Proud to announce the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) recipients. Here is the full list of recipients for the year 2022 and their volunteering efforts.

Full Name : Anisha Annainaidu
Grade: 10
School: Freedom High School
City and State: South Riding, Virginia
My Asha-Jyothi story:
I have been attending Asha-Jyothi since I was two years old. Though I don’t remember those early years, AJ has now become a huge part of my life. This wonderful charity has given me the platform to grow a passion of doing good for people in need. Because of Asha-Jyothi I was also able to meet many new people and learn so many important skills throughout the years. I am super excited to do even more for AJ in the coming years!

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA Award:
During the school year of 2021-2022 I participated in many volunteer activities that led to me achieving the gold PVSA award. I helped during the annual Asha-Jyothi 5k run doing things like packet pickup, serving food, Uhaul loading, and many more. At AJ I also performed a start line dance which we practiced for one month in advance of the run. This year I was also responsible for updating the AJ website each day with the latest counts of registrants. This year I also helped start a campaign with my brother and cousin. We used AJ’s Your Campaign to start “Biryani for a Cause”. We raised a total of $5,600 by making and selling biryani with the great help of our parents. This money went towards improving the lives of underprivileged expectant mothers with Sri Sathya Sai Seva Samithi. We also raised enough funds to build a dining shelter in a town called Chinnapuram.

I would also like to add: Thank you AJ for all that you do, GO AJ!!

Full Name : Asrith Annainaidu
Grade: 12
School: Freedom High School
City and State: South Riding, Virginia
My Asha-Jyothi story:
Since 2009 when Asha-Jyothi started I have attended every single run. I would remember how fun everything was whether it was cheering on runners or enjoying all of the wonderful performances on stage. As I got older I started to help out more and more and in 2014 I truly became a youth volunteer. Volunteering for Asha-Jyothi is something I look forward to every year and it has shaped me to be who I am today and has made me learn that the best feeling you will ever get is the feeling you get when you give back to the community.

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA award: I had engaged in multiple actions this year that led me to win my award. I first helped this year by volunteering to support the Asha Jyothi annual race. Whether it was registrations, unloading supplies, or creating media, I made sure I was involved in it. Most importantly this year I started a campaign with my cousin and sister called “Biryani for a Cause” that was done to raise funds for underprivileged pregnant women with Sri Sathya Sai Seva Samithi and a dining hall for school kids both in the town of Chinnapuram all from selling biryani and curries. My work which involved preparation, packing, and delivering raised $5,600 in funds that we were able to donate.

I would also like to add: Thank you Asha-Jyothi for supporting me in my journey!

Full Name : Ashika Ganta
Grade: 12
School: Chantilly High School
City and State: Chantilly, Virginia
My Asha-Jyothi story:
I ran the first AJ race when I was 4 and it has been a vivid memory for me till now. I absolutely enjoy the AJ volunteer meetings, biking in my neighborhood and dropping off AJ run brochures in mailboxes, sharing ideas to contribute to the amazing atmosphere of the AJ run event each year. Asha-Jyothi has become a vital part of my childhood and school years.

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA award:  I worked on multiple campaigns throughout the year. I executed campaigns to build a water filtration plant for the generation yuvaa school, toilets for the lokirevu primary school, school supplies for a hearing impaired school and am currently working on a campaign to support women and families in Uganda. I also worked on promoting the Asha-Jyothi race and was one of the MC’s for 2021 and 2022.

I would also like to add: Every Ray of Light Brings a New Hope

Full Name : Sreyas Kode
Grade: 12
School: Chantilly High School
City and State: Chantilly, Virginia
My Asha-Jyothi story:
I ran the first AJ race when I was 4 and it has been a vivid memory for me till now. I absolutely enjoy the AJ volunteer meetings, biking in my neighborhood and dropping off AJ run brochures in mailboxes, sharing ideas to contribute to the amazing atmosphere of the AJ run event each year. Asha-Jyothi has become a vital part of my childhood and school years.

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA award: 

I am a part of several other service based organizations in school such as French Honor Society, Math Honor Society, and Key Club. Being a part of these organizations has given me the opportunity to volunteer by tutoring others and planning meetings. I also was able to volunteer through AJ by attending events in schools and spread the information on the AJ run. A Huge part of why I was able to get this award is because of a campaign I started with my cousin called “Biryani for a Cause”. We sold biryani with the goal of raising money to provide prenatal care for underserved pregnant women and a dining hall for underprivileged students. AJ helped us with the whole process of setting up campaign tortoise donations. Through these various opportunities I was able to provide my service in my community to receive the PVSA award.

I would also like to add: A small action can make a big difference and thank you to everyone who has helped me achieve this award.

Full Name : Anagha Gopi Vallabha
Grade: 10
School: Great Valley High School & TCHS Pickering Campus
City and State: Malvern, PA
My Asha-Jyothi story:
My younger sister is friends with Sri Uncle’s son, and I was eventually introduced to Asha-Jyothi. I attended the first annual run, not as a volunteer, but from the second annual, I have been a volunteer. Being a part of Asha-Jyothi is such a wonderful experience and it gives you so many opportunities to outreach and help others. I take pride in being an AJ volunteer and it’s so amazing when you realize that every little thing you do is helping someone, somewhere.

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA award:
I began a Notebook Donation campaign in March of 2022. It is more of a partnership with Karnataka’s AVIRATHA organization who has very similar goals as AJ. I also did most of the digital forms of advertisement for AJ’s events, such as the Volleyball Charity Event, the numerous lemonade stands, the campaign information, the sponsor posters, the thank you posters, etc.

I would also like to add: It’s truly amazing, the amount of things you can do with the support AJ gives you. As soon as I began my freshman year of high school, Sri Uncle began to encourage me to begin my own campaign and he and Prabhakar Uncle gave me so much support. I would like to say thank you, to them, and to the entirety of AJ, for being so welcoming and willing to get behind whatever ideas you have, no matter how big or small. There are so many people truly passionate about going out there and making a change, and I can only be so beyond grateful that I get to be a part of that community.

Full Name : Ishan Voleti
Grade: 10
School: Great Valley High School
City and State: Exton, PA
My Asha-Jyothi story:
I was a part of Asha Jyothi ever since the start of the Pennsylvania chapter 4 years. Ever since I was introduced to Asha Jyothi I’ve always volunteered for all the events whether it was going around my neighborhood handing out flyers, emailing companies asking for sponsorships, or volunteering as an emcee at the annual run. Asha Jyothi has been a big part of my life as my parents and older sister have been also immersed the organization helping organizing the run and much more.Volunteering for Asha Jyothi is not only extremely fun but is also fulfilling as I’ve seen the effects of the good we do as team in India and here. Asha Jyothi helped build so many skills and gave me the ability to be more active in my community.

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA Award:
I’ve done a lot of work to help me receive a Gold PVSA award. Some of this work includes attending the monthly meetings, outreaching to business asking for sponsorships both online and in person, helping organize the annual run, emceeing at the run, helping build the app, making my campaign, and much more. Outside of Asha Jyothi I mainly volunteered at robotics helping younger members and volunteering at the local Temple.

I would also like to add: A thank you to all the volunteers whether it’s the Adult volunteers or the student volunteers. Thanks to everyone’s constant and long hours of effort the organization is able to be as successful as it is now. A special thanks to Sri Uncle and Manti Uncle for helping me in my path to help support my community in any way I can! GO AJ!

Full Name : Ashritha Adem
Grade: 9
School: Great Valley High School
City and State: Malvern, PA
My Asha-Jyothi story:
I was introduced to Asha Jyothi by a close friend of mine who’s known Sri uncle her entire life. I later volunteered and ran the third annual run in 2021. Ever since I’ve been introduced to Asha Jyothi I’ve always volunteered for every event, whether it was handing out flyers, packing shirts, volunteering at different events and outreaching to local businesses. The work that we do at Asha Jyothi has helped so many people and made me realize how grateful I should be for the stuff I have. Asha-Jyothis youth team is the most supporting group of people I’ve ever met. I’m so lucky to have met these amazing people who have pushed me and made me grow as a person. I’m so happy to be a part of this amazing team and can’t wait to do more!

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA Award:
I’ve done a lot of work to help me receive the PVSA award. Some of the work I’ve done over the last year includes helping/ organizing the annual run, outreaching to local businesses for sponsorships, attending the monthly meetings, and many more. I helped run a lemonade stand to raise money for our projects and to get locals to know about our annual run. I’m also a part of two campaigns, the Breast Cancer Care Package Campaign and the Dialysis Campaign. I also went to my elementary school and set up a table and gave out flyers about our annual run.

I would also like to add: I would like to give a huge thanks to Sri Uncle, Manti Uncle, and Neelima auntie for always pushing me and encouraging me to do great things. They gave me so much support this past year. Sri Uncle has always supported me and encouraged me to do whatever I put my mind to.When I first joined Asha Jyothi I was always so nervous to speak in front of a large group of people. Since then Asha Jyothi has taught me public speaking skills that helped me get over my fear. Especially Sri Uncle who always encouraged me to talk in front of others. Everyone who’s a part of this group has the best support group and people who will always push you. I’m so grateful to be a part of this community to make changes in our world. Asha Jyothi has shown me how little of a difference you can make to help so many people in need. Thank you AJ for everything that you do!

Full Name : Sraddha Arvind
Grade: 9
School: Great Valley High School
City and State: Malvern, PA
My Asha-Jyothi story:
I joined Asha-Jyothi four years ago when the Pennsylvania chapter first started. I started out by volunteering before the first Asha-Jyothi run that was held in Pennsylvania. I handed out flyers and talked to people about Asha-Jyothi and started raising awareness which gave me a lot of exposure. In 2021, I started my own campaign which was raising money for a water filtration system for an elementary school in Tamilnadu. The school had a weak infrastructure which resulted in the school not receiving any funding from the government. After the project was completed, I visited the school in December of 2021. It was very heartwarming to see how important the water filtration system was to the teacher and also the students. Asha-Jyothi showed me how one act of kindness can make a difference for so many people.

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA Award: There were many volunteering activities that I had the opportunity to be a part of. I talked to many people and did research for my project which counted towards a lot of the hours. I also talked to people and different companies about the asha-jyothi run. In addition, I helped organize different events hosted by Asha-Jyothi such as the Color Event and also the annual Asha-Jyothi Run.

I would also like to add: Thank you to all of the people who helped me throughout my journey, especially my mom and dad who encouraged me to participate in different activities and helped me out with my campaign. Also thank you to all the other youth volunteers who were on my team for being super cooperative and bringing great ideas to the table on how to make our project better!

Full Name : Dhvani Shah
Grade: 11
School: Downingtown STEM Academy
City and State: Chester Springs, PA
My Asha-Jyothi story:
I joined Asha- Jyothi about 4 years ago, and almost a year after, I was given the amazing opportunity to become a youth lead within the PA chapter of AJ. I decided that as my project for the next few years, I would continue one of the projects that one of our adult leads, Beville, had been taking care of before I had become a lead. The project was related to my local food bank, the Chester County Food Bank, and it involved everything from volunteering and helping out wherever we could to raising money for them. The first time I volunteered with them was at their local warehouse to pack food boxes, and that’s when I started to realize that not everyone is as fortunate as I am. Not everyone has nutritious food to eat, clean water to drink, or even a roof over their heads, and before seeing how many people needed food in my area, I always took all of that for granted.

At the beginning of my project, I had pledged to raise $3000 while I was in high school, and including the funds that Beville had helped collect, about $6500 has been raised for this project so far. Obviously though, none of this would have been possible without the countless people who have helped me throughout, including my team of youth volunteers and countless core team members. Asha -Jyothi has taught me so much over the years, and I have developed so many useful skills such as how to communicate effectively, public speaking, leadership, teamwork, organization, and many more. I’m so grateful and lucky to be a part of this amazing chapter of AJ and I can’t wait to see what else we achieve!

My work that lead to Gold/Silver PVSA Award:
Last year for the 2020-2021 year I was able to acquire a bronze PVSA award, meaning only 50 hrs, but this year I decided that I wasn’t doing enough personally and that I was going to do more to help, whether it was doing stuff for my project, or helping out with the organization of our annual 5k run. This year, all of the other youth leads that I had worked with previously went off to college, and me being the youngest out of all of them, was finally able to see the amount of work they all did for Asha- Jyothi. Since they were all so much busier with college, I had to do more than I had done before, and although I was a bit overwhelmed at first, it made me so happy to see that all of this work was being done for such a good cause. I did many things from volunteering at the food bank and raising money for my project, and this year I was a lot more involved with the organization of our annual 5k charity run. I organized and conducted many meetings throughout the year from just general youth volunteer meetings, to meetings for different groups to discuss different areas and topics about the run. I also helped out with many other events and small projects we had such as the AJ color event, the coat drive, etc.

I would also like to add: I would not be where I am right now without so many different people in my life. I have so many people to thank, but the most important ones are my parents for supporting me through everything, Sri uncle, Neelima Aunty, Beville, and Prabhakar uncle for helping me with everything and anything I ever needed, and so many youth volunteers from the team who supported my project and helped me. It makes me so happy to see all of the things that Asha-Jyothi has achieved over the years, and I hope the great work continues!

Full Name : Shruti Shah
Grade: 5
School: Pickering Valley Elementary School (DASD)
City and State: Chester Springs, PA
My Asha-Jyothi story:

I joined Asha-Jyothi 4 years ago. When I first started volunteering, it made me feel really good knowing that I was helping people. I have helped with my sister’s project which is the Chester County Food Bank. We have gone there multiple times to help pack food, work at the warehouse, and a few times went to their food-growing community gardens. At my school, I have given out flyers to my teachers, the principal, the guidance counselor, and many kids! I feel that the 5k run is the BEST part! I also love being a part of the cheerleading team with my friends, cheering people on! I absolutely LOVE being a part of Asha-Jyothi and I will continue to try to help out as much as I can!

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA Award:
I helped out at a lemonade stand, distributed run t-shirts by going multiple times to participants’ homes, at the Asha-Jyothi color event, the Chester County Food Bank and a couple more events! I helped my sister when she needed help with her project and I spent some of my time handing out flyers and promoting the AJ run to my friends and people at school!

I would also like to add: My sister and my parents helped me to get involved with all the work that I have done so far. For me, getting the award was not important, I really wanted to help people and raise money for a great cause. I love Asha- Jyothi!!!

Full Name : Veda Reddy Pagilla
Grade: 3
School: Kathryn D. Markley Elementary School
City and State: Malvern, PA
My Asha-Jyothi story:
I started participating in Asha-Jyothi 4 years ago, then I was just a runner and did not think much of what we were doing. Until, last year and this year when i started volunteering, I realized what we were doing for people around us who are not as privileged as us and all of this going to a great cause. So, I got some posters and hung them up at school to spread the word and raised funds by organizing 2 lemonade stands and also manicure events for girls around in my community. I currently lead the cheerleading group during our yearly run also, along with supporting my older sister with her project and helping her fund raise for her project.

My work that lead to Gold/Silver PVSA award:
I had no idea I was getting a medal until my parents told me. I was only working with my friends and my sister to fund raise for her project and help with the run. My parents told me that I had spent a bunch of time organizing Lemonade stands, doing manicures for girls and also helping my sister to make posters and help with her fundraisers, so I will be getting a medal for all the hard work I did. To me, I had a lot of fun doing what I was doing and getting a medal is just a bonus to all the fun I was having in this event as a big Asha-Jyothi family.

I would also like to add: I want to be leading the cheerleading group like every year and get better at what we are doing. Hope that I can help my sister also, so I can learn more about how she does her project campaign and fundraising.

Full Name : Nadana Reddy Pagilla
Grade: 9
School: Great Valley High School
City and State: Malvern, PA
My Asha-Jyothi story:
I started with Asha-Jyoti 4 years ago when Sri uncle (who is one of our PA leads) decided to start the Pennsylvania chapter. I remember the first year when we started the Asha-Jyothi PA chapter, we only had about 100 runners that came to the run. Four years later this year, we had around 700 people come about to volunteer and participate in the run! The amount of growth we have had over the past 4 years is truly amazing and I feel happy that I was part of this growth of AJ PA chapter from the beginning and will be for many years in future. I used to volunteer here and there when opportunities would come in my community,  and not think too much about it, but then with the encouragement from the adult volunteers, I decided to start my own campaign to see if I can contribute and give back any, to the people around me here and in India. I have been associated with the Kidney Dialysis project that helps poor people who cannot afford kidney dialysis as a recurring treatment in India with financial assistance so they can continue their treatment.

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA award:
The work that led to this Gold PVSA award is truly very meaningful to me, and holds a special place in my heart. It started out with last year’s annual Asha Jyothi run in PA and after that, I started to work on my own project- the Dialysis campaign to help patients in India who could not afford treatment. I started having bake sales and was able to raise around $200 from that alone. After that, I also volunteered for and assisted around my local area quite often, like helping run a Coat drive for women during winter holiday season or outreaching with local businesses stores to get sponsors for Asha Jyothi yearly runs. Overall, I’m so grateful to Asha Jyothi for giving me the opportunity to give back to my community and help others!

I would also like to add: That, I am excited to grow and expand Asha Jyothi and give many more people opportunities as I was given myself. Asha Jyothi is about community and giving back and I hope I can spread that message along with me. Let’s grow Asha Jyothi and give back!

Full Name : Sidaarth Ghatta
Grade: 3
School: Kathryn D. Markley Elementary School
City and State: Malvern, PA
My Asha-Jyothi story:
I wanted to help so many people who are in need. There are so many kids who don’t have several things.

My work that led to Bronze PVSA Award:
I worked with Dhvani in the Chester County Food bank campaign. I also made several posters for Color event, Outreach, and Annual Run. I was also part of COVID-19 prevention team at the 2021 run.

I would also like to add: I want to start a socks campaign as several people have no socks in Winter.

Full Name : Prateek Arvind
Grade: 4
School: Kathryn D. Markley Elementary School
City and State: Exton, PA
My Asha-Jyothi story:
I have been volunteering in Asha-jyothi for 4 years and I have personally seen how much our help has affected the society, during the pandemic and also while helping my sister with the water purification system project which provided clean water to the students in an elementary school.

My work that led to Bronze PVSA award:
I helped volunteer with the chester county food bank, Color Run, water filtration system project and also Asha-Jyothi 5k runs.

I would also like to add: I’m going to  organize lemonade stands raise funds to help various Asha-Jyothi projects.

Full Name : Akshara Datla
Grade: 10
School: Gill St. Bernards
City and State: Chester, NJ
My Asha-Jyothi story:
I have been a part of Asha-Jyothi for my entire life. I have attended runs since I was little and looked forward to the exciting event every year. However, in the last couple of years Asha-Jyothi has inspired me to work hard to help people in need and has given me a foundation in exploring and participating in community service. This amazing organization has been a huge part of my life for countless years and I will definitely continue to volunteer and take part in Asha-Jyothi in the future.

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA Award:
In this school year (2021-2022) I have engaged in various community service activities that have helped me earn the Gold Presidential Service Award. I volunteered in the annual AJ 5k Run by setting up/preparing for the event, working at the registration table, and organizing a youth volunteer dance. Aside from this, for the last couple of months I have been helping leading the AJ NJ instagram page by creating posts and videos supporting not only the run, but several other campaigns. Lastly I have participated in the AJ NJ Guntur Waste Picker Kids Campaign and the AJ NJ Dialysis Campaign.

I would also like to add: Thanks Asha-Jyothi for all your support and for doing awesome things!

Full Name : Ria Reddy
Grade: 11
School: Lower Dauphn High School
City and State: Hummelstown, PA

My Asha-Jyothi Story:
I have been with Asha-Jyothi since I was a kid. I went to my first run when I was 6/7 years old. Every year since then I have been attending the Annual run , making small contributions like posters, raising awareness in friends and family about Asha-Jyothi. This year I have been very active in the campaigns, the Asha-Jyothi PA color run and helping with the Annual Run

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA Award:
This year I worked on Campaigns like the Waste Picker kids in Guntur and Dialysis Campaign. I raised money for these events via bake sales and campaigning outside various locations including local grocery stores. I helped raise money, register friends , family and neighbors for the Annual run and get gift cards.

Full Name : Rishi Sappidi
Grade: 12
School: Academy for Math, Science, and Engineering
City and State: Long Valley, NJ

My Asha-Jyothi Story:
I have been involved with AJ for as long as I can remember. It began when I was 7 years old, when I volunteered with my parents. I started with small tasks, like setting up tables and carrying things around. As I grew, so did my involvement in the run. I watched over the water stations, handed out flyers, and even MC’d during the run. Soon, I became involved in AJ outside of the run. I participated in several campaigns, and even led one myself. Through the various volunteer roles I have taken on as a member of this organization, I have gained valuable skills such as leadership and responsibility. I am very grateful to Asha-Jyothi for the experiences and knowledge I have gained through them.

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA Award:

  • Guntur Waste Picker Campaign
  • AJ Run Prep/Volunteering
  • Volunteer Coach with The First Tee
  • Volunteering with America’s Grow-a-Row
  • Raising funds for Homefromt’s back to school campaign

Full Name : Laasya Kandukurti
Grade: 12
School: Montgomery Township High School
City and State: Belle Mead, NJ

My Asha-Jyothi Story:
I have been a part of Asha-Jyothi since I was very young. I started to volunteer and help with campaigns a few years ago and it has been very fulfilling.

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA Award:
I helped organize and volunteered at the Asha-Jyothi run in NJ. I raised money and bought diapers for people in need as part of the Diaper Drive with Home Front. I had my Carnatic Music Vocal Arangetram this year and raised funds and awareness for Asha-Jyothi. I also am a youth lead for the Education Scholarship project and helped students in India get funding for college.

Full Name : Sahasra Datla
Grade: 8
School: Black River Middle School
City and State: Chester, NJ

My Asha-Jyothi Story:
I have been a part of Asha-Jyothi since I was a toddler. I’ve attended the runs ever since. Throughout the past few years, I’ve gotten more involved in campaigns, events, and raising money. Asha-Jyothi has been a huge part of my whole life and hopefully will continue to be as I get older and even more involved.

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA award:
AJ Guntur Kids Campaign, Posters For AJ Social Media, Video-Taping With Drone, Helped Raise Money/Get Gift Cards, Volunteered At CFBNJ & St. Peter’s Haven

Full Name : Anjali Datla
Grade: 9
School: The Hun School of Princeton
City and State: Montgomery, NJ

My Asha-Jyothi Story:
I have been a part of AJ my whole life. I look forward to being a part of the 5k every year! As I got older, and realized what a big impact I can makes as an AJ volunteer, I began to work on different campaigns throughout the year as well as being more involved on the run day. AJ has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I plan on being part of AJ for a long time into the future as well!

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA Award:
I worked throughout the year on various campaigns, like the waste pickers campaign, to raise funds for AJ. I stood outside of grocery stores explaining AJ’s cause, and baked for different bake sales in neighborhoods and other 5k runs in my community. I was a part of a community service club in my school for the whole year. In the club, I volunteered for a diaper drive and a care package campaign for soldiers. I also helped raise funds for local AJ campaigns such as the diaper drive, and school supply drive. I helped with the preparation and set up of the run. Some of our pre-run work entails reaching out to local businesses for sponsorships and gift cards, making and putting up AJ flyers across our town, and sorting through all of the t-shirts.I also volunteered to help with registration and timing the day of the run. I work with a few other youth volunteers to build the AJ NJ chapter Insta page! I make posts on our past and current campaigns, promote the run, and highlight some of our youth volunteers. I put in a lot of work to grow our page as well, and reach out to our sponsors! Prior to the run, I gained close to 100 registrations!

I would also like to add: I love volunteering for AJ because I am able to see the difference I am making by volunteering! Thanks to my parents and all the other adult volunteers for guiding and supporting me.

Full Name : Ritvik Reddy Topoji
Grade: 10
School: Great Valley High School
City and State: Malvern, PA

My Asha-Jyothi story:
I have been a part of Asha-Jyothi for over a year now. I was introduced to Asha-Jyothi since my mother was friends with Neelima Auntie and found out about the organization through her. Since then, I have been an active member, attending events whenever possible, and helping to raise lots of money for good causes. And recently both my mom and sister have helped in Asha-Jyothi volunteering. And my dad did lots of things outside of the spotlight that really helped both us, and Asha Jyothi.

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA Award:
During the school year of 2021-2022 I have participated in lots of volunteer work, which allowed me to achieve a gold PVSA award. This includes, the annual Asha Jyothi 5k run, along with 2 other 5k runs, miles for Myeloma, and Drishti. I outsourced to many local, and chain owned business to ask them for sponsorships, if we could leave our flyers at their store, and other mutually beneficial services. I also did many other events either promoting Asha Jyothi, helping raise money for Asha Jyothi, and helping organize events. I have also organized one of the biggest events of the year in terms of money raised, the lemonade stand in Atwater, Malvern PA. It was the second biggest Asha Jyothi lemonade stand, which I couldn’t have done without Sri uncle, Manti uncle, Neelima auntie, and my fellow youth volunteers. And a special thank you to my sister and her friends, who helped so much. I am very proud to have organized this event on my own, but that does not nearly compare to how happy I am for the amount of money that was raised for the causes that Asha Jyothi supports.

I would also like to add:
It has been so exciting seeing how much Asha Jyothi grew, especially since 2022 started. More and more people at my school know about it, more people have been attending the events, more youth volunteers are taking time out of their schedules to help, and most importantly, more of the important causes that Asha Jyothi supports are receiving more money, and I am very grateful for being part of that experience. Thank you AJ for all that you do, GO AJ!!

Full Name : Nithya Madineni
Grade: 11
School: Granada High School
City and State: Livermore, CA

My Asha-Jyothi story:
I have been a part of Asha-Jyothi for as long as I could remember! It has always been a big part of my childhood and I would always have so much fun waking up and helping my dad set up and meet all my friends! It has always been a big part of my life and I even had the privilege one year to deliver bikes to underprivileged communities in India and it was such and amazing experience getting too see the impact we are truly able to make through this organization!

My work that led to Gold/Silver PVSA Award:
This last year when India was in a severe oxygen shortage due to COVID I wanted to make an impact. I handmade jewelry and jewelry dishes that I sold and donated all the proceeds to our campaign! A company was able to match the price as well which was really amazing to see how impactful one small thing can be! I also have volunteered at my local temple through Asha-Jyothi.
I would also like to add: I would like to thank Vamsi Uncle for always providing these opportunities for me and allowing my family to be a big part of this organization!

A big shoutout goes to all of the above volunteers and others not mentioned. Thank you for your amazing contributions and dedication to Asha-Jyothi. Your efforts won’t go unnoticed!