November 2020 – Newsletter

“As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness.” – Dieter F. Uchtdorf

As we celebrated the wonderful spirit of Thanksgiving this month, our EnE volunteers were working hard than ever before in spreading love and joy in the community through the warmth of homemade food and handmade fleece blankets and scarves along with many other activities.

In the spirit of thanksgiving, Ayesha has a few words of appreciation for our volunteers whom she is very proud of for their dedication and commitment to serving the community:

“Nothing beats a thankful heart and thanksgiving is the perfect occasion to let your heart speak for all the things that you are grateful for. Thanksgiving is a very special day where we get to be thankful to everyone in our life for all the good things.
E&E is thankful for our volunteers and their families for what they have been doing to the community. Let us all spread happiness and positivity and count our blessings one by one. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families.” – Ayesha

As we face another stay-at-home order to control the spread of the pandemic, it is yet again a reminder for us to follow the state-issued protocols diligently in the better interest of ourselves and our society at large.  Stay safe everyone!

 

Important Monthly Reminders:

Sign-ups for the following South bay activities for Q1 2021(Jan – March) are now available. Log into your account to signup.
Instructions on How to Check your Event Sign-up on DonorView:  

1. Log on to E&E volunteer DonorView
2. Click on the “Events” button
3. Click on the “print ticket” button

• Please Note: Please sign in to your DonorView account before you sign up for an event. The advantage of signing in to your account first is that the attendant fields will be auto-filled for you, making your signup process a lot more efficient. Also, it will avoid the creation of multiple accounts.
• Please Note: Deleting a sign-up requires admin intervention so please only sign up when you are certain of your availability.

Please Enter Your Volunteer Hours here:

• Use this Presentation to Understand how to Enter Hours: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XnpAMjnXXaVjcqG27_WW2tnnFMX8dJoSvXK139z0j_0/edit?usp=drivesdk

Presidential Volunteer Service Award (PVSA):

• To learn more about the 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.

Stay tuned to EnE:

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

Volunteer of the Month: Siri Tantry

Siri has been supporting special needs children for 3 years now. She is very passionate to work with them. With her friend Preethi, she started a podcast “Narrate with Neurate” to build awareness about special needs.

Upcoming Event:

‘ANAND’ 2020!!

• Join us for a journey through different states of India as we come together to share the joy of expressing and giving through a colorful and beautiful showcase of ‘Folk Dances of India’ with some amazing local artists from the Bay Area.
• Organized by Indraadhanush: Center for Excellence and Xpressions-Dances of India!
• Proceeds benefit – Empower And Excel! 
• Thank you Srividya Eashwar and Bidisha Mohanty for selecting E&E as a benefiting organization. We are honored and plan to support low-income communities with these proceeds.
• Call For Dance Registration Enquiry – 408-838-3079, 408-582-2545 Solo and Group Spots available. Registration fees apply.
• Buy Streaming Pass: $5 @ www.studioxpress.co

Now for a Quick Recap of Our November 2020 Activities:

Spreading Sweetness of Love through Baking

• Our youth bakers’ enthusiastically baked goodies for senior retirement centers and shelters homes. Thank you November Bakers for spreading the sweetness of caring and sharing through your baking!
• We bake these goodies on a rotational basis as follows: Week 1: Cookies, Week 2: Brownies, Week 3: Muffins.
• Our East bay volunteer bake goodies every week for friends on the East bay streets, for seniors at retirement communities, and for guests at a family resource center.

Spreading the Warmth of Caring with Fleece

• Fleece Scarfs Donation Project: The scarves project has been rocking. EnE volunteers made and donated 400 handmade scarves so far to people displaced due to fire and local homeless organizations.
• Fleece Blankets Donation Project: Our volunteers made single- and double-layer fleece adult size blankets to protect the homeless during the harsh winters.

Supporting Education, Hygiene Kits and PPE Needs

• Tutoring Students from Low-Income Communities: EnE volunteers are providing an additional level of academic support to students from low-income communities. Our volunteers are getting positive feedback for their tutoring sessions. Studnet’s mom was all praises for our volunteer Pranav.
• RAFT: EnE is exploring the possibility of working with RAFT, a long-time STEAM resource non-profit located in San Jose for tutoring projects.
• PPE: EnE Donated masks made by Siddharth to Tri-City Valley Foodbank which will be distributed to the homeless along with hygiene packs.
• Hygiene Kit Drive: Thanks to volunteers for making hygiene kits to be distributed at homeless shelters.