Dear friends of Sevalaya,
Summer is here and we would like to share our achievements over the last few months.
Thank you for your continuing support for the education of underprivileged children at the Mahakavi Bharatiyar Higher Secondary School in Kasuva village, Tamil Nadu. Since the beginning of the year, Sevalaya USA has sponsored the education of 166 students, ranging in age from 5-17.
Now we have a new project, supporting the construction of a senior home for the destitute elderly. This will initially benefit 20 senior citizens. The construction of the home is in progress (See picture on the left).
When we make grants to an organization, we closely monitor the distributions and visit project sites to verify that the funds are being used only for the projects they were granted. Venkat, one of the board members of Sevalaya USA, visited Mahakavi Bharatiyar Higher Secondary School in March 2018 and met the students and teachers.
We are happy to report that the students at the Mahakavi Bharatiyar Higher Secondary School have performed exceptionally well in the 12th standard exams this year, having secured 99.20% pass results in class XII board exams. This is a big achievement “as these students live in shattered families and single room houses with no special facilities for studying. The children also have to help out their parents, who mostly work as daily wage earners and struggle to keep the family afloat"(Sevalaya, 2018).
Research consistently shows that teacher quality is a key determinant in increasing student scores and student engagement. This is especially true for children in the primary grades. This quarter, we were successful in sponsoring the salaries of two additional teachers (making it a total of five) – Mrs. S. Bhuvaneswari and Mrs. S. Lakshmi. Mrs. S. Bhuvaneswari, DTEd., B.A (Eng.) teaches English and Science and Mrs. S. Lakshmi, BA (Econ.) has a diploma in primary education and is the Kindergarten teacher. Together they make a difference in the lives of 142 students.
We need your support to fulfill our goal of funding the salaries of 20 teachers by August 2018. Please donate generously.
Sevalaya is participating in ICC Sevathon on August 19, 2018. Please support Sevalaya USA by signing up to Run/Walk/Yoga at http://konnectme.org/event/join/3250796/?ref=3266697
A quick and easy way to double your contribution is through employee giving programs. Many corporations match employee donations to our organization. We will be happy to do all paperwork on your behalf. Another way to support us is through AmazonSmile. Use this link to do your shopping (http://smile.amazon.com/ch/82-1291775) and Amazon Smile will donate to Sevalaya USA.
We are also looking for volunteers to join our team. For additional information, please visit us online at sevalaya.us and facebook.com/SevalayaUSA.
Thank you to all our supporters for the successful Vidushi Bombay Jayashree Concert fundraiser in association with SanKritiLaya. You have made an impact in the lives of underprivileged children by providing them access to quality education. We extend our gratitude to SanKritiLaya for their support.
Sincerely,
Sevalaya team