January 2021 Newsletter

“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Around the same time that a new President officially took the reins of our country, we also celebrated MLK day in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observed each year on the third Monday in January. MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. We at Empower and Excel (EnE) are very proud to acknowledge that our young volunteers were busy serving their communities with the same fervor, not just on that day but throughout the entire month. Keep up the great work volunteers!  

Our Founder, Ayesha Charagulla has some interesting experiences to share with us. Though long, we urge you to read them as they are packed with valuable life lessons of resiliency, self-respect, and the importance of a positive attitude among many others. These stories also influence us to reflect on our privileges that we are so lucky to have and be thankful for them. We hope you will take the time to read these experiences:

Charlie’s Story of Grit and Tenacity: A guy sitting in front of Sprouts store and flipping a “Linear Algebra” Book caught Ayesha’s attention. She approached him to find out more about him. Through a 50-minute-long conversation with him, she learned that he is Charlie, a 71-year-old man who is slightly handicapped. He is used run a mortgage lending business. His business had to close down due to financial issues and some wrong decisions he made. He does not have a college degree. But he can code in C++ and few other old-time languages. Now he has learned Python. He is refreshing his math skills as he wants to get back into AI and ML field. He had a laptop and his mobile library in the shopping cart next to him. He has a LinkedIn profile. He has managed to convince some business owner to use their corridor space during nights to sleep and use their wi-fi. He thinks he got his basic tools to learn and focus on strengthening his skills and get back on his feet again. His belief is if one can read, write and give their best to learn they can certainly learn. Even after asking repeatedly how E&E could help him, he said, “I am good with what I have, and thank you for asking. Also, thank you for taking time to talk with me”.

His resiliency and acceptance of what has happened with him and trying to move on positively rather than going down the wrong path is truly inspiring.

Shan’s Story or Endurance in the face of Adversity: On another incident, Ayesha along with another volunteer Kusuma, happened to meet a guy named Shan. He has a Master’s degree from SJSU. He has been homeless for 3 years. He goes through extreme anxiety attacks that he can go unconscious for days. To deal with it, he uses his creativity and music. He has an Instagram account with his music albums. Right now, he has no access to his account as he has no phone or gadget to check. He picks stuff around him such as rocks and junk material and makes some interesting things out of it. He says he needs to get lost and forget himself in the creativity to deal with his anxiety. He was very appreciative that they listened to him. He said, “I have no one in this world and I am so lonely. So, you both talking to me and listening to me means a lot!”

It is not an easy life on the streets. They need to fight hunger, shelter, health, safety, and uncertainty.

It is truly humbling to see these two men facing adversities with such grace and fortitude. We hope these anecdotes inspire you to always keep moving forward, no matter what!

Last but not the least, the fight on COVID-19 is still not over. With vaccinations underway, we hope to see light at the end of the tunnel! In the meantime, continue to STAY SAFE!

Important Monthly Reminders:

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 Remember the following

• 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.)
• Make sure to check your email for sign-up confirmation and event ticket.
• In the event that an update is required we will post it on the group chat and send Donorview update email.
• The event sign-up page also has the latest info. Please check there first if you have any questions.
• Please Note: Deleting a sign-up requires admin intervention so please only sign up when you are certain of your availability.
• We announce new events  on the WhatsApp group first as events become available. If you have recently joined E&E, it’s best to sign into your Donorview account to see ongoing events. Click on the “event” icon. In the upper- right hand corner you will see a pull-down menu for ongoing events. Here is a short info doc on Donorview:
  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XnpAMjnXXaVjcqG27_WW2tnnFMX8dJoSvXK139z0j_0/edit

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

Donating Stocks/Security to EnE:

We are happy to announce that E&E is now accepting stocks/security donations. To help clarify a few questions, donating stocks is another option to donating money.

• Account Name: Empower And Excel
• Brokerage Firm: eTrade.com
• DTC Number: 0385
• Account Number: 4775-8789
• Tax ID Number: 47-3656395

Presidential Volunteer Service 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.

Stay tuned to EnE: 

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

Now for a Quick Recap of Our January 2021 Activities:

Spreading Happiness through Yummy Home Cooked Food

• We are proud of our youth volunteers who continue to work relentlessly in the kitchen to whip up delicious meals for various homes and shelters around the bay area. 
• Our volunteers have become experts at making large portions of pasta, burrito bowls, fried rice, sandwiches, chicken strips, and many other tasty items. They also assemble snack packs for these shelters. 
• EnE Volunteers served the following centers during January:
  • Fremont Teen Center
  • East Bay Winter Shelter
  • Family Supportive Housing (FSH), a facility that provides shelter, food, and safety-net services to families in need and guides them towards self-sufficiency
  • Lunch Packs Distribution Event for the unhoused in Sunnyvale, San Jose, and Santa Cruz 
  • JW House, a center that supports families facing medical difficulties

Supporting Education Needs for a Cause

• It is impressive to see our young volunteers engaged in various teaching and tutoring activities as follows:  

  • Our volunteers tutored students from low-income communities and provided additional academic support to them.
  • Our volunteers assembled STEAM activity kits for RAFT, a local teaching resource that provides STEAM projects to teachers and schools at a low cost. 
  • Volunteer Niyatee conducted a cooking session with an adult special needs person who cannot talk but can follow directions. Niyatee taught her to make marinara sauce and pasta. It was fun watching them do it together.
  • Volunteer Aishwarya conducted a dance session with an adult special needs person and they both had a blast.

Distributing Essential Items to those in Need

EnE volunteers distributed essential items especially winter gear along with many other things to help the homeless and those in need to tide over the winters and tough times.

• Made beanies and baby blankets. The baby blankets were donated to Valley Medical Center. 
• Distributed blankets, hygiene kits, winter kits, and lunch at Santa Cruz homeless encampment. 
• Distributed thermals, tarps, chapsticks, socks, warm clothing, blankets, masks, and pizza to homeless at San Jose Guadalupe park encampment. These items were bought with donation money.