BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE
Atlanta, GA, September 11, 2024: The luscious green pathways of Chattahoochee park lit up in color on August 24, 2024 as well over 200 participants of VT Seva Atlanta team’s 1st youth-led Walkathon – ‘Be Yourself’, dressed in blue shirts walked three miles to support the blind / visually impaired community of Atlanta.
VT Seva, ‘Volunteering Together for Service’, is a non-profit org with branches in more than 25 plus cities all across US, with key focus on four areas including – Education, Environment, Disaster Relief, and Healthcare. In Atlanta, VT Seva has 14 youth clubs in High schools and Middle schools which actively participate in the year-round community services across the city.
Youth volunteers kicked off the Walkathon on Aug 1st, 2024 in virtual mode and successfully completed on Aug 24th with in-person grand finale. “We had 10 plus youth teams who registered for this event and who walked every day and logged their miles virtually on our portal,” Dr. Madhu Nemani, VT Seva Atlanta Director, said.
Lisa Kennedy, CEO & President of the Atlanta ‘Center For Visually Impaired’ presided as the Chief guest. Guests of honor included State Representative Carter Barrett, GAPI President, Dr. Lalitha Medepalli, Abigali Parkes, Development Coordinator for the Center For Visually Impaired and Bharat Govinda, CEO, AssureGuru.
The initiative raised $1000 for the Center For the Visually Impaired. The team arranged healthy snacks for all participants and special awards for guests.
“According to Pantanjali, “The longest journey begins with a single step”, and VT Seva has taken a single step on August 24, 2024 to empower and support wholeheartedly the vision loss community of Atlanta. We’ll take many more steps together in future to empower them with hope, light, and success. Our Chief Guest, Ms. Lisa Kennedy other distinguished guests were highly impressed to see the dedication, commitment, and service mindset of the VT Seva Atlanta team. We are very thankful and grateful for this wonderful opportunity to empower the vision loss community of Atlanta!” Dr. Nemani said.
