The Central Pacific regional chapters of HSS initiated a “Vidyadaan” school supplies donation drive to ease the financial burden of needy students and enable their academic success. Other HSS chapters around the country also chimed in by replicating this Seva (charitable) drive in their regions.
- Children volunteers in Mountain House CA set up a Pani Puri stand with the help of their parents to sell these tasty treats and raise funds for backpack donations. They eventually donated 35 backpacks with supplies to SJQ Child Support. Similarly, the nearby Pleasanton Shakha organized a fundraising drive by selling savory chaat items, lassi, and tea
- HSS San Joaquin chapters in partnership with San Joaquin Kannada Sangha, Poorba – Mountain House Bengali Association, Central Valley Marathi Mandali, and Central Valley Gujarati Association donated around 167 Backpacks filled with school supplies to 4 beneficiary organizations in San Joaquin County. Gauri Shakha also set up a buttermilk stand during cricket matches in parks and playgrounds to raise funds for the Vidyadaan campaign. They donated all of the backpacks to the Jefferson School District
- As part of Vidyadaan, the Tri-Valley area shakhas came up with unique ideas for raising funds to help the local school districts in Dublin, Livermore, and Pleasanton. The Kishor Shakha organized a Bake Sale, the Bala Gana conducted a Jewelry workshop and set up a Lemonade Stall, and the Family Shakha arranged a Chaat Corner/Lunch Corner and a Walkathon, in which each family pledged an amount of choice for the supplies donation
- In Contra Costa, the volunteers of the Rudra Shakha donated 70 school backpacks filled with essential supplies to the Brentwood Union School District. Similarly, the Ayodhya and Chanakya Shakhas donated 50+ backpacks to Los Cerros middle school in SRVUSD along with additional supplies
- The HSS Columbus team in partnership with Sewa International USA organized its annual school supply drive, in which they donated school supplies to Royal Manor Elementary School in Gahanna OH
- The Subramanya Bharathi Shakha in the Seattle WA area concluded their Vidyadaan drive, donating 22 backpacks, along with supplies like crayons, glue sticks, pocket calculators, and scientific calculators to Lake Washington School District
- As part of their Seva initiative, Madhav Shakha raised funds through pledges and donated 180 backpacks to Alcott Elementary School in Houston TX. The school’s principal appreciated the HSS volunteers, stating “The backpacks with all the supplies get our students ready to learn!”
- The Chicago area chapters of HSS organized a notebook donation drive for School District #33. It was their third successive back-to-school drive for the same school district. The HSS volunteers donated around 1,200 notebooks and some cash donations, beating the school district’s request for 1,000 notebooks. Volunteers of Abhimanyu Shakha, Vivekananda Shakha, and Panchjanya Shakha participated in the drive. The Balas/ Kishores of Buffalo Grove Shakha raised funds through a lemonade stand and also donated from their piggy banks
