has served as a judge on various speech contests at Toastmasters and community organization’s educational competitions( public speaking, spelling bee etc) He is currently teaching public speaking skills for the kids at Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple, Livonia. By profession, he is an Electrical Engineer currently working as an Regional Engineering Manager at ITC Holdings Corp., Novi, Michigan. He also teaches Electrical Engineering classes at Lawrence Tech University, Southfield on a part time basis as an Adjunct faculty. Sriranga Seetharmachar: He is currently working at Auto Club Group (known as AAA) as Director of Data Business Intelligence and enjoys mentoring histeam to be effective communicators most, as a part of his responsibilities. He is an industrial engineer by education, and has spent the last 30 years in consulting, process improvement and fact based management for corporations. He is passionate about persuasive, compelling presentations to corporate audiences to influence fact based decisions and actions for business improvement and effectiveness. Thomas Zwolinski : He has been a member of Toastmasters International for 6 years and is currently an Area Director for Eastern Macomb County spanning 5 clubs. Prior to his role as Area Director, he served as two-term President for my current club, Macomb Motivators, and previously served as President for a corporate club at Comerica Bank. He retired in 2018 after working for over 35 years in Information Technology. He held several positions in IT from Software Development to Data Architecture and Governance. He mentors both new and existing members of Toastmasters about speaking and leadership opportunities. He has judged Toastmasters International Speech competitions in the past Joseph Verhelle: Graduated from Oakland University with a major in English w/ Secondary Education and a minor in History. He is currently working as a teacher at Troy High School. He teaches 9th and 10th grade English, along with Creative Writing. Public speaking and communication skills are key components of our state-wide curriculum and he enjoys establishing those very important skills in our youth. Architha & Priya welcomed the judges and went over the rules of the competition. VTSeva Detroit Director Srinath & VTSeva National Secretary Sudheer explained about VT Seva, Nethra Vidyalaya Schools & Tribal Schools. Greg, Chandrasekhar and Sudheer gave trophies to the winners. Thanks to Chandrasekar and Greg for sponsoring the competition and giving a hall. Thanks to Nandini (Detroit Communications) for her continuous support in publishing content provided by event leads in all our Social media channels from the start to the completion of the event. Wonderful volunteers who helped from start to end were Setup (Youth): Anvika, Sneha, Sreenika, Setup (Adult): Chandru, Jyothi, Vanitha, and Vijay Emcee: Harish Time Keepers: Venkat, Jaisankar, Sreenika Photography : Keerthi Public Speaking Committee: Priya , Archita, Chandrasekhar & Vijay Blog written by: Priya Jaisankar Blog posted by: Nandini Cheemalamarri

Throughout the past few years, VT Seva has been gaining more traction both on the impact it creates nationwide and regarding the number of volunteers that are involved in this organization. Especially during the pandemic, as meetings were held online, it was more accessible for teenagers and adults to take part in. With schools back to in-person-learning this year, youth VT Seva volunteers have developed a new goal in mind: to not only increase nationwide membership, but to foster diversity within the organization. Fostering diversity is important because when there are volunteers from different backgrounds and experiences, they can contribute their unique ideas towards making VT Seva even more successful in the incredible impact it makes. In order to achieve this goal, VT Seva youth have started/founded “VT Seva Clubs” at their respective high schools and have motivated their classmates to contribute towards VT Seva’s cause through their school branch. So far there have been 4 high school VT Seva clubs around the nation: VT Seva Club at Alpharetta High School in Atlanta, Georgia - founded in March 2017 Srikar, a high school sophomore, started a VTS club called “VTS Coding Coach” at Alpharetta High School through the VT Seva Atlanta State branch. His club aims to empower youth to be able to adapt to changing technology, Srikar along with this team (Dhereraj Eidnani, Manoj Niverthi, Anand Krishnan, and David Zhang) teach Java programming to students at their school for 45 minutes once a week at their high school campus and host library sessions every other week. Srikar and his team continue to inspire their fellow classmates and community to serve through the art of teaching. (Pictures published at the courtesy of Ocee Library from North Fulton County) VT Seva Club at Liberty Highschool in Renton, Washington - founded in October 2018 Chinmay Koimuttum and Aakarsh Dhilip founded a VTS branch at their highschool in order to increase volunteer engagement in their community. They informed members about service events the VTS Seattle branch was taking part in and motivated their peers to serve for the benefit of their community. VT Seva Club at Skyline High School in Sammamish, Washington - founded in September 2021 Srihari Krishnaswamy and I (Aditi Srinivasan) from the VT Seva Seattle branch co-founded a VTS club at our high school with the goal fostering more cultural diversity within the organization. We meet every other Wednesday after school for one hour and put together lesson plans to teach members from all ethnicities and backgrounds to identify their passion, brainstorm a non-profit initiative, scale it up through effective marketing, and donate proceeds collected from those projects to VT Seva Seattle’s cause of helping educate underprivileged children. Srihari and I lead meeting plans while our friends Neha Aithiraju, Rishi Sharma, and Pavan Kotti help make the club more visible to the school community through marketing and outreach. We hope to spread a message to our classmates that service should be something that one does willingly, focusing on the impact created rather than the reward. VT Seva Club at Lambert High School in Atlanta, GA - August 2021 VT Seva Youth Volunteers founded a chapter at Lambert High this fall and have helped increase VTS engagement through their school community. We hope to see many more high school VTS clubs like these in the years to come. Speaking from personal experience, it has been amazing to have the guidance of such caring adults here at Seattle VT Seva, and I wouldn’t have been able to become the leader I am today and make the impact I have been able to make without their tips and advice. I feel a duty to help empower more teenagers' from various ethnic backgrounds at my high school and pass on the knowledge I obtained from the VTS adult volunteers to new rising youth volunteers. I hope to see VT Seva's footprint expand even further and become more culturally diverse during the process. Let’s magnify our impact with one more club at a time! - Aditi Srinivasan VTSeva Seattle Youth Board

Hurricane Ida was a deadly and destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane that became the second-most damaging and intense hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. state of Louisiana on record, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005. VT SEVA Houston conducted a donation drive in the local community and donated all the c ollections to BOYS SCOUT Hurricane Relief Program on SEP 6th 2021. Dropping the Donation at the Boys scout center, Houston, TX. Donation Drive at the local community - door to door collection sorting Organizing the collection from the donation drive The list of the items collected Tarps (any size) Bottled Water Batteries (all types) Flashlights Garbage Bags Cleaning Supplies Gloves & Face Masks Toiletries Diapers & Baby Wipes Baby Formula Canned Food Pet Food Mandy Megat, from Boys scout thanked VT SEVA for all the Donations towards Hurricane Ida Relief Efforts. she also acknowledge the hard work of VT SEVA volunteers for coming forward for community service and appreciated VT SEVA for providing such a global platform.

3rd Annual Earth Day Science Fair 2021 VT SEVA successfully conducted the 3rd annual Earth Day Science Fair virtually! Wow! What was an unforgettable day was May 22nd, 2021, we got to witness the new talent and new ideas from the youth, on various topics like, Natural resources, Solar energy, BioPlastics, Wind Energy, and more to save our only planet, mother earth. Over 60 youngsters participated in various talent exhibitions comprising poster, costume, trifold, PowerPoint, and impromptu speaking contests. We had excellent support from our judges who put in their time and effort for scoring the contestants at a short notice. Here is a snippet of our participants during the online showcase. Participants from various grades and schools joined the event. SAVE WATER Mira Miryala 5th Grader Save Energy Kishan Gottamukala 4th Grader Gardening Kovida Kotha 3rd Grader OUR JUDGES Dr. Milind Kulkarni is an engineer at the Occidental Oil and Gas Corporation and has more than 30 years of experience in the field. Mrs. Shilpa Byrichetty currently works for Nasa and is working on a future spacesuit support system project. Mrs. Radha Chilkur is currently a part-time teacher in Katy Independent School District and has MS in computer science. Mr. Vijay Nitturi was the salutatorian of his high school graduating class and will be attending Baylor College of Medicine next year. · Mr. Pranav Konduri. He is a rising sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin majoring in political science and economics. The winners of each grade level were announced at the conclusion of the event and we had 22 winners for the science fair with an additional 4 winners in the impromptu speaking contest. Scholarship awards were also announced at the end of the event. We had a total of 6 scholarship winners with 5 of them for the science fair and one award in the impromptu speaking contest. Gyan Das won the scholarship award for the PreK- 2nd-grade Category. Siddarth Vikram won the scholarship award for the PreK-2nd grade Category. Srinath Madasu won the scholarship award for the 3rd – 5th-grade Category Srilata Madasu won the scholarship award for the 6th – 8th-grade Category. Mehaa Raja won the scholarship award for the high schoolers. Veeraj Sirivolu won the scholarship award for the impromptu Speech Contest GUEST SPEAKER Our volunteer team did an excellent job planning and making the event as fun as possible during this difficult pandemic. We take this opportunity to thank members of our team are: Shreyas Bharath, Abhiram Kandala, Aditya Manthena, Akshaya Manthena Shwetha Sirivolu, Aparna Tamarisa, Manjula Chokkarapu RECAP Awards distribution was done on Aug 21st 2021, please find some pictures below we are excited to come back next year - stay tunned for Earth day science fair 2022 - Shreyas Bharath

𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 "𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆. – 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗖𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘀" VT Seva Detroit Youth Board members celebrated this labor day by expressing their appreciation to the essential workers who makes our life goes smoothly every day even during the pandemic. Either rain or shine, pandemic or non pandemic, we all got our mails, we all got our trash picked up, we all got our groceries, all of our kids went to school by bus. Can't even imaginge not having any of those services accessible to us. They came to our door steps to provide services to us. Our YB members gave thank you notes to 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘂𝗽𝗖𝗿𝗲𝘄, 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗸𝘀, 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀, 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀, 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘄 and many more 𝟯𝟰 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 surprised the essential workers by giving thank you notes, choclates, gifts and gift cards to all the essential workers. They did made a change in their life, workers were so grateful to be appreciated. Some workers even had a tears of joy. This project taught our YB members the value of Gratitude and how much it impacts the giver and receiver positively. All the members who participated in this project was really happy for the opportunity and start noticing whats around them 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀: Oviya, Harish, Sravya, Eesha, Rachana, Kaavya, Sai, Hiba, Rashmitha, Advaith, Chakrika, Abhinav, Saisha, Udhayaa, Srihari A, Anurag, Sai Sahasra, Shruthi, Rishi, Nitya, Aditya, Ananya, Kausthubh Amogh, Pranav M, Dhruthi, Teja, Arya, Siddharth, Ishani, Akshay, Varshini, Aneeshwa, and Vibha Thank you so much for all the members who participated in this project!!!! Please visit our Facebook Page to like, Share to support VTSeva Detroit efforts. https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/5046002875426701 Blog Written by Priya Jaishankar Published by Nandini Cheemalamarri (Detroit Communications)

VTS DETROIT 2021 FOOD DRIVE FOR GLEANERS FOOD BANK AND CAPUCHIN SOUP KITCHEN WITH THE HELP OF KROGER NOVI STORES SOLICITATION FINISHED OFF VERY SUCCESSFULLY VT Seva Detroit has always been proud to partner with Gleaners and Capuchin Soup Kitchen in any community service initiatives. Gleaner Food Bank is committed to end Hunger in Southeast Michigan along with their partner agencies as a part of Feeding America program. “Child” & “Hunger” are the two words that should never go together. To solve this complex problem Gleaners always collaborates with other agencies to find solutions for a hunger-free community. Capuchin Soup Kitchen’s mission is to tend to people's basic needs, especially the need for food and strives to stimulate minds and nourish spirits, and works to understand & address root causes of social injustice in our community. VT Seva Detroit has partnered with these two amazing organizations in many past Food Drives and Community Initiatives and have contributed immensely towards positively impacting the local community. As a part of this Food Drive, we collected 12 Boxes of Food donations and over $682.00 in CASH for the Food Banks from generous customers who shopped today (08/22/2021) at Kroger Novi store from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Amazing help from all our wonderful volunteers who were there on all shifts and tirelessly worked for this great success. Our youth volunteers and adult volunteers had all guns blazing throughout their shift slots reaching out to all the customers, distributing flyers, speaking about VT Seva Detroit and explaining the reason behind the food drive. They were spot on with their impeccable customer friendly skills and approach. We did see few people who were un-responsive towards their efforts but our Volunteers never gave up, continued to do their duties with the same energy and smile. We sincerely thank each one of these wonderful Youth and Adult volunteers who participated in the Food Drive. Youth volunteers: Sai Karnati, Sai Sahasra, Aditi, Hiba, Kaustubh, Pranav M, Dhruthi, Rashmitha ,Anand, Siddharth Adult volunteers: Srinath ji, Srivardhan ji, Nivedhita ji , Zahara ji, Vamshi ji, Raghunath ji, Suresh ji, Brijesh ji , Asha ji, Vanitha Amazing 👏👌 help by Brijesh ji, Suresh, Zahara ji, Raghunath ji , Asha ji in making boxes, sorting, packing, loading , unloading boxes Amazing help by Srinath ji , Srivardhan ji , Nivedhita ji, Vamshi ji in making boxes, sorting, packing during the morning hours till noon🙏 Special shout out to Asha ji for going home in-between of her volunteering shift at 4:00 pm to make some refreshing Masala Chai for Adult volunteers and treating our Youth volunteers with Lemonade, & Cup Cakes. After the collection, the Gleaners Food Bank associate drove all the way to our coordinator’s residence and picked up the food donation boxes & he was so appreciative and whole heartedly thanked for our efforts. We also delivered the remaining food donations boxes to Capuchin Kitchen Services, Detroit. Pastor Dijan was very kind to appreciate our efforts. We take this opportunity to also sincerely thank Kroger Corporate Executive, Stacy for approving VT Seva Detroit solicitation application and granting Novi Store to do food drive for Metro Detroit foodbanks to alleviate hunger in many families across Michigan. We plan on continuing to do the food drive every year with the help of Kroger. We received the below appreciation emails from Gleaners Food Bank! Thanks so much to you and all of VT Seva Detroit! You all make such a difference in our community. We very much appreciate the wonderful support we receive from VT Seva Detroit – you all have been such longtime and wonderful supporters! Thank you for organizing a food drive to benefit Gleaners Denise M. Leduc Director of Volunteer Services & Partner Support Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan Blog created by: Vanitha Gopalan Blog published by: Nandini Cheemalamarri (Detroit Communications) Thank you Detroit Communications for your support in Social Media updates. Thank you letter from Gleaners Food Bank. Please visit our Facebook Page for more info. https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/4960791387281184 Please Like, share to promote VTSeva Detroit efforts.

VT Seva Detroit presents its 4th annual Public Speaking Contest. In this modern world, people want everything fast. In a short period of time we should be able to explain and convince our ideas to the world. This competition is designed for that, all you need to do is prepare a speech for 2 minutes on any one of the topics listed below and present it to get feedback from experienced people such as teachers, Toastmasters, and senior management personnel. This competition is not only going to help you realize your potential, all the proceeds raised from this competition will support the Nethravidyala students' education. Last date for Registration : October 1, 2021 Competition Date : October 3rd, 2021 Three Groups : Group 1 : Grade 3-5 (As they are small kids, they can read from their notes if they want to) Group 2 : Grade 6-8 Group 3 : Grade 9-12 Choose any one topic during registration: Education is the best weapon against overcoming disability Impacts of remote learning Social effects of cyberbullying and how it can be curbed Please read the Rules and Register. Please read the Rules and Register.

𝐕𝐓 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐭 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭s 𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐌𝐈 June 19, July 28th 2021 About Crossroads Community Garden: Crossroads Community Garden is owned by the Crossroads Presbyterian Church in Walled Lake. Crossroads Community Garden provides all their organically grown vegetables for the Hospitality House Food bank and others in need. They have a huge community garden whereby they let anyone willing to grow their own garden in or more garden plots. They will provide the land and water. Also, there is another way that one can join the fun to work in the community sections of their garden. One can volunteer to plant a whole assortment of fruits and vegetables from cabbage to zucchini. They will lay out a to be done list for each day so we just go and help them out in their gardening efforts towards supporting the Hospitality House Food Bank and other food banks. VT Seva Detroit Volunteers collaborated with them and got this wonderful opportunity to help their community garden & help for their good cause for the Hospitality House Food Bank. VT Seva Detroit 1st Event at Crossroads Community Garden on 06/19/2021 from 10 am to 12 pm. We helped Bobby and her associate in planting Butternut Squash, Buttercup/Winter Squash, clear out weeds, and till the ground using Rototiller. It was perfect weather to work outdoors in the garden until it started drizzling by the time we finished off all the assigned tasks. It was quite an enriching experience for all the youth & adult volunteers to learn how to till, make mounds to sow seeds using all the different garden tools. All in all, we had a great time outdoors helping the community. The produce from the garden will go to Hospitality House Food Bank in Walled Lake, Michigan where they will be distributed to those in need while maintaining the utmost respect for the dignity of the individuals. These are our volunteers who came and helped today. Youth Eashan Daram Nirvan Daram Rohan Patil Rashmita Raghunathan Shrikha Atchutuni Yug Patel Adult Savita Patil Manisha Daram Suresh Rajan Vanitha Gopalan All in All it was a great day serving outdoors doing gardening for Crossroads Community Garden, Walled Lake, MI. VT Seva Detroit 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟴𝘁𝗵, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭 What a great evening spent volunteering outdoors from 6pm to 8 pm sweating, toiling and getting hands dirty by 12 of our wonderful youth and adult VT Seva Detroit Volunteers at the Crossroads Community Garden, owned by the Crossroads Presbyterian Church in Walled Lake, MI. Our Group helped planting Bush Beans, Early Cabbage, Weeded out a lot of weeds, trimmed and pruned down all eggplants plants ; sprayed organic fertilizers to all plants; Rototilled the soil & mowed the lawn and finally helped them at the end in organizing their garden tools and cleanup activities. It was quite an enriching experience to all our youth & adult volunteers and everyone enjoyed working as a group outdoors. Bobbie and her associates were full of praise about our awesome YOUTH and amazing adult volunteers for their efforts. These are our wonderful volunteers who came and helped today. Youth volunteers Anand, Hrudya, Hiba, Srihari H, Rohan, Abhinav, Yug. Adult volunteers Savita ji, Asha ji, Bhanu ji, Kishore ji, Vanitha Zahara ji & Phani ji were gracious enough to stop by for few minutes and encourage all our youth volunteers during the event. These are some of the feedbacks which we got from Bobbie at Crossroads Community Garden. “Please tell your volunteers that the beans they planted have sprouted and still protected with the wire fence. The eggplants are doing well thanks to your volunteers. And the weeds are down - also thanks to your volunteers. The green peppers, basil, potatoes, onions, and eggplants are all safe from the deer (so far). We will harvest these during August. We brought green peppers and basil to the Hospitality House - totaling almost 20 pounds.” We really appreciate all our wonderful VT Seva Detroit Volunteers who all participated for their time and help at the community garden. The vegetables grown were all distributed to the Hospitality Habitat Foodbank at Walled lake. We are also looking forward for any Fall cleanup activities with them later this year and continue our services next year as well. Thank you very much Crossroads Community Garden for giving us this opportunity. Blog created by: Vanitha Gopalan Blog published by: Nandini Cheemalamarri (Detroit Communications) Thank you our Detroit Communication Team for your support in publishing our blogs in FB and Websites. Please visit VT Seva Detroit Facebook page for more events, like and share to promote VT Seva activities. https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/4766764396683885 https://www.facebook.com/vtseva.detroit/posts/4897578726935784

“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. ​ You could be the helping hands to make their lives a bit better with your generous donations. 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  SPONSORSHIP PACKAGE COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS FOR RAAS Event Sponsorship - 20 or More Student's Education 50 Tickets Diamond Sponsorship - 15 or More Student's Education 30 Tickets Gold Sponsorship - 10 or More Student's Education 20 Tickets Silver Sponsorship - 5 or More Student's Education 10 Tickets Bronze Sponsorship - 3 or More Student's Education 4 Tickets Sponsorship for 1 or 2 Student's Education 2 Tickets 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

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

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