February 2021 Newsletter
“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” – Robert A. Heinlein
Our fight with COVID-19 is still not over but there certainly is renewed hope with vaccinations underway! Let’s continue to do our bit in conquering this pandemic by carrying out our responsibilities of safe distancing, putting our masks, and following other safety protocols! There is light at the end of the tunnel!
Important Monthly Reminders:
Instructions on How to Check your Event Sign-up on DonorView:
- Log on to E&E volunteer DonorView
- Click on the “Events” button
- 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 document on Donorview:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XnpAMjnXXaVjcqG27_WW2tnnFMX8dJoSvXK139z0j_0/edit
*** Please Enter Your Volunteer Hours:
By end of March, we need all your hours in the system in order to see your qualification for awards. It is the volunteer’s responsibility to log their service hours on regular basis. We can only get awards (if they qualify) for the volunteers who are logged their hours by March 31st.
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
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
- 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.
- 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:
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 February 2021 Activities
Volunteer of the Month: Anurag Jakkula
Anurag joined EnE in 2020 and since then he has been actively participating in community services. He signed up for all kinds of opportunities to serve the needy. He is proactive and always willing to help.
Handmade Baby Blankies for the community.
Serving the Homeless and those in Need
- EnE volunteers collected and distributed essential items such as clothes, shoes, socks, beanies, blankets, comforters, ponchos, gloves, masks, tarps, hygiene products and women’s underwear to the homeless people to help them tide over harsh times.
- Volunteer Niyatee is leading the efforts of collecting and distributing essential items to the homeless on Santa Cruz streets.
- Our volunteers made food with lot of love for their friends on the street.
- As always, our volunteers handmade baby fleece blankets for donation.
- Because of the relentless efforts and overwhelming dedication of our volunteers, EnE was able to donate a whopping number of 1,330 dresses in support of Doll Up Project!
Volunteers assembled STEAM kits for RAFT
EnE’s Amazing Chefs Provide Home-Cooked Meals for Various Shelters
- EnE’s volunteers have been enthusiastically cooking delicious meals for various shelters across the bay area. From making sandwiches to pasta and burrito bowls, our volunteers are becoming expert cooks. Along with learning an important life skill, they are also experiencing the wonderful joy of doing something for others.
- During the month of February 2021, EnE Volunteers were busing preparing meals for:
- Fremont Teen Center
- Family Supportive Housing (FSH), a facility that provides shelter, food, and safety-net services to families in need and guides them towards self-sufficiency
- Sunnyvale Lunch Packs Distribution Event for the Homeless
- Homeless on the Streets of Santa Cruz
- Encampments in San Jose
- JW House, a center that supports families facing medical difficulties
Our youth volunteer Aishwarya Manga conducted a dance workout session to raise funds for AshaJyothi Handicaped Welfare. With these funds, we will replace old wheelchairs with new wheelchairs. Thanks to all participants for showing support and helping to reach her goal.
EnE’s Bakers Spread Love with their Awesome Baking Skills
- EnE Volunteers baked mouthwatering cookies, brownies and muffins for senior retirement centers and shelters homes. It’s impressive to see them baking with great fervor and enthusiasm week after week.
- Our volunteers across South and East bake these goodies on a rotational basis. This ensures that there is a steady supply of a variety of goodies each weekend.
Niyatee conducting the weekly online cooking sessions. It fun to see how quickly they can make delicious edibles from the scratch.
Spreading Knowledge and Skills through Tutoring and Online Classes
Though our volunteers are busy with their own classes and academic load, they are dedicating their time to teach others in the community.
- Volunteer Aishwarya raised an impressive sum of $800 by conducting a dance workshop for AshaJyothi, a shelter for abandoned special needs kids in India. This money will be used to purchase new wheelchairs for orphaned special needs children. Aishwarya is also teaching dance to an adult special needs person.
- Volunteer Anoushka conducted art classes for Lucas who is crazy about superheroes and he waits for the class every week only to draw superheroes.
- 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.
EnE’s Global Volunteer Initiatives: Supporting ASHA JYOTHI
- EnE volunteers and their families have been wholeheartedly supporting AshaJyothi, a shelter for abandoned special needs kids in India through their generous donations and meal sponsorships.
- A BIG Thank You to all the families who sponsored meals during February: Anurag Jakkula, Asha Yenduri, Bhanu Ravipaty, Kusuma Gunuputi, Prasad Kothuri, Ramani Cheruvu and Sasha Masson.
- Please sign-up here if you are interested in sponsoring meals for ~70 special needs kids and their staff of 15 people. We are very happy to share that our anonymous donor is matching two meals for every meal sponsored in the year 2021. Cost: $200 for full-day meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), $80 for just Lunch or Dinner, $40 for breakfast: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090948afae2aaaf49-2021
- Payment Info: Use one of the methods below to make a payment (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)
- Pay online at: https://empowerexcel.org/donate/
- Zelle transfer to: empowerandexcel.np@gmail.com
- Mail the check, payable to ‘Empower and Excel’ to: Empower and Excel, P.O. Box 21555, San Jose, CA, 95151 U.S.A
- By Cash
