Aug 2021 VOl. 4, No. 2

The second wave of COVID-19 in India has had severe consequences in the form of increasing number of cases and reduced essential supplies. There is a critical and immediate need for oxygen cylinders and oxygen concentrators in government hospitals and COVID Care Centers. In addition, the lockdown restrictions have resulted in unemployment for many, particularly the daily wage and migrant workers. Supply of dry ration is also affected as lockdowns can significantly impact the ability of families to afford meals. In Chennai, Sevalaya is undertaking relief activities with the support of donors and corporations and distributing dry rations and pre-cooked food. Sevalaya members have been working with hospitals and primary health centers in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Chengalpet, Tiruvallur and Nilgiris, procuring and distributing medical supplies. Sevalaya is also operating ambulances and distributing oxygen concentrators with help from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs.

To support these efforts, Sevalaya USA has set a fundraising goal of $50,000 to get Oxygen concentrators and personal protection kits. A total of $ 33,000 has been raised so far. Sevalaya would like to thank all the donors who made this possible. We also would like to acknowledge the following donors:

● Ankitara Foundation, USA for their donation towards the purchase of 6 Oxygen Concentrators for Government General Hospital, Tenkasi.

● Board member Venkatesh Prasad, USA for his donation towards the purchase of 3 Oxygen Concentrators.

● Donor and supporter Mr. Dhamodaran and his friend Mr. K. Venkatesan for organizing, coordinating with Vasavi Seva Foundation and delivering 6 oxygen concentrators to Sevalaya for distribution to hospitals.

In addition, the 1983-1987 batch of the College of Engineering, Guindy raised funds for an Oxygen Plant at the Gudalur Government Hospital with 100 LPM capacity. This project was implemented by Sevalaya members and ensures that 20 hospital beds will get access to permanent oxygen supply at Gudalur.

Since the lockdown of 2020, the Mahakavi Bharathiyar Higher Secondary School has been closed and the classes have transitioned online. This has created urgency around the need for appropriate devices for students to allow them to participate in distance learning. With the help of donors, Sevalaya raised $600 towards the purchase of Smartphones for use by students. Four students from Standard IX and XII were selected from Mahakavi Bharathiyar Higher Secondary School and presented with a smartphone in July 2021.

We also wish to express our deep gratitude to the following:

● Mr. Vijaianand for his endowment which supports the education of 9 students.

● The Hindu Community and Cultural Center of Livermore for a grant of $500 to continue efforts.

● The team of Preethi Srinivas, Yunhan Wang and Paul Irish for volunteering their time to redesign the Sevalaya website.

One easy way to support Sevalaya is to shop on smile.amazon.com. It is the same Amazon you use and the products and services are the same. Go to https://smile.amazon.com/ and select Sevalaya USA from the charity list. Whenever you shop on smile.amazon.com, Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice.

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

January 2021, Vol. 4, No. 1

Dear supporters of Sevalaya USA,

Happy New Year! The year 2020 will be remembered for the challenges created by the pandemic which have been felt deeply worldwide. Through this incredible adversity, the strength and resiliency shown by Sevalaya supporters is greatly appreciated.

In 2020, Sevalaya supported 543 students at the Mahakavi Bharathiyar High School. Some of the activities made possible by your support include two

fundraisers to help Sevalaya students get access to technology during the COVID lockdown of schools and two alumni fundraisers that helped set up endowments and smart classrooms. In addition, Sevalaya USA donated items like Ensure, whole wheat pasta, canned vegetables, fruits and sauces, crackers, Brown rice, granola bars, peanut butter, canned salmon and tuna, nuts, cereals, pancake mix, etc. to the Community Services Agency in Mountain View.

We thank the alumni from the 1995 ECE batch of PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore for their generous and thoughtful donation. They celebrated their 25th year reunion by raising funds to support one Smart Classroom (a Smart Classroom includes an ACER Dual Core PC, projector and an interactive board) at the Mahakavi Bharathiyar Higher Secondary School. The alumni group has also set up the following endowments which will provide continuous support to Sevalaya.

• Educational Sponsorship for 3 children

• Living expenses for 2 children

• Sponsorship of dinner once a year

• Living expenses for a senior

In 2020, some of the funds came through fundraisers hosted by Sevalaya supporters. Our thanks to Sundar Vaidyanathan, Sundar Ramanathan and Prema Ranganthan for their Facebook fundraisers. We are grateful to Preethi Srinivas of Google for hosting a fundraiser to raise money to buy Chromebooks and smartphones for the students who do not have access to technology at home. Schools have been closed for almost a year due to Covid-19 and this donation helps students with their distance learning. We would also like to thank her for initiating the revamp of our website.

We appreciate our donor and supporter, Mr. Kathiravan Ezhilmannan, (Prabakar Sundarrajan) who presided online as the chief guest at the Pongal Celebrations at Sevalaya India on January 13, 2021 and gave a humorous and inspiring speech to the students.

Sevalaya USA board members attended the Pongal celebrations virtually and observed the cultural program performed by the students of Sevalaya.

We need your support to continue our work. One easy way to support Sevalaya is to shop on smile.amazon.com. It is the same Amazon you use and the products and services are the same. Go to https://smile.amazon.com/ and select Sevalaya USA from the charity list. Whenever you shop on smile.amazon.com, Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice.

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

Aug 2020, Vol. 3, No. 2

Dear supporters of Sevalaya USA,

The advent of COVID-19 has brought the issues of digital inclusion, food insecurity and personal safety to the forefront. Working with corporate sponsors, Sevalaya has distributed two crore rupees worth grocery kits, sanitation kits, dry rations kits, and masks to vulnerable populations and PPE kits frontline workers. These kits include rice, dhal, cereals, spices, oil, gloves, face masks, sanitizer, N95 masks, non-woven face masks and hand wash liquid.

Schools are closed for in-person learning in Tamil Nadu but the school year has started. Many of the students of Sevalaya do not have access to technology including smartphones, computers or laptops at home. Some parents have smartphones and teachers are able to connect with and teach their students using Skype and WhatsApp. The teachers have created WhatsApp groups for their classrooms and send worksheets on a daily basis to their students. Students complete the same and send them back to the teachers using WhatsApp. Students also send their audio recording, video recording and pictures of their drawings to their teachers. Sevalaya Chennai is requesting the donation of old Smartphones.

Sevalaya thanks alumni from the 1995 Computer Science batch of PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore for their generous and thoughtful donation. They celebrated their 25th year reunion by raising funds to support three Smart Classrooms at Mahakavi Bharathiyar Higher Secondary School. A Smart Classroom includes an ACER Dual Core PC, projector and an interactive board. The alumni group has also set up 4 educational endowments which will provide continuous support to Sevalaya.

Special thanks to InstaGana Live, a California based International community organization that promotes music, for hosting a musical fundraiser for Sevalaya on August 16. In this virtual event, participants from all over the world, including students and senior residents of Sevalaya, sang songs celebrating Indian Independence Day.

We are very excited to announce another ongoing fundraiser. 1995 ECE batch of PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore is celebrating their 25th year reunion by raising funds for Sevalaya.

Students at Sevalaya Mahakavi Bharathiyar Higher Secondary School secured 98% pass results in XII Std. Board Examination. 120 of the 123 students have successfully cleared the finals with excellent marks. Congratulations!

Since the beginning of 2020, Sevalaya USA has supported the education of 330 students and raised $1745 towards COVID relief and $3000 for supporting the senior homes. We would like to thank our donors and supporters.

One easy way to support Sevalaya is to shop on smile.amazon.com. It is the same Amazon you use and the products and services are the same. Go to https://smile.amazon.com/ and select Sevalaya USA from the charity list. Whenever you shop on smile.amazon.com, Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice.

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

Be well and stay healthy!

Sincerely,

Sevalaya team