By Khalida Sarwari
They may be living in one of the most affluent cities in the world, but Saratoga High School students Nihar and Nishant Agrawal are no strangers to abject poverty, having seen it firsthand in the slums and villages of India. The brothers have accumulated a wealth of memories from regular visits to the country with their family since they were just toddlers. Five years ago, those memories were the driving force behind their service organization, Committed 2 Community.
Through C2C, the Agrawals are able to deliver on that oft-repeated maxim, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” They recruit volunteers to plant trees, help feed and clothe the homeless, put on entertaining shows for seniors and repair bikes for those in need. The point, the Agrawals emphasize, is to get young people to roll up their sleeves and do something that will have an immediate and direct impact on their community.
“We really try to choose events in which volunteers can really see the fruits of their efforts,” Nishant, a senior, said. “For example, at Sunday Friends volunteers can talk one on one with disadvantaged families, and we think that’s very meaningful.”
Echoed his brother, Nihar, “[We want] to create an environment where every student and every child can feel empowered by giving back to their community through meaningful service projects.”
The Agrawals’ passion for service can be traced back to their years spent visiting India. Seeing widespread destitution humbled the brothers and later spurred them to forego presents at birthday parties and instead request donations for such charities as Asha for Education, Give2Asia and the American Red Cross. Realizing that there was also work left to do on the homefront, the brothers began looking into local charities. It didn’t take long before C2C, a group whose primary mission is to connect volunteers to service organizations around the Bay Area, was born in the summer of 2009.
“We came to this idea largely because our experiences visiting India almost every year since we were very young and seeing so much suffering really humbled us and motivated us to pursue something where we could contribute to our community,” said Nihar, a junior.
C2C started out modestly with 10 of Nihar and Nishant’s friends. Today, the group boasts a distribution list of more than 400 members who have their pick of eight organizations to help. The Agrawals are seeking to grow that list to 500 by the end of the year.
Last year, C2C became an official club at Saratoga High, and now the brothers are working with the 1440 Foundation to expand the club to other local schools.
The group typically holds up to 10 events per year, each one drawing roughly a dozen volunteers. There are three events scheduled for the fall. Volunteers hail from not just Saratoga but nearby Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.
Presently, C2C partners with eight community organizations across the Bay Area. They include Our City Forest, Sacred Heart Community Service, Sunday Friends, Resource Area for Teaching, Saratoga Retirement Community, Good Karma Bikes, Veggielution Community Farm and Full Circle Farm. The brothers are also seeking to expand their list of nonprofits.
Anyone can join C2C; there are no age or location requirements. Students can use the events to count toward their community service requirements at school.
To learn more about Committed 2 Community, visit committed2community.org.
