Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Birthday Party with a Social Twist

Want to add a social twist to your child’s first birthday?

Here is a way in which you can make a meaningful contribution to the society without any investment. Ananth has set a wonderful example for us. To celebrate his son’s first birthday, he organized a party on the New Year’s Eve (31-12-2014). The twist was, he requested all the guests to NOT bring any gifts and motivated them to donate at charity stalls set up at the party venue.
Following is the post script of the party invitation:

"P.S: Strictly no gifts. Kindly drop ur generous contributions at the charity stalls at the party"
Ananth invited CSS and three other NGOs, which were Blue cross, Tha ma ni and Ekam foundation. Our CSS volunteers reached the place by 6 PM and set up our stall along with 25 saplings. We gave a brief introduction about CSS and Vegam. We also showed pictures of Vegam event 2014. We also got a chance to talk to the guests individually as they visited our stall.

At the end of the event, we collected Rs.4,000 and distributed 3 saplings to the guests. After having a nice dinner, we started from the place by 9.30 PM. The remaining saplings were given to Ananth, which he distributed to the guests at the end of the party.

Thanks Ananth for setting a wonderful example of dedication to social causes. Kudos to Ananth and blessings to his son. Heart-felt gratitude for the other CSS volunteers.

CSS Volunteers - Akshayaa, Surya and Ashwin
Venue - 400' barbeque restaurant, T Nagar




Sunday, December 28, 2014

Visit to Mahabs


On December 28, we planned to take our tuition center kids to Mahabalipuram for a one day outing.

46 kids from Gandhi Nagar tuition centre (near Island ground) and 34 kids from Nehru Nagar tuition centre (Ennore) got ready along with 15 care takers and 13 volunteers.

2 buses were booked and the kids were boarded. All were turned into Santa that day (wearing the lovely santa caps).

First, we visited the crocodile park. A nice cake kept us away from hunger. Next, we went to Mahabalipuram. We visited 5 Rathas, with the company of guide Lakshmanan, we learnt some good information regarding the spot.

Then, we had the wonderful lunch delivered by our Kannan (Veg briyani, raitha, sambhar saadham, potato curry, chips and sweet)

After lunch, all the big and little santa's marched towards the rock, climbed up the hill, and so on.

Then, visited the light house, and on return again the delicious Chappathi, parotta and Chenna of Kannan were waiting for us.

After finishing everything, team returned to their buses and continued with some rock and roll performance and reached back to home safely.

Thanks to Mr & Mrs Uday (Lakshmi Rekha) who sponsored 30k for spending a wonderfull day.

Thanks to Mr. Koushik for sponsoring the cakes.

Thanks to Swami sir and Jeyabalan for bringing the Santas alive by sponsoring the santa caps.

Thanks to Ashwin for sponsoring INR 2,000/-, Sasikumar INR 1,000/-, Praveen and Mithila for their donation of INR 500/- each.


Attendees:

1. Lakshmi Rekha
2. Charu
3. Akshaya
4. Nandhini Shri
5. Raghav
6. Praveen
7. Tiru
8. Jaffer
9. Suryaprasad
10. Arun Prasad
11. Satish Bonthu
12. Prithvi
13. Venkat






Saturday, December 27, 2014

Merry Christmas with Kids


Jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way……Who is the Santa?...hmmm…one our CSS member. Guess who could it be and leave your answer as a comment to the blog.  

Some of our CSS members celebrated Christmas this year along with the kids in Tiruvallur (as requested by Sister Prabha).

On  December 27, we reached the place by 11:30 AM. The day started with the kids exhibiting talents, such as storytelling, singing, and so on.

Then, Mr. Santa made a surprise entry and increased the enthusiasm level of the children. Santa distributed gifts to all the 57 odd children presented there.

Later, veg food (Briyani, brinjal thokku, raitha, sambhar rice, potato curry and sweet) was served. 

Post lunch, cake pieces were distributed to all. Finally, organic health mix packets were also distributed to the kids.

Thanks to Rathi for sponsoring cakes. Also, she and her friend sponsored the gifts as well.

Thanks to all attendees.

Volunteers:

1. Charu
2. Rathi
3. Raghav
4. Jeyabalan
5. Jeyabalan's cousin
6. Venkat
7. Praveen
8. Yuvaraj
9. Yuvaraj's wife


Sunday, December 14, 2014

Stepping Stone for a Park

We planted trees and distributed saplings. We also wanted to clean the roads. But, we decided to let the politicians do it. We instead enjoyed a wonderful meal at Ashwin’s place.
Now here are the details of the entire activity…..Ashwin, his family, and his neighbors have worked over years to convert a waste land to a park. They have successfully made the land ready for the park by clearing the land of thorny shrubs, increasing the level of the land and so on. On December 21, 2014, an event was organized to kick start the construction of the park. The counsellor and Panchayat head were the chief guests and a lot of families were the audience. CSS distributed plant saplings among the families and helped the chief guests plant the trees.   


Now, to get the park ready, they are planning to construct walking pathways, compound walls, play area and of course plant more trees. So this is a wonderful example of how we should convert waste/barren lands to beautiful parks. Our passionate volunteers made a hectic activity look like a `walk in the park.'


And we also put up a poster about child safety in a temple.
Thanks to the volunteers:
  • Ashwin
  • Akshyaa
  • Jaffer
  • Sai  
  • Surya
  • Arun
  • Mahesh
  • Kanchan  

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Reading session for visually challenged students- 13th December @Triplicane

The Fifth reading session went on well @ Triplicane

Total Students: 6 (2 from Presidency, 2 from Queen Marys College & 2 from Nandhanam Arts college)

Total number of volunteers: 8 (6 CSS members, 1 from Thomson Reuters and 1 from CTS). Thanks to All.

RathiDevi
Balasubramaniam Sir
Bala sir's wife
Meenakshi
MeenaKumari
Master Varun
Suresh


Bala sir sponsored sweets and snacks for the volunteers and students to celebrate his wedding anniversary!

Tea were sponsored by TKKNN Vysya Charities.




PS:


1.This reading session will be under CSS banner. Those who wish to be part of CSS can enroll themselves in our site - www.chennaisocialservice.org

2. During the reading session, please put the mobile in silent or in low volume. If you need to make/attend any calls, kindly come away from the premises, so that it won't disturb other readers and students.

3. Please don't share your numbers with any of the students. If they ask for the number to be contacted during the time of requirement, kindly ask them to meet/contact Venkat. 


Kindly share your suggestions/ideas/feedback. We will improve our capability.

For any queries, reach @ 98415 50476/ 87540 45125