Community Outreach: We are pleased to report that our efforts to install a bench on the local trail have borne fruition. A bench has been installed on Hidden Valley Trail in San Ramon. We hope it will be a spot for the weary hikers to rest their limbs and lift their spirits by partaking in the scenic views.
Weekly donations to the shelters have continued without a break.
RaSi Cubby at East Avenue Elementary School is being restocked and replenished with school supplies and snacks on regular basis.
RaSi Pantry: The monthly Food Seva restarted in September after the schools reopened following the summer break and 1800lbs of food was distributed.
Run with RaSi: We represented RaSi at Summer Breeze Run in San Leandro, California on Aug 3rd. Our team of 14 runners (from Virginia, Colorado, Oregon, in addition to the local ones) participated in 5k,10k and half marathon.
RaSi Scholarship
Award nights were held during the months of April and May. Our three winners of the 2024 RaSi Academic Scholarships are:
Jordan Danielle Ozuna from Pittsburg HS.
Jordan will be starting at University of Oregon this fall. She plans to study Human Physiology with the goal of becoming a Professional Athletic Trainer.
Jasmin Diaz Munoz from Antioch HS.
Christopher Ho from Hayward HS.
Christopher will be starting his freshman year at University of Southern California this fall. He plans to study Pharmacology and Drug development with a goal of becoming a pharmacist or pharmacologist.
RaSi Pantry
RaSi Holds Hands continues to hold monthly Food Seva at Hayward High School. We are humbled and honored to report that RaSi pantry was able to help around 200 families with 4500 lbs. of food during this quarter.
Community Outreach
The weekly food and personal use items donations have continued without a break to the Concord Shelter and to Women and Children shelter at Bay point.
RaSi Holds Hands’ initiative to spread community libraries took its first step on the East Coast with the installation of a Book Nook in Mclean Virginia at Pawan and Sanjiv’s property.
To start off the year 2024, RaSi Holds Hands spread some warmth by donating items such as blankets, warm clothing, and food to various homeless members of our community.
‘Food Seva’ organized by RaSi Pantry at Hayward High School continues every month and around 4000 lbs of food was distributed in these three months.
Our wonderful team members in New York City organized an event 'Ride for Rantej' at Cyclebar on February 10th. This event was hosted both to honor Rantej and to raise awareness of the Charity. The cycling class provided an engaging workout, dynamic and inclusive environment that catered to cyclists of all capabilities and over 65 people participated.
RaSi Holds Hands Inc. is proud to have joined Panera Bread in their Day End Dough-nation Program. This program allows for distribution of baked goods to help alleviate hunger in the Bay Area.
We have continued to make weekly food and personal care item donations to Concord Shelter. Starting this year, RaSi outreach has extended the service by making weekly donations to a Women & Children Shelter as well.
RaSi Pantry continues to perform monthly Food Seva. During these three months, we provided service to 200 families and distributed 3900 lbs. of food.
We have continued our weekly donations to the Concord shelter as part of RaSi Outreach commitment.
In December, we met with the staff at Pittsburg High School in preparation of instituting a Scholarship to a college bound graduating senior. This is similar to the Academic Scholarship program already in place at Antioch and Hayward High Schools.
Team RaSi donated 50 jackets / sweatshirts to Antioch High School for the distribution to the students prior to the December holiday break.
Outreach: We continued our weekly outreach to Concord Shelter providing food and personal items.
Food Seva: The monthly Food Seva at Hayward High School was started again in September after the school reopened following the summer break. Team RaSi decided to take the ‘Food Seva’ to the next level and established a Pantry at Hayward High School which is a dedicated space with a commercial refrigerator and storage units. The aim is to provide more nutritious and healthy food. RaSi pantry opened on Sept. 28th, and 1065 lbs. of food was distributed.
RaSi Cubby: RaSi Holds Hands is fortunate to form a partnership with East Avenue Elementary School in Hayward. We met with the school staff and decided to set up our first RaSi Cubby on campus. The cubby is stocked with school supplies and non-perishable snacks that will be replenished on a regular basis throughout the school year and made available to all students.
Book Nook: Rantej’s friend Jaspreet Tathgur installed a RaSi Book Nook outside his Bike store at Larkspur in Marin county, CA.
Outreach: Weekly donations to the Concord Shelter were continued with the focus on providing personal care items and food.
Food Seva: Our monthly food Seva at Hayward High School were continued during the quarter and approximately 2000 meals were distributed each month.
Academic Scholarships: Scholarship Award Nights at Antioch High School and Hayward High School were held on 5/3/23 and 5/30/23 respectively. The two recipients of the RaSi Academic Scholarship were honored in person during these events.
Cultural Events:This year RaSi was a co-sponsor of the Annual Bruin Bhangra Competition held in Los Angeles on May 28th. A few of Rantej’s closest friends- Angad, Harsh, Jyot, Rahul and Subeg were able to attend the event in person and represent RaSi. During the competition they made a short presentation introducing our charity to the audience.
Ra Si Food Seva: Food Seva at Hayward High School were held on January 18th and February 28th and approximately 4600 meals were provided to families in need.
Ra Si Outreach at Homeless Shelters: RaSi exists to further the humanitarian goals that Rantej had set up for himself in concordance with his values. In pursuit of that, services to the dispossessed and the homeless were added.
The initial outreach, starting February 5th was in the town of Antioch in Contra Costa County was focused on unsheltered and unhoused folks. Warm clothing (blankets, scarves, caps and socks), toiletries and meals were provided.
Starting in March the outreach was extended to the Concord Shelter for the Homeless on a weekly basis.
Langar Seva: Rantej’s alma mater NYU, has an active and vibrant Sikh Association that conducts an annual langar seva. This year RaSi was invited to collaborate with them for the seva held at Kimmel center on March 2nd and team Ra Si was represented by Divjot Singh and Harsh Khurana.
Our Website Went Live!!!
Ra Si Academic Scholarship: Ra Si Annual Academic Scholarship programs were established at Antioch and Hayward High School for college bound graduating Seniors.
Ra Si Sports Fund: Established a Sports Fund for Antioch High School. The disbursal of the funds is left to the discretion of the Athletic Director (to use for whatever athletic materials they feel necessary for the students).
Clothing donations: 100 sweatshirts were given to Students at Antioch and Hayward High School as part of winter clothing drive. The idea came from a story the School Counselor relayed about a child who complained of back ache due to lack of warm clothing.
Ra Si Food Seva: The first food ‘Seva’ as a drive thru, was organized at Hayward high School on Dec.14th. It was a well-attended event held on the school premises that provided bags of staple food items to families in need. Enough food for approximately 2250 meals was provided.
School and Personal Supplies: Items of personal hygiene and school stationery were made available for the students at Antioch High School.
Book Nook: To recognize Rantej’s love for books, RaSi came up with the idea of community book sharing. As a first step towards realizing that goal the first book nook was installed in our neighborhood followed soon after by another one in Feathermint Drive neighborhood.
Our motto “Nishkaam Seva” – selfless service to humanity, embodies our mission of enriching and empowering young lives.
