Upcoming VSF events : 

Jan 18th, Sankaranthi Festival Celebration, see the flyer above

PURCHASE tickets here please https://www.vsfbayarea.org/sankranti2020 

Its the season of sharing and giving
VSF shared multiple ways, please see below

Table of Contents:

1. Giving by our community

1. Dr. Ashok Singri
2. Rise Against Hunger
3. RAH experience by Sharanya Keserla
4. RAH experience by Shrimayee Grandhi
5. Homeless shelter cooking in Fremont on Nov 24th
6. Tri-Valley - Berkeley Food Drive by Smt. Valli Boggavarapu
7. Our leader in service - Nagesh Kannamuri Garu (EC outreach) Q&A
8. Blanket Drive, contributed by Rashmi Garu
9. Coat drive

2. Article by Manickam Dhamo on pilgrimage

3. Cartoon by Uday Jonnala

4. VSF saves the day - Ram Sripathi 

5. Story of Nachiketa where charity went awry but for good
 

        6th Grader, Fallon Middle School, Dublin CA

When we got inside, we were immediately greeted by many pleasant, kind people. The atmosphere in the building itself was great. It was full of happy people who all shared one passion - their love for volunteering and helping people. 

Volunteering is much more important than you might think it is. It is helping to change the world for the better, and we can end poverty along the way. Because, not only do the amount of happy stomachs grow, you also grow as a person, and that is also very important

• Audrey Hepburn

When did you start getting involved in giving?

My involvement with giving dates back to when I was in my teens. My family always believed in doing good, do within means, not expect anything back in return. Keeping that in mind, my parents would feed the poor or sponsor kids of maids who wanted to study but did not have the means to. I would help my parents in cooking as part of giving back.

This evolved into creating an extended trust focused on sponsoring kids for education. I started donating as soon I had an income coming in. Through the years, both from my paternal and maternal side, we have different nonprofits focused on education and upliftment in our ancestral villages of Vijaynagram and Kakinada. I continued the same in the US by volunteering in various charities.

What kind of joy does it provide you?

For me, volunteer work has given me the opportunity to help others and give back to my community. I have given many hours of my time volunteering, and I have learned many lessons from my experiences. When volunteering, it is important to remember that you are helping others. A task that may seem simple to you can mean everything to someone else. Doing small tasks like directing people where to go, sitting and talking, restocking, or making and serving meals may seem like small tasks, but they have made an impact on the people I have helped.

The feeling of helping someone is also rewarding, as it cannot be matched by anything else. When volunteering, you suddenly can understand the situation the others are living in, know that what you are doing to help is going to benefit others and allows you to feel like you have made a difference in your community. Helping others also brings joy to you and the others around you, and makes you want to help more people when you see the impact it can have. Volunteering is also a humbling experience, as it allows you to be thankful for what you have. It also helps me think about being blessed with more than the people you are helping and be grateful for that.

It also provides me a venue to distress from all the things in the personal and office front. It helps one to forget the things that may be bothering to look at the hurdles with a fresh perspective and build better relationships and homes in the thought of forgiveness. It also gives an opportunity to meet other people and forge new friendships.

How do you involve your children?

Got the boys into volunteering when both were in middle school. For my older one, his interest for volunteering was sparked when we did runs for seva, or for cancer. Seeing that his actions were going for a good cause began to get the gears in his head spinning. He began to volunteer at local elementary school events, second harvest food bank (when he was old enough), and on earth day, all three of us would go to local creeks and trails to pick up litter. As he got older, the things he was interested in took bigger steps. His freshman year he volunteered his time at Santa Teresa park, with the intention of making the park enjoyable for everyone. He got so interested is helping others and benefiting the community that he decided to take things on a greater level by taking on the opportunity to advocate for change amongst youth and bring joy in the community he grew up. He is now working with the city council in cleaning up parks/trail, teaching elderly the ways of technology, raising awareness about teen anxiety, mentoring kids who need assistance or raising funds for local organizations.

Based on his experience, here are his thoughts:

Importance for volunteering. We are privileged, and sometimes we are unaware of the hardships people go through. It’s important to give back to the less fortunate. It is his way of being thankful for the life he has and a way of saying thanks. By volunteering I find joy by benefiting the people around me and giving back to the community.

My younger one tags along when I volunteer, and he relishes it.

You travel a lot, how do you manage work/family and your volunteering events?

It is always a challenge but it boils down to prioritization and impact. I am fortunate enough to have a family that supports me in my causes and take over some of my load when needed. I am also glad to have the extended VSF family who jump in to volunteer in events I organize or take my spot at time of need when am not available.

What organizations are you associated with?

Currently I am actively involved with VSF, West Valley Community Services (as a Board Member), my paternal and maternal non profit outfits and I am just a donor for charities such as Alzeihmer Society, American Heart Association, SmileTrain, Silcon Valley Harvest Bank etc.

How many hours in a month do you spend on charity events?

Anywhere from 8-12 hrs

if people are interested how do they join you?

Sign up to volunteer for the events that I broadcast on behest of VSF or reach out to personally on other ones I am involved with to volunteer or donate.

Holiday Cheer for the Needy Dec 14th:
The December holidays are a challenging time for many people, as the stress of shopping, cooking, and family get-together make for a busy and often draining six weeks.  For families living in poverty, the holiday season is particularly stressful. Homeless and low-income families cannot afford to purchase gifts - even necessary items such as seasonally appropriate clothing.  VSF teamed up with West Valley Community Services to help provide some hope to families facing hunger and homelessness. VSF members sponsored more than 10 families as part of this initiative.

Warm Coat Drive; Dec 14th
With the winter cold in full swing and recent economic times causing an increase in the number of homeless people (close to 20%+ increase since early 2018), the need of warm clothing in the Bay Area is now more. VSF organized a successful Coat Drive that helped donate more than 15 bags of coats from members to OneWarmCoat.org. 

4. VSF saves the day by Ram Sripathi

What started as a really beautiful day with a lot of hope for the day to unfold smoothy turned into something else. How did we know that the weather god had something unexpected. It was a cross country trip from Chennai to Shirdi to Bhubaneshwar via Calcutta. The flight was pretty uneventful but on arriving on top of shirdi the low visibilty prevented our flight from landing and we were diverted to Aurangabad. After a quick Google map search, we decided it was worth a risk to drive to shirdi for a quick darshan. All went well and darshan was complete, with vibhooti Prasadam and a decent taxi ride to Pune.

At Pune airport in the melee of security, jet lag, late night flight, no food, and being new to seperate ladies and mens lines we forgot to retrieve our iPad at the security. We realized this once we reached the aircraft and were seated. The airline staff didn't cooperate letting us leave the aircraft but assured us that they will be find and ship the iPad to our final destination. After a fairly tense flight to Calcutta, we were able to detect the iPad using find my device. It was pat in Pune airport. This gave us some assurance that the device is traceable. On reaching Bhubaneswar, as expected the airline staff washed their hands off any help. With an upset wife and with little sleep, the brain kicked into full gear and out goes a message on VSF Adda (around 8 pm CA time). Within 30 minutes, we had 6 good samaritans willing to help. The Pune CISF deposited the iPad to lost and found. With the help from the Vsf good Samaritans, using technology we were able to send the required paperwork to the relevant folks and get the iPad released. The iPad now in safe familiar hands, was given to another Good Samaritan to take it to back to the Bay Area. This how VSF adda saved the day, the trip and all in 30 minutes. Also technology did help a lot. All in all thanks to the VSF community to readily help.