PURE Youth Somerset
Somerset, NJ
When starting this chapter we had ambassadors from different cities and we were debating what we should call our chapter “Hillsborough Chapter?”, “Rutgers Prep Chapter?” but we fell on Somerset Chapter as all our ambassadors are from the Somerset county and thought this is the perfect fit. Our chapter found its beginning during Spring of 2021. When creating this chapter we wanted it to consist of a diverse and inclusive group of people from all different types of backgrounds where our various perspectives can be brought together.
Our chapter consists of 4 ambassadors and we have collectively done 3 projects so far. During our projects we were focused to reach our goals no matter what and we did just that. Specifically looking at one of our projects that aided girls/women in Uganda we did 3 fundraisers to reach our target consisting of GoFund Me, bake sales, and a Chipotle Fundraiser. We took a risk with the Chipotle Fundraiser as we heard they aren’t the most successful but with each ambassador’s outreach work we completed half our goal within this fundraiser. Taking risks and becoming strategic took place in our weekly meetings and all of our collaboration has showed the small help we could do to bring economic and social well being.
Projects
2021-2022
Spring 2021
- Local Rice Bag Drive to Franklin Food Bank
- Donated 200 pounds of rice bags which was a necessity the food bank was seeking for
- Asked door to door of each ambassador’s neighborhood for donation
Summer 2021
- International Project for girls/women in Uganda who have HIV/AIDS
- Fundraised for money which provided them education and means of leaving their household jobs
- Raised $400 in total
Fall 2021
- Local Project where we raised funds for Safe and Sound Shelter, a safe haven for anyone who has faced any type of abuse
- Made an Instagram Bingo to fundraise where we circulated through all ambassadors instagrams
- Sold Diwali Sweets for the holidays
Our Team:
2021-2022
Regional Coordinator: Ms. Sucharita Pabba
Directors: Sriya Akkapalli, Shruti Narayanabhatla
Ambassadors: Alexis Ballard, Harini Mandalapu, Varun Pandian, Alexandra Xu