June 2020 – Newsletter

“If you want to touch the past, touch a rock.  If you want to touch the present, touch a flower.  If you want to touch the future, touch a life.” – Author Unknown

YAY!!! YOU DID IT!!! Heartiest congratulations to all our volunteers who graduated in 2020! While this is not how any of you had imagined graduating, we want to let you know how proud we are of all of you! You embraced the uncertainty, you adapted to the changing circumstances, you continued to march forward, and above all, you continued to serve your community and those in need with great commitment and involvement. Whether you have graduated from elementary or middle or high school or from college, it is a transition that you all have embraced with grace and kindness. We wish you all the very best in your future endeavors!

While the pandemic continues to hold the world captive, our volunteers’ dedication and devotion to making a positive change in their community remains unfazed. They learnt new skills so that they could help others, they shared their knowledge with special needs kids through online classes, they made care packages and hygiene kits, and made innumerable other meaningful contributions. We are very proud of our volunteers!

While we eagerly wait to put the COVID crisis behind us and resume our normal lives, let us continue to do our part to help control the pandemic by wearing our masks and maintaining a proper social distance.

Monthly Reminders:

• Check out our COVID-19 Response page https://empowerexcel.org/covid-19-response/.
• For Latest Updates: Stay tuned to our EnE’s WhatsApp group.
• If you are participating in the School Supplies drive, make your entries at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1B0ovpyvSvwWrTrTWEkbLsuXQ-OT4dZKlwr0Tnqsiq5M/edit?usp=sharing
• Volunteer Appreciation Event: We will update you as soon as things we finalize this event.
• Volunteer Hours Recording: Please make sure you continue to record your volunteering hours at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14aCCBe74pU2ZQP2gdxXMGD3m0-8tKklzazClDQaB2rA/edit OR, you can record your volunteer hours in a google sheet and share it with us at: empowerandexcel.np@gmail.com
• Presidential Volunteer Servicer Award (PVSA: To learn more about hours required to earn PVSA awards in each age group, go to: https://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/eligibility
• Shopping on Amazon: Please use the following link to shop on Amazon.com: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/47-3656395. When you shop using this link, Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to EnE.

Please support our Web presence. Follow, like and share us on:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Empowerandexcel/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/empower-and-excel/
• Website: https://empowerexcel.org/

Now Let’s Take a Glimpse into Our June 2020 Activities:

Volunteer of the Month: Aarav Urgaonkar.

Aarav raised funds by conducting chess camp and contributed towards PPE’s purchase. These PPE’s are distributed to health care workers to protect themselves from COVID.

Physician Support Group (PSG) Project Launch:

It is very surprising to learn how front liners are still struggling to find protective gears and not getting enough help. Happy to announce that we have partnered with a group of passionate physicians to help and address the need of PPE’s in the community. Project name is Physician Support Group (PSG). This initiative is led by a passionate group of physician’s (Dr. Anita Kumari, Dr. Nidhi Gupta, & Dr. Meenakshi Jain) solely to meet the needs of PPE for healthcare professionals in collaboration with E&E. Our youth volunteer Rahul will work this project under Cecilia’s guidance.

PPE Donations:

• Handmade Masks for Donation: During this pandemic, our volunteers have been busy making masks for vulnerable sections of population including homeless people, low-income communities, and health care workers. The dedication and commitment of our volunteers is reflected through their willingness to step up and learn new skills to help others and spending their family time sewing masks together. To name a few, Neil and Sai made masks for the homeless. Arun helped his mom cut material for the masks. Radhika and Arun made 100 adult masks and 28 kid masks. Keep up the amazing work, volunteers!
• N95 Masks Donation: Over the past few weeks, EnE has continued donating N95 masks to various healthcare and medical centers. This is our way of saying thank you to all those frontline workers who risk their life to save ours! A BIG thank you to all those who have generously contributed to this cause!
• Face Shields Donation: Our volunteer Neha donated 150 face shields to a local medical center! Kudos to her efforts!

Sponsorship Opportunities at Shelters

• A BIG Thank You to: Anonymous donor for sponsoring meals at ASHAJYOTHI (a shelter for special needs kids) during June 2020.
• Meal Sponsorships to ASHAJYOTHI, Shelter for Special Needs Kids: Sponsorship opportunities available to feed ~70 abandoned special needs children (Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, Speech & Hearing Impaired, Polio, Down Syndrome etc.) and their staff of 15 people. We are extremely happy to inform you that our anonymous generous donor is doing a “Meal to Meal” matching gift up to 150 meals You are doubling up your contribution in helping to feed special needs children with nutritious food. Please block your dates and help us to make your contribution more impactful. Cost: $200 for full day meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), $80 for just Lunch or Dinner, $40 for breakfast. Signup at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090948afae2aaaf49-2020
• Meal Sponsorship to SNEHA RIDES, Children Home for Kids affected by HIV: Sponsorship opportunities available to feed ~85 abandoned HIV positive children and orphans. Cost: $200 for full day meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), $80 for just Lunch or Dinner, $45 for breakfast. Sign up at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090948afae2aaaf49-20201
• Payment Info: For sponsoring at these two centers, you can make payments online at https://empowerexcel.org/donate/ or by mailing the check, payable to ‘Empower and Excel’ at: Empower and Excel, P.O. Box 21555, San Jose, CA, 95151 U. S. A or even by cash. Please note that online transaction fees are charged to E&E, so please include those fees as well. Please do company matching wherever possible. (Tax-id: 47-3656395)