July 2020 – Newsletter

“IIntelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education. – Martin Luther King Jr.

The summer vacation will soon end and the new school year 2020-21 will begin! It’s about time to get back to our school routine. EnE wishes its youth volunteers a bright new beginning filled with exciting learnings, new friends, and memorable moments. While the continued COVID challenges have made schools switch to online learning, we are optimistic that soon there will be a vaccine that may enable us to put this pandemic behind us and return to school!

We are very proud of our EnE volunteers who immersed themselves in various community service activities throughout the summer. Be it baking goods, or making and distributing PPE, or conducting online classes – our volunteers did it all!

July was really the ‘baker’s month’ at EnE. Our volunteers’ homes were filled with the fragrant warmth of baked goods as they busied themselves in baking brownies, cookies, cakes, and muffins for the homeless, shelter homes, and senior centers.

And before we move to announcements, let us take a moment to pray for our frontline workers. Let us also resolve to continue to do our part by wearing our masks and maintaining social distance!

Important Monthly Announcements:

• Donate stocks/security to EnE: E&E is now accepting stocks/security donations! This is another option in lieu of donating money. When you sell appreciated stock, up to 37.1% is taxes. When you donate appreciated stock to E&E, E&E keeps 100% and you receive the full market value dedication. If you want to donate stocks, please provide your securities broker with the following information regarding E&E :
  • Account Name: Empower And Excel
  • Brokerage Firm: eTrade.com
  • DTC Number: 0385
  • Account Number: 4775-8789
  • Tax ID Number: 47-3656395
  • Phone #: 408-755-0405
  • Email: info@empowerexcel.org
    Send a copy of the form to Empower And Excel for follow-up, ATTN: (Treasurer). Keep a copy for your own records.
• Volunteer appreciation event: We will not host an in-person event and will soon announce how we will hand out certificates. Stay tuned!
• Membership renewal time: Your membership expires at the end of August. You will hear from us on how to renew your membership and adopt a new volunteer management system.
• Logging hours for baking activity: Volunteers who participated in the July 27th food distribution event should log in the actual time spent on the activity. This includes any time you spent on shopping. While it is hard to estimate hours spent in this particular activity, try to record the hours as accurately as you can. If the hours logged in don’t make sense, we may ask you to provide an explanation and approve an average time based on times logged by others. Going forward, please log 3 hours for 25 bags of baked goods.
• For latest updates: Stay tuned to our EnE’s WhatsApp group!
• Volunteer hours recording: Make sure to record your volunteer 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 for a Sneak Peak into Our July 2020 Activities:

Volunteer of the month: Santhosi Tirumala

Santhoshi’s contribution helped AshaJyothi (home for disabled orphan children) to purchase new set of cooking and serving vessels.

ANNOUNCEMENTS ABOUT ONGOING AND UPCOMING ACTIVITIES:

Baked Goodies Distribution:

• On Saturday, August 1, 2020 we kicked off our weekly south bay baking project to benefit Family Supportive Housing (FSH), Priya Living & Westmont Senior Living. Our volunteers enthusiastically put on their baker’s hat and baked delicious cookies for the shelter home and senior centers. Kudos to following volunteers for the successful first run: Aanchal Vyavaharkar, Akshath Mirukula, Anvitha Mirukula, Amulya Dussa, Anya Dussa, Ashwin Katta, Maaya Selva, Meha Selva, Neil Gagagkar, Sai Pisupati, Sriaditi Yellamraju, Srivibha Yellamraju, Surya Sripathi. Thank you to Arun and Isan for dropping off these goodies at various centers.
• For those who are interested in participating in south bay baking project:
  • We need 300 baked goods bags every Saturday.
  • Drop-off time is on Saturdays between 11am – 1pm, at Santa Clara and Evergreen drop off locations. The sign-up Google sheet has the drop-off addresses.
  • Please use the attached project label to specify the type of cookies and your first name.  It will make a nice personal touch for those who are receiving the baked goods.
  • Baked goods rotation is as follows:  Week 1 – Cookies, Week 2 – Brownies, Week 3 – Muffins.
  • Please sign up in multiple of 25 bags in the following google sheet:
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Kqgh7CHKskFF19bqky4nnIfo7YHcPkOhgpW7QJEbfjQ/edit?usp=sharing
• East bay volunteers can signup for baking activity in the following link:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iv8hS3c2Z4T1JCSBvboIXwEyIJyzLaAQAuTm7sGsQZA/edit#gid=0

Sunday Lunch for Family Supportive Housing (FSH):

• FSH is accepting homemade meals every 2nd Sunday of the month from EnE, starting from Sunday, August 16, 2020.
• Please contact Sunitha Yellamanchi directly on WhatsApp if you have any questions.
• Please note the following aspects when signing up:
  1. The family that is signing up for a particular item, please add your choice along with your phone number to the signup sheet.
  2. On the day you have signed up, you will have to drop-off at the Family Shelter at 11:30 AM.
  3. Please do take pictures of food and let me know that you have delivered at the shelter.
•  Sign-up at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_XQ6lM4TSghMgi4pVZqReIMG_YHruULMZEvSnK4LlB4/edit#gid=0

Anoushka’s Sketching Classes:

• Anoushka has been teaching sketching to our volunteers and special needs kids. It is a very good class if you are into art. This class is open for all and there is no age limit to join, but 7+ preferred for better grasp of the concepts.
• The course will include the basics of shading a three-dimensional figure and learning how to sketch realistic figures by observing shapes in objects given as a reference to draw.
• Material Requirements: Pencil (non-mechanical), eraser, and drawing paper.
• No prior experienced required. Student will be taught the basics of drawing and help them develop a foundation to make their own art without guidance. See pictures above for some of the sketches Anoushka taught students.
• To sign-up for this class: Please contact Ayesha directly if you are interested in joining.

Anuraag’s 5k Run Training Session:

• Anuraag, is starting a virtual 5k run training session in August, followed by a virtual 5k for Empower and Excel members. Registration is free but a $10 donation to E&E is recommended. See flyer for more information
• Please contact Anuraag directly if you any questions or need more information.
• There will be an hour virtual online session once a week focusing on stretches, answer questions, discuss nutrition, training runs for the following week, where to run etc.
• The participants train on their own and log their mileage.
• There will be a WhatsApp group to answer questions and to discuss in general.
• If comfortable, they can join Anuraag for a run (we live in Fremont, he trains in coyote hills) though everyone should maintain proper distance and wear a mask.
• This is a good platform for someone who wanted to run but needed guidance and motivation.
  Session starts on Saturday, August 1, 2020.
• About Anuraag: He is an incoming junior at American High School in Fremont CA. He is a drummer in the East Bay Jazzinators band. He enjoys hiking and backpacking with his fellow boy scouts. He enjoys running and is in American High’s cross country and track and field teams. In his spare time, he loves playing video games with his friends. Anuraag started running when he was 10 years old and since then has been running 5ks, 10ks, and half marathons. He is currently training to run a full marathon in August. He trains in local regional trails, and is coached by his dad, Murali who is Veteran Marathoner. He has completed 30+ marathons.
• Register at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSv1unLjqerstsLUQeq1iWAbDd-faUdKBUfufVMYnlFt6yJQ/viewform

Python and Data Science Course:

• Sasha is conducting an online “Introductory to Python and Data Science” Course from August 5 to August 14. The course will be for fifth through eighth graders and will be 2 hours every day from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• This course will cover fundamentals of Python such as its syntax, data types, lists, sets, dictionaries, variables, definitions, for loops, nested for loops, if else statements, etc. The Data Science part of the course will cover basics of what data science is and how it is being used in many careers and in our world today. Students will also learn about different libraries typically used in data science such as numpy, pandas, mathplotlib, and sklearn in Python. Additionally, she will also teach how to import datasets in Python, how to analyze their columns and rows, and how to plot different datasets in bar graphs, scatterplots, and other formats.
• To sign-up: https://login.live.com/login.srf?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=13&ct=1596084008&rver=7.3.6962.0&wp=MBI_SSL_SHARED&wreply=https:%2F%2Fonedrive.live.com%2Fredir%3Fresid%3D990DFD14A89CA7F6!1337%26authkey%3D!AFYJ4KTmEBYFmdk%26ithint%3Dfile%252cxlsx%26e%3DqFt9eo&lc=1033&id=250206&cbcxt=sky&cbcxt=sky
• You will be emailed the schedule and materials needed for the course upon registration. If you have any questions about the course, please text Sasha at: 408-922-9888.

Due to overwhelming response registration is now closed.
Thank you all for the support and encouragement!

Computer Classes by Lian Elsa Linton:

• Lian is conducting a 10-day course for middle school students on computer programming concepts including algorithms, arrays, stacks, queues, sorting, searching etc.
• Classes are scheduled from next Monday, July 27th to August 7th (10 weekdays) from 11:00am to 12:30pm PST.
• For more information, please visit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/199BLpnFd_04-RW7iocGnfBei4lCn8kT2/view?usp=sharing
• For registration, please visit: https://forms.gle/rNnuF4vkqGUZoef58

•  Dance work shop by Aishwarya Manga: Bolly Hip hop routine ,no experience is needed..just shake your legs to some high energy music and support a great cause!

            Here is the link for sign up:   https://forms.gle/oJgx6SBvZ6CjJ7326

Class on How to Make Slides and Speeches for Presentations:

• Yanik Dabke is hosting a free presentation class on 2 topics for middle school kids. The class is a great way to get better at presenting your ideas.
• Class1 – How to make SLIDES for Presentations: 
  • Session 1: August 5, Wednesday, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
  • Session 2: August 7, Friday at 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
• Class2 – How to make SPEECHES for Presentations:
  • Session 1: August 5, Wednesday, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
  • Session 2: August 7, Friday, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
• It’s recommended that you attend both the classes, but it’s completely up to you.
• Whether you choose one class or both, please remember to show up for BOTH the sessions for that class.
•  To sign up for the class, please fill out the google form at this link: https://forms.gle/nFCTUxAmir5cBjxv7

(Remember to put in a Gmail address as most of the communication will be done over hangouts chat and video calls)

EnE’s PPE Projects:

• Physician Support Group (PSG) Project: We are very happy to announce that we have partnered with a group of passionate physicians (Dr. Anita Kumari, Dr. Nidhi Gupta, & Dr. Meenakshi Jain) to help address the dire need of PPE* for healthcare professionals.
• Our youth volunteer Rahul is leading this PSG project under Cecilia’s guidance.  
• Arun and Rahul helped make and distribute masks to Physicians.
• We are now getting ready to distribute another round of 3M N95 1860 masks.
• For more info: https://empowerexcel.org/covid-19-response/

*Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) includes but is not limited to: eye protection, head cover, face shields, N95 respirators, isolation gowns, surgical masks, isolation masks and gloves.

Sponsorship Opportunities at Shelters

• 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:You can make donations

1. Online at https://empowerexcel.org/donate/ 
2. By mailing the check, payable to ‘Empower and Excel’ at: Empower and Excel, P.O. Box 21555, San Jose, CA, 95151 U. S. A
3. Zelle: you can transfer from your bank by using Zelle to empowerandexcel.np@gmail.com
4. Paypal GivingFund: From your PayPal account, go to Paypal giving fund option and select Empower And Excel (47-3656395) as benefiting non profit and make your contribution.
5. Through company matching
6. By cash and hand it over in person

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)