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PURE Youth Marlboro

Marlboro, NJ

PURE Youth is an empowering leadership program that aims to raise awareness on the impact that education has on society through numerous projects and through fundraising. PURE Youth supports a wide range of projects from helping women get sanitary pads in India and Ethiopia to helping inner city kids during COVID-19 in the United States. Ambassadors and directors have the opportunity to make a real change in many communities.

The PURE Youth Marlboro Chapter was started in 2020. Even though our team started during COVID-19, our team has always found ways to connect and bond with each other whether it is through text or through virtual team bonding events. They know that their voices and ideas are heard, and that the other members in the team always have their back. PURE Youth is a place where anyone is included, a place where strangers can become friends. It is also an organization that connects people under a common goal which is to make the world a better place.

We currently have 11 ambassadors. Our current directors are Shree Aleti and Vansh Linga. Our ambassadors are Akshaya Anikode, Avinash Sabbella, Siddharth Kakarapathi, Srilekha Dantu, Ishika Pondicherry, Shanmukha, Sourish, Amough Magesh, Eekshita Mondrati. Avinash won a Gold award for completing more than 100 hours as a part of our chapter and as the National Student Director.

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Our Chapter also had the opportunity to be featured in a Times of India article after our very successful dinner to door delivery fundraiser for our Spring 2022 project.


Awards, recognitions and special contributions:

Avinash Sabbella received the silver Presidential Volunteer service award, and Akshaya Anikode, Rushyukta Nelabhotla and Shreya Gondal received bronze Presidential Volunteer Service award.

Akshaya Anikode and Avinash Sabbella were part of the “Leaders of Today” project that raised funds for COVID relief in India.

Ambassadors Avinash Sabbella, Siddharth Kakaraparthi, Shree Aleti and Sreelekha Dantu participated in the PURE fundraisers like PURE Prerana (2020 and 2021), and PURE 5 birthday celebrations. They sing, dance and entertain the audience during the events

Avinash Sabbella and Siddharth Kakaraparthi worked with their dance school to raise funds to support COVID victims in India.


Team:

2020-2021:

Directors: Mouktika Nelabhotla, Shreya Gondal

Ambassadors: Aayushi Naik, Akshaya Anikode, Avinash Sabbella, Rushyukta Nelabhotla, Siddharth Kakaraparthi, Vansh Linga, Varsha Velagaleti

2021-2022:

Directors: Avinash Sabbella, Vansh Linga

Ambassadors: Aayushi Naik, Akshaya Anikode, Shree Aleti, Siddharth Kakaraparthi, Sreelekha Dantu


Projects handled:

2020-2021:

  • Summer: Cooked and sold food to raise funds for PURE Femme
  • Fall: Diwali fundraiser where Indian sweets were sold and the proceeds benefited a local women's shelter
  • Spring: Virtual game night whose proceeds went towards PURE Organic farming project
  • Spring: Operation Gratitude - write letters to deployed troops

2021-2022:

  • Summer: Krispy Kreme donut sale proceeds that are used to promote menstrual hygiene
  • Fall: Diwali food drive for the homeless in association with Marlboro Indian American Association (MIAA) and SEWA international
  • Fall: Volunteer at Special Olympics New Jersey (SONJ) for their fall floor hockey and volleyball tournaments

Spring 2021: Family Game Night

For our Spring 2021 Project we hosted and online family game night over zoom. Each of our ambassadors participated in running a game for the families that attend to play. We also had small intermissions with musical and dance performances. At the end we hosted a raffle from our sponsors. The event was successful and our target goal was reached.

Summer 2021: Krispy Kreme Project

Marlboro PURE Youth’s summer fundraiser got off to a sweet start as the chapter sold Krispy Kreme Donuts in support of proper menstrual hygiene. The fundraiser commenced July 16th and was drawn to a close by July 28th. The group, consisting of 7 Ambassadors, was able to exceed the initial fundraising goal. The profits from this project will be sent to adolescent kids in Barbados; many of whom were previously facing period poverty.

Winter 2021:

Marlboro PURE youth supported local charities for this project. We supported the local charity Marlboro Indian American Association (MIAA) for a Diwali Food Drive and we supported the Special Needs Winter Olympics by volunteering as the scorekeepers.

Spring 2022:

What's for dinner in Marlboro? the yummy dinner thali prepared by the PURE chapter. As someone rightly said, 'the path to the heart is through the stomach'. We, at PURE Marlboro, can confidently tweak it to say 'the path to donations for PURE is through the stomach'.
For our spring 2022 fundraiser for providing menstrual hygiene products to the needy, we chose to do a 'dinner to door delivery'. our first in person project since inception, this had every ambassador super excited. From the brainstorming of the idea to the execution, the ambassadors were involved in every step and completed it within 2 weeks. The chapter smashed its goal by 100%. The ambassadors enjoyed planning for the menu, cooking and delivering meals on that snowy day, while the donors enjoyed a yummy home cooked 3 course Indian dinner delivered to the door for less than what they pay for a pizza.

Summer 2022:

On the 29th and 30th of July 2022, the Marlboro PURE Youth Chapter teamed up with an organization called the Marlboro Indian Association to help spread awareness. The group managed a stall and assisted with telling people and handing them flyers to educate them about PURE.

PURE ambassadors learned to communicate with people that they have not met before and were also able to spread awareness about our organization. Ambassadors went around the fair handing out flyers, to reach more people. The successfulness of this event is evident through new members joining and others showing interest in our organization.

Fall 2022:

Marlboro PURE Youth’s Fall 2022 project was a delicious breakfast with door to door delivery on Saturday, December 10, at 9 am. We started the project on Saturday, December 3 and ended it on December 10th. The group consisted of 10 ambassadors, and we were able to exceed our fundraising goal of $500. The funds from this project are going towards providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies to the kids at MPUPS Bandlaguda (Kalimandir). This project will help marginalized communities and low-income students to have equal access to safe water and toilets. These safe conditions will aid in easy access to handwashing.

Testimonials

Being a PURE Youth director has opened my eyes in many ways. I learned that being a leader is hard because you have to make sure that your team listens to you and does the right things. Volunteering has always been important to me because I like giving back to my community. I believe that by volunteering and giving back to the community, communities can thrive.
- Mouktika

As a co-director the responsibility of partially leading showed me a great deal of things that I would not have understood otherwise. As someone who isn’t always the best in such a leading role, this opportunity has helped me better my understanding of leading, all while being able to service my community. It was a wonderful experience that taught me a lot.
- Shreya

My name is Rushyukta Nelabhotla and I am a PURE Youth ambassador. Joining PURE Youth helped me give back to my community. At the beginning, I was a little unsure about joining, thinking that I was too young and that I wouldn’t be able to make an impact. But now that I’ve been in PURE for a few months, I can say that PURE Youth shaped me into a better person. Being part of a team helped me speak up and shake my shyness off. I am very glad that I joined Pure Youth and I hope that I can continue to make an impact in my community.
- Rushyukta

PURE was an experience that gave me exposure to meet new people as well as fundraise for different events. This allowed me to appreciate the little things in life that I have been fortunate enough to have. Helping people around the world for different causes gives me exposure to meet new people. During the pandemic, PURE has definitely been a useful resource to connect and communicate with others.
- Akshaya

When I first joined PURE I did not know exactly what I was getting into. My mom had told me about this group and what they had done in the past and I wanted to be a part of the good that they spread. My experience so far is that there is a major group of people that all want to help the world in some way or the other. With them I can help others which is one of my main goals in life. I hope to help in any way I can and make sure that I help those in need.
- Vansh

I have had a very positive experience being a PURE mentor. PURE has helped me get to meet new people and make friends with the other parents. PURE has also helped my kids gain more social skills which they will definitely need in the future. I would highly recommend other parents to join their kids in PURE.
- Madhu

I think PURE is good for many reasons. PURE has helped kids do things they might not have been able to do if it wasn’t for PURE. Different fundraisers taught kids the importance of fundraising. It opened useful opportunities for the future. Both parents and kids can both work together and help the community.
- Sudha

As a director at PURE, I have grown as an individual, finding new things about myself that I had not known before. I have been able to improve as a leader and become a better collaborator through improved communication and administration. Along with my group members, I have grown to see that change starts with the individual and I developed a passion to promote positive change. I started in PURE in November 2020 as a team member and have grown so much since - I have led two projects (Virtual family night and Krispy Kreme fundraiser), and participated in the Leaders of Today project that worked on alleviating the COVID crisis in India. Through PURE, I have promoted positive change in my community and around the world while becoming a better leader. The silver Presidential award I received only encourages me to do better and contribute more. PURE continues to teach me in the future. PURE continues to teach me lessons that I hope to carry forward as I age into adulthood.
- Avinash

Being the director of a PURE Youth chapter has changed me. It has allowed me to work on my leadership and communication skills making them even better. Ever since I became a director the way I look at different organizations has changed. I used to look at them as something that I can’t help, but now I know I have a way to help. Through PURE I have been able to give back to the community and help out with other struggles overseas. A major goal in my life is to help lots of people. Being a part of PURE has helped me get closer to my goal and I can’t wait to do more.
- Vansh

Being in Pure Youth as an ambassador has allowed me to connect with people who all have the same goal and be exposed to unique projects with the Marlboro chapter. We were able to organize a family game night which allowed many attendees to gather through a zoom call due to the conditions and have an enjoyable evening together! Various opportunities are accessible through Pure Youth; for example, the Leaders of Today project where Pure Youth had reached out to numerous other chapters that collectively raised donations to assist suffering hospitals in India and support them by supplying masks, oxygen containers, etc. The Marlboro Chapter has introduced me to many great people to further expand my knowledge and collectively raise support during such pivotal current emergencies all over the world.
- Akshaya

My name is Shree and I have been a PURE ambassador for the Marlboro Chapter for one year now. I have been a part of two fundraisers. Our first fundraiser was a family night event to raise money for farmers. For our second fundraiser we sold Krispy Kreme donuts to raise money for period poverty. During our family night we played three trivia games and had music performances in between each game. We also got local businesses to sponsor our event and the raffle that we held at the end. Through the tickets we sold we raised more than our initial goal and all that money went to farmers in India. Being a part of PURE allows me and other youth ambassadors to help make a difference in the world and use our time and effort to benefit others.
- Shree