June 2016 – Newsletter

Written by: Rhea Dash, Volunteer & Staff Writer
Hi all,

Hope everyone has been enjoying their summer vacation. As we all are winding down from a stressful school year, we at E&E encourage you to find a way to contribute some of your leisure time to helping out with our many activities this summer. Our accomplishments so far this summer include starting a new chapter in Texas, and hosting an E&E booth at Sevathon 2016!

Houston book drive

Empower and Excel has been starting new chapters, such as the Texas Chapter! Our kids have been the driving force, and it was wonderful to see them start their first day of summer, working with a zeal to give something back to the community! Our first Book Drive went very well, and will hopefully be the first of many more to come. As always, we had an excellent supporting team of moms! Let’s keep the momentum going and give our best to the community!

Houston Stamping by Little Champs

On June 7, our Little Champs took part in the Houston stamping activity. The little ones enjoyed stamping and showed so much responsibility. They didn’t mess around with the pages and took care with their T-shirts. Great going!

Book sale at Alum Rock Library

On June 7, our volunteers helped out at the Alum Rock library’s quarterly book with setup and cleanup. The little ones got to work with their parents and spend quality time. The staff commended us for working together so well, like a family. Thank you for the opportunity Diana Learned!

Community gardening at Emma Prusch farm.

On June 11, E&E had the opportunity to help out at Emma Prusch farm. It was a great way of fostering a sense of community and connection to the environment and an opportunity for satisfying labor and neighborhood improvement. Thank you Uma Mandaleeka for running the show.

Cooking and serving at Family Supportive Housing.

On June 12, our team helped cook and serve a meal at our local housing shelter, thanks to Akkiraju’s family’s generous donation. Our menu included cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza and supreme meat combo pizza, burgers, chips, fruits and ice cream. Thank you Rajkanya Pallabi Talukdar for leading this event.

Pre-Primary Rotation Library Project – India

Sprouting minds are the easily absorbed ones by the way you mold them. Creating a reading environment throws them open into the world of characters,imaginations,animations story telling and vocabulary. In this regard, E & E spreads it’s wings to Pre-Primary Schools in Hyderabad zone as a part of the Reading Awareness Campaign among children. We got overwhelming response from the partnering school “Hello Kids- Kiran” situated in Sainikpuri-Hyderabad.

Helping out at Flood Relief Camp, at B.F. Terry High School

This month, on June 16, 21, and 24, our volunteers helped out in sorting the donations at the B. F. Terry High School Flood Relief Camp. One of our volunteers, Muskaan Mehra, was so moved that she donated clothes and other useful household items in memory of her father. Our kids were thrilled that they could be of real help, amazed that their Spanish language skills came in handy, carried donations for some elderly to their cars, and the little ones had fantastic time assisting Volunteering Moms!

The organizers of the camp were impressed with our efforts and gave us a standing ovation for filling up the warehouse so efficiently. They inquired about our organization, letting us know more avenues where we can offer our services.

E&E at Alum Rock Library helping with Summer Reading Program signups – San Jose, CA

Volunteers have been spending their valuable time at library to manage summer reading program sign ups.

Gardening at United Methodist Church Community Garden

On June 18 and June 25, our kids volunteered at the United Methodist Church to sow seeds and watch them grow. They all had an active interactive session with Mr. Mark Larson and learned about harvesting and organic methods of preparing the bed for the next crop.

Father’s Day at Stanford Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

Who can imagine that a simple thing like making a Father’s Day card for someone who is not in a position to make a card for their dad can bring such a joy? On June 19, our E&E volunteers delivered beautiful handmade Father’s Day greeting cards to the Stanford Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.The oncologist, the child life specialist, and the social worker expressed their appreciation to the organization and the kids who made it. We delivered lunch to celebrate Father’s Day, and the staff was truly touched by our gesture.

Debbi at Evergreen’s Nothing Bundt Cakes was kind enough to donate Bundtinis on this occasion.

Cooking at CityTeam’s kitchen

On June 25, E&E cooked lunch at CityTeam’s kitchen. We sliced & diced, organized the pantry, emptied unused bread packs for the pig farm, and served meals to the residents and homeless from the streets.

We were also honored to have some of our seniors as a volunteers on our team. Seniors have a unique set of skills and knowledge to offer and help bridge the gap between the generations. Dr. Viswanathan, you are inspiring our youth!

Sevathon 2016

E&E is very proud to have been part of Sevathon 2016‬. Thanks to our advisor Dr. Magal for sponsoring us at Sevathon. It was an amazing experience for E&E. We saw an awesome turnout at our booth! A lot of people inquired about our organization activities and the services that we do. They were amazed to hear our story and eager to be part of E&E.

Big thank you to all who contributed to the fundraising of E&E. We could not have reached out to such a huge number of people without our great supporter and advisor Mr. Mahesh Nihalani’s presence at the booth. We also would like to thank Dr. Viswanthan and PriyaLiving community residents for lending their support to E&E at the booth. Kudos to all the runners for coming forward to support their favorite NPO’s. Way to go!