Youth Group Updates

Nashua Children’s Home Visit - (December 15, 2018) 

 

---

 

Members from the IANH Executive Board and the Youth Group visited the Nashua Children’s Home, a foster home for kids. Each year, the IANH Youth Group receives wishlists for a group of kids from the Nashua Children’s Home. Members from the youth group purchased these presents and wrapped them to gift the children for the holiday season. Three members from the youth group, Urvi, Sneha, and Trisha visited the children’s home to drop off the presents and understand how they were helping them. They had the opportunity to meet Lori Wilshire, who runs the Nashua Children’s Home. Ms. Wilshire shared her own personal connection with the children’s home. When she was growing up, she spent three years of her childhood at the foster home as her mother could not afford to raise or own an apartment large enough for Ms. Wilshire in addition to her six siblings. She said that as a child she enjoyed living at the home because she could count on warm clothes, three hot meals a day, shoes without holes and friends she could live with. She also shared with us a few of the many success stories of children who spent some or their entire childhood at the children’s home, and how they are doing well now pursuing their own careers. The Nashua Children’s Home was very happy with the presents IANH Youth Group donated and said that the ten children who the youth group shopped for will be very happy come Christmas morning. 

 

IANH organized the 2018 Diwali Festival on November 10, 2018. This event was help run by members of the youth group who organized the event from backstage. IANH Youth Group members volunteered in the audio room, at the front desk, back stage, and in the green room. Some members were ushers who coordinated between the green room to backstage and the youth group members also managed the curtains, volunteered as emcees when needed and coordinated with the sound room from backstage throughout the entire event. Without the effort of the youth group, this event would not have been able to run smoothly. In addition to volunteering during the event, youth group members participated in the Lamp Show and the Fashion Show following the performances. In addition to this, the Youth Group President, Urvi, spoke on stage and shared with the audience what the IANH Youth Group does and how they have helped the community so far as well as their upcoming plans.

Serving and supporting the community via soup kitchens has always been a heartfelt experience and the best way to engage with our local community and giving back to community.

For decades, India Association of NH (IANH) has been serving and supporting Nashua and Manchester soup kitchens that benefit thousands of needy people in these areas. IANH also has been participating in their annual fund raisers and been sponsoring these events every year for last many years.

This year, we have decided to undertake a new geographical area in New Hampshire to expand our community service via participating at Derry soup kitchen also known as Sonshine soup kitchen. Sonshine soup kitchen has been serving the local community at Derry, NH since 1989 serving meals, donating food and clothes to the needy (www.sonshinesoupkitchen.org). This will be a great opportunity for our youth group as well to expand their community reach program.

We have decided to start our engagement with the Derry soup kitchen by sponsoring a meal every month (so total of 12 meals a year). The cost for sponsorship for each meal will be $100, so we are looking for a total sum of $1,200 for the whole year. The soup kitchen will take care of cooking and serving the meals.

We are looking to our IANH community to come forward with meal sponsorship at Derry soup kitchen and be a part of this new initiative that IANH has undertaken. They can sponsor a meal ($100 per meal) or choose to sponsor multiple meals. If you are willing to sponsor one or more meals, please register yourself via the registration link provided below.

SPONSORSHIP REGISTRATION

Please feel free to contact Manoj Chourasia at 603-557-7981, Barinder Ahluwalia at (603) 714-9260 or send an email to PublicService@ianh.org for any questions/clarifications.

Advocacy Training - (December 8, 2018) 

 

---

 

At the Nashua Public Library, Aly McKnight, the Vice President of New Futures, came to conduct a workshop training on youth advocacy for the IANH Youth Group. New Futures is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocates, educates, and collaborates to improve the health and wellness of all New Hampshire residents through policy change. 14 attended the training and learned how they can have a voice in their community even as a middle school or high school student. 

The training educated our Youth Group members on 

 

• What is advocacy 

• How to advocate effectively

• Ways bill becomes a law.

• Did exercises on how to advocate for a cause and difference between advocacy and opinions.

Sign up for Consultation Session at the following link: https://bit.ly/NSF-NH 

 

Meet with Join Kyle Cortley, former admissions officer at Rice University and University at Buffalo as she provides guidance and insight on what's most important to college admissions officers.

 

Complimentary 30 minute admissions consultations with Kyle will be held throughout the weekend. This is a great opportunity to get personalized guidance on what you can be working on with your child toprepare for the admissions process, as well as get any questions answered. Consultations limited to families with students in grades 8-11. Registration required.

 

Kyle will also be conducting an Information Session on Sunday April 28 morning at the IANH Education Bees. During this session you will learn how your child's applications are read, how to stand out in the application pool, how to find the right fit for your child and the parent's role in the process.