Empower And Excel – NPO With A Mission To Empower Children And Youth To Give Back To The Community

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Below is our recent interview with Ayesha Charagulla, President & CEO at Empower And Excel:

Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to Empower And Excel?

A: E&E is NPO with a mission to empower children and youth to give back to the community. The young volunteers are engaged in getting hands-on experience in a broad spectrum of volunteering activities to make a difference in their local, national as well as international community. We are a 100% volunteer lead organization with a strong passion and commitment towards whatever we do.

We are a one-stop-shop for all age groups to join hands and successfully deliver on a variety of impactful projects for the community. We believe age should not be a barrier to give back, so we encourage parents to start instilling volunteering at a young age thereby making it second nature for them as they grow up.

We provide opportunities for families to spend fun time together, bonding over doing something meaningful, where they could make a difference. On the practical side, these volunteers are gaining life skills such as working in groups, planning, interacting with different people, caring and cooking, etc. On the social front, these interactions are training our youth to foster empathy and compassion for the underprivileged as well as teach them to be grateful for what they have. Our platform exposes them to real-world issues and inspires them to serve, learn and contribute towards making our society a better place to live. The community on the other hand also acquires a caring younger generation who are making a positive impact and is well trained in delivering on their social responsibilities.

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Q: Can you give us insights into your projects?

A: We believe learning takes place at home and throughout the community and not just within the school’s classroom environment. All our programs are well thought of and designed to offer tangible and sometimes intangible benefits equally, to our volunteers and the communities. A wide variety of opportunities are available to all our registered volunteers.

• Programs with elderly: Bridging the gap between generations through engagement in many fun, creative and informative activities including Technology sessions, Music Recitals, Arts & Crafts, Laundry assistance and Luncheons. The programs are geared towards assisting and interacting with senior citizens helping increase the awareness of old age amongst our youth and help them learn from the experienced and wise members of our society.
• Gardening: Getting closer to Nature – through first- hand training in techniques of proper planting, successful gardening techniques and care so the community can grow trees for generations which is good for the environment
• Friends Together: Diversity & Inclusion – Typically developing peers interact with children on the spectrum. Volunteers facilitating inclusive immersion environments to build special needs social and educational skills
• Homeless Shelters: Compassion &Local Charity – Prepare full course hot meals and serve at shelter. Prepare brown bag lunches. Organize food pantries, shelves with collected donations for the needy to pickup
• Activities for children from low-income communities: Equal education – Volunteers work with children from low-income communities in hands-on activities, focused on STEM academics, cooking, and arts& crafts.
• At Public libraries: Local Community building – Offering fitness sessions, summer reading programs, STEM, Robotics, coding and arts & crafts Dinner for Patients families: Prepare full course hot meals and serve for patient’s families while they care for their loved ones who are hospitalized Gift of Joy: Toy drives during holiday season for sick children at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford and needy children at shelters.
• Care packages for troops: National Level Awareness – To show our gratitude and help to enhance the morale and well-being of the deployed troops
• Knitbuds: Caring for the sick- Youth lead program to make blankets, caps & scarfs by involving other volunteers and elderly to donate to needy
• International: Knowing no boundaries – Support many more community events on need basis Summer & winter volunteering opportunities in India to work with special needs and children from rural areas.

Besides these projects, we also try to work with volunteers on individual projects based on their skills and interests’ areas.

Q: If anyone wants to become a volunteer, what’s the best way to apply? Why is it a good choice to be a volunteer?

A: Please visit our website empowerexcel.org or our Facebook page to get an idea and read reviews about our work.

If anyone wants to become a volunteer they can go here to register as a volunteer or can reach out by emailing at info@empowerexcel.org

Either lack of information or with busy lives, it can be hard to find the right volunteering opportunities to volunteer. Empower And Excel gives opportunities to inspire and change lives. We know that because we hear from our benefiting communities every time. With a broader range of community exposure, volunteer experiences translate into heart-touching essays which helps them to stand out in college / high-school applications.

E&E is a certifying organization for the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Volunteers can earn volunteer credit toward school, college and club requirements. As we cater to all ages, we also meet High school volunteering requirements. For examples, some schools have a requirement to do service in a certain area like 9th grade with children, 10th grade with Senior citizens, 11th grade with special needs and 12th with homeless. We offer all those opportunities so that children do not have to constantly search for them. We do annual volunteer appreciation event and we recognize all volunteers for their efforts. We are acknowledged by Santa Clara county and CA Assembly members for our efforts multiple times.

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Q: What’s the vision that guides you?

A: Our vision is to empower and equip our future generations with the power to change the world and to make it a better place to live. By involving them in the community work, we empower them to think and question the status quo, cultivate empathy and explore avenues to excel in their journey of learning.

Q: What can we expect from your organization in the future?

A: We are committed to continuing to work for communities in need by involving youth and children. We aim to introduce more youth to lead impactful programs for the community. Provide more leadership opportunities for our youth volunteers.