january 2024, Vol. 7, No. 1

Dear supporters of Sevalaya USA,

Happy New Year to all our friends and supporters. Since April 2023, we have supported the education of 258 students. We are still far away from achieving our goal of supporting 600 students by March 2024. We need your generous contribution to achieve our goal. We have only two more months.

Thank you to supporters Bala Shanmugam and Babita Giri of B&B Entertainments for their generous donation and for including us as one of their community partners for the QFR Classic Tour with Subhasree Thanikachalam concert on September 15, 2023. We also appreciate their donation of a booth at the event venue and time on the stage. Thank you to realtor Manu Changotra for her sponsorship of the event and Mahadevan Sridharan for donating 25 concert tickets to Sevalaya USA.

We had twenty-eight participants in the RunWalkForSeva fundraiser from October 06, 2023 to October 23, 2023. We raised $1561 through this effort.

Thank you to the participants and the donors.

A big thank you to the many supporters who donated towards Diwali celebrations at the Kasuva Village, located in Thiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu. The children and seniors received new clothes to celebrate Diwali.

In November, we received a grant from EKAM Foundation to support the vocational training of 120 students for six months in Community college in Kasuva. Sixty (60) students will be trained to qualify as electricians and another sixty (60) students will be trained in Refrigerator & AC repairs. Thank you to EKAM Foundation for their support.

This year, an average of 300 people per month have benefited through Project Mental Wellness. It offers mental health and wellness services to the students, seniors, and staff of Sevalaya and to rural women who are farmers and caregivers.

One of our supporters Mahadevan Sridharan visited the Sevalaya Old Age Home in Thanjavur and met with the staff members, Shanmugapriya and Saravan and the seniors living at the home. He made a generous donation to the home. Thank you.

In December, Board Member Anandi Lakshmikanthan visited Janaki Vijayaraghav Achariyar Memorial senior home in Zamin Endathur, and met with the seniors who live there. They were excited to talk about their daily routine, evening walks around the village, medical care, and visits to places outside the senior home. Anandi also visited the community college in the same campus and met with the tailoring program instructor and the students. Our thanks to Anandan of Sevalaya Chennai for coordinating this visit.

In addition, congratulations to our partner Sevalaya Chennai who won the national award for Social Impact instituted by SP Jain Institute of Management and Research of Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan.

To join our volunteer team, please visit us online at sevalaya.us and facebook.com/SevalayaUSA.

Sincerely,

Sevalaya team[1]

[1] Board members: Anandi Lakshmikanthan, Venkat Prasad Manickavasagam, Mani Subramaniyan

Legal advisor: Pooja Sudarshan

Newsletter: Vidya Kilambi, Anandi Lakshmikanthan

August 23,Vol 6 No. 2

Dear supporters of Sevalaya USA,

Thank you for your support! During the first half of 2023 we supported the education of 412 students and are getting closer to the goal of supporting 600 students for the year. We have exciting news to share! In June 2023, all the Std. XII students in the Mahakavi Bharathiyar Higher Secondary School passed their final exams. The school had a 95% pass rate for the Std. X exam.

In 2023, grants were made to support sports training on campus where students get coached in various sports like volleyball, basketball, athletics, football, and handball.

A grant to a hospital in Gudalur, Nilgiris district has been providing health and social services to the tribals and locals.

This year, Sevalaya Board has a new project, Project Mental Health & Wellness at Mahatma Gandhi Medical Centre, to offer mental health and wellness services to the students, seniors, and staff of Sevalaya and to rural women who are farmers and caregivers. Rural women face challenges including gender discrimination, poverty, and poor physical health. Besides these, they are also exposed to domestic violence, which is one of the main risk factors for common mental disorders in rural women. This project offers individual sessions and group sessions for patients. Every month, an average of 300 people benefit from this clinic.

Some additional projects were accomplished this year thanks to grants from our supporters:

Repairs were made to the roof of the Girl’s Orphanage in the Kasuva campus.

Prayer Meeting

A prayer room was constructed in a senior home in Zamin Endathur, which houses 30 seniors.

Board member Anandi Lakshmikanthan received a grant on behalf of Sevalaya USA on June 10, 2023 from Tri-Valley Kannada Sangha (TVKS) at their SnehaSetu event. Thank you to TVKS for extending help to peer organizations that are making a positive impact on the community. We acknowledge their wonderful team of volunteers and the board members who made everyone feel welcome.

Sevalaya USA would like to thank two students Jahnavi and Jishnu for establishing a spoken English class for the students of Sevalaya. In June 2023, Jahnavi raised funds at her Carnatic Vocal Arangetram, which will be used to provide art education to the stuents. We thank her for her fundraising efforts at such a young age and wish her the best in her future endeavors.

Thank you to longtime supporter Mr. Vijaianand! This year, he raised enough money through his annual fundraiser to sponsor the education of 25 children and added two more endowments, which brings the total number of endowments to 13 children.

We are also looking for volunteers to join our team. For additional information, please visit us online at sevalaya.us and facebook.com/SevalayaUSA.

Sincerely,

Sevalaya team

JAN 2023, Vol. 6,No. 1

Dear supporters of Sevalaya USA,

Happy New Year to all our friends and supporters. A big thank you for your generous donations. In the second half of 2022, Sevalaya has supported the education of 303 students, bringing the total to 591 students for the year 2022. Our goal of reaching 600 students is within reach.

With a generous donation from a donor, Sevalaya provided scholarships to students who are going to college and need financial assistance. With their donation, Sevalaya is able to support the higher education of 11 students at various colleges (Sridevi Arts and Science College, Sriram College of Arts and Science, DRBCCC Hindu College, Nazareth College of Arts and Sciences, Jaya Engineering College and Annai Violet Arts and Science College). These students are interested in a wide variety of majors- Engineering, Commerce, Agriculture, Computer applications and Business.

With support from our donors, we were successful in supporting the following:

• Mahakavi Bharathiyar Higher Secondary School by providing funding for regular training in various sports on campus, buying sports equipment and helping students participate in tournaments

• The construction of a senior home in Zamin Endathur and supporting the seniors living in the Thanjavur senior home

• The children in the Swami Vivekananda Boys’ Home and the Mother Teresa Girls’ Home and seniors at the Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa old age home with a grant towards Diwali celebrations.
  

Year-end Fundraiser

Sevalaya USA thanks supporters for their generous donation towards the San Jose Family Center winter drive. We received two car loads of blankets, sheets, shampoo and food worth nearly $2000 and delivered them!

Board Member Visit to Gayathri Memorial Vocational Training Center

On November 30th, 2022, Board Member Prasad Manickavasagam visited the Sevalaya Pattinappakam Gayathri memorial vocational center.

He described it as a very heartwarming experience and shared that “This economically backward area is in the middle of several luxurious apartment complexes. In the midst of all the huts and dilapidated buildings, the Sevalaya center was brimming with activity. Several women were being trained on tailoring. In an adjacent hallway, small children were doing their homework under the supervision of a teacher. On the third floor of the building, Karate training was going on for kids to build up their self-esteem.”

Thank you to our supporters for participating in two fundraisers in August, 2022:

1. A virtual RunWalkForSeva 5k/10k event (Aug 26-Sept 5) which included 45 participants and thirteen donations. This fundraiser supported the education of eight children. We wanted to acknowledge a supporter who walked 70 miles in 10 days. Supporters hiked in different places, in India, at Soaring Eagle Park in Seattle WA and at Vasona Park, Campbell CA.

2. SEVATHON

Sevalaya USA also participated in the

Bay Area Sevathon organized by India Community Center at Vasona Park on Aug 28th. We had 5 participants. Thanks to ICC for organizing Sevathon and providing a platform for the local nonprofits to raise money.

Amazon has ended its donation program, AmazonSmile. Thank you for supporting us for six amazing years!

We are also looking for volunteers to join our team. For additional information, please visit us online at sevalaya.us and facebook.com/SevalayaUSA.

Sincerely,

Sevalaya team