June 2019 – Newsletter
We hope you all are enjoying your summer vacation, doing things you enjoy like traveling, visiting family, learning new skills and VOLUNTEERING!
We are very proud of you all for collectively dedicating a total of 310 hours to our community in June 2019. Keep up the good work. Every good deed counts.
A few important updates before we dive into our June activities:
- We are deeply saddened to let you know that HELP Ashasadan in India, a shelter for survivors of sex trafficking closed down due to insufficient funds. Without E&E’s support this day would have come three years back. We want to thank each and every one of you who contributed to support these children with their meals, vocational training and basic needs. The kids at shelter got transferred to other government owned shelters. Let’s all hope that the vocational training and life skills that the shelter provided will help them with their future. Please keep these children in your prayers.
- Keeping in line with E&E’s mission of supporting children in need, we have decided to support AshaJyothi organization, a shelter near Vijayawada-A.P in India that supports abandoned disabled children. We will continue our meal sponsorship program at AshaJyothi. For more information on how you can be a sponsor, please go to:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090948afae2aaaf49-20199 - We are also in process of selecting few orphans in India who are interested in pursuing their studies and have the potential to shine. We have few families who have come forward to sponsor their education until they graduate from college. We will share those details as soon as we have more information. Please contact E&E if you would like to take a part in this program.
- Note: From April 2019 onward, please enter your volunteering hours in the following google form. Because of some policy changes at PVSA, we no longer need to log in hours into the PVSA account. E&E will take care of it:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14aCCBe74pU2ZQP2gdxXMGD3m0-8tKklzazClDQaB2rA/edit
by: Tanisha Tol
Here is a quick recap of our June 2019 activities:
Serving Our Community
- Cook and Serve at FSH: Every 2nd Sunday of the month we cook and serve at FSH whenever an E&E family sponsors the meals. This month, we thank Juluri Family for celebrating Ishan’s birthday by donating to FSH. Your generous contribution helped feed the needy and allowed our volunteers the opportunity to serve our community. Our volunteers chopped, cooked, cleaned dishes and floor, and served food
- Sunday Friends: We helped younger kids cook dishes such as fruit salads, parfaits, and breakfast burritos. Overall, the event was a great success and the kids had a great time
- Summer Activities at FSH 2019 – San Jose (led by Spoorthi Vallamkonda): We are conducting workshop and activities for families residing at the shelter
- Cook and serve at JW House: JW House keeps families together during medical crisis by offering a welcoming home close to the hospital, and by providing a caring and compassionate environment that inspires hope. The physicians here were very impressed with our young volunteers cooking skills and E&E’s overall activities. They are excited to work with us in the future!
We Love Our Seniors
- Knitbuds (led by Mrudula Chodavarapu): Involving seniors in this project to knit beanies and scarves to donate to the homeless and chemotherapy patients has given our volunteers a great opportunity to bond with them and the seniors a great sense of being productive. Our seniors really enjoy these sessions
- Music for Seniors (led by Tanisha Tol): This month our volunteers put on an amazing music show for our senior citizens and put a big smile on their faces. They played instruments such as the piano, violin and sitar. This event was very much appreciated by seniors at Westmont retirement community
- Laundry Help: Such a simple act as helping with laundry makes a huge difference in the lives of seniors. They eagerly look forward to our help
- Tech Help Sessions: E&E loves connecting the older generation with the newer generation! Our volunteers showed seniors how to use smart phones, apps, laptops, iPads, tablets etc. They also taught them a few new tricks to get tech savvy!
Our Special Friends
- Jeena Academics Program (Jun-Aug 2019): Bay area based non-profit Jeena is conducting basic educational program for special needs children. Our volunteers are helping these children to work on their reading, writing, and math
- Friends Together : Our volunteers spent quality time with their special needs friends doing various academic and fun activities and bonding with them. One of our volunteers even went on a 5k Buddy Run with his special needs buddy. Keep up the great work volunteers!
At Various Community Events
- Relay For Life of Tri-City F.U.N, Newark,CA: E&E volunteers worked with the volunteers of American Cancer Society and helped with registration, handing out T-shirts, food, setting up signage, trash duty, Luminaria art and set up, etc.
- E&E Garden: We have started our own garden! Volunteers planted different variety of vegetable plants and learned a lot about plants life and eating right. We can’t wait to see the outcome!
- Newark, CA Library – Summer Reading Game: This program was kicked off with much fanfare. Our volunteers helped with setup, maker lab, coding lab, games and crafts
- Newark, CA Library – 2019 Summer Camp: Our E&E volunteers will be helping conduct this summer camp at the Newark Library
- Summer Learning Games at Alum Rock Library: The library will be hosting a six-week educational board games program for elementary students. Our volunteers will lead a station playing a board game with a small group of children
- Bollywood dance class, “Mommy and Me”, Alum Rock Library (led by Anika Agarwal): During this class, moms and kids were invited to learn to dance together. Everyone had a great time and the event was a great success
