Youth Impact of Service and Philanthropy

Impact of Service

On May 15th 2015 a remarkable event came together impacting both givers and receivers. In collaboration with Salem United Methodist Church 15 Presidential Volunteer Service Award winners hosted a cultural event at Salem United Methodist Church to benefit the tornado ravaged town of Brockport, IL.. The event presented a lecture on Jordan by Jordanian born Rula Said followed by a cooking class on Middle Eastern cooking by award winning cook Zein Bertacchi and her sister Rima Said also followed by a grand home cooked Middle Eastern dinner. Beth Johansonn, a guest described the event as, “ very informative and friendly”.

To make this possible the Presidential Volunteers under the supervision of Sue Whitney and Dr Kiran Frey mobilized many entrepreneurial, marketing and organizational skills. They first crafted a video advertising the event, and then outdid themselves as a team at the event itself. They decorated, set up the hall where the event was held, provided technical support, cleaned and served the ninty guests who came to the event. Prashanth and Pranav Ramachandra provided Middle Eastern music on their violins. Marion Wulff, a guest at the event remarked, “ Watching the students work so enthusiastically for others was the highlight of the event”.

The youth program combining education with service and philanthropy was started 15 years ago by Rishi Sethi when he was a 5th grader at Grove Avenue School in Barrington, IL. Since then over 100 volunteers have donated over $118,000 to local and global charities and won many awards for its entrepreneurship. The program continues to prosper thanks to the many local community members inspiring the youth to excel. Rishi Sethi who attended the event was enchanted as he watched the youth follow the tradition he established. Rishi told volunteer Rohan Ahuja from BHS, “It is great watching students take so much initiative and work as a team. The leadership skills learned from volunteering have helped me at work. My friends and I had fun learning about the world through donating to various causes”.

The event raised almost $1700 and the money will be used by a team of 15 adults who plan to rebuild homes in Brockport IL in June of this year.

Four teenage volunteers, Lyle Green, Toby Schwartz, Millen Srivastava and Varun Ahuja will attend the UN Youth Assembly in New York this summer on the basis of their service projects. At the UN they will meet other teenager volunteers from around the world learning to excel at making a stronger impact on their world.

The volunteers are:

Event MC: Millen Srivastava, Lyle Green, Varun Ahuja

Hospitality: Jane Bradley, Vishal Ahuja, Zach Green

Publicity: Sahitya and Sanjaya Maheshwarm

Ethan Gagliano, Prathik Kandimalla

Technical Director: Rohan Ahuja

Music Directors; Pranav and Prashant Ramachandra

Ticket Sales: Toby Schwartz, Jack Bradley

Nabeel Rasheed, Yasoob Rasheed

Sidhu Gehlaut.