The Tamil community of Akron, Canton & Cleveland (collectively referred as North East Ohio) revived the erstwhile Cleveland Chapter in 2019 and rechristened the chapter name to North East Ohio Chapter, expanding its boundaries to include the entire community in the region.
It all began with a few volunteers deciding to explore the possibility of adopting an ABC School by the North East Ohio Tamil Community in a district where there is a need. From its humble beginnings, the chapter is growing slowly every day as more people from the community join hands to support the cause.
The icing on the cake is the involvement of youngsters in TNF via volunteering efforts soon after the chapter revived. By volunteering and giving back in time and effort to their own local community, our youngsters continue to gain a sense of ownership to the cause. As they witness the benefit of the difference they make right in front of their eyes, in-turn helps them understand the goals of TNF and the need to help the under-served children in a far-away ancestral land. Scroll below to see all the wonderful ways our youngsters continue to make a difference.
In spite of the Pandemic challenges, the chapter successfully adopted Government Higher Secondary School, Devipattinam, Ramanathapuram District. Here is a glimpse of how we continue to make a difference in the School.
🡺 Baseline tests were conducted in the middle school and identified 102 students as slow learners, who will be the beneficiaries of the ABC project.
🡺 TNF’s ABC teachers continued their classes during the pandemic helping students not lose touch with academics.
🡺 A soft skill training program was offered to a total of 92 students from 11th Grade. The program comprised of several topics, such as
🡺 Under the Libraries are Temples project, Essay writing and Elocution competition were conducted for 9th graders.
🡺 In addition to the continuous supervision of the Project Coordinator, Chief Executive Officer of TNF India visited the School on April 24th 2022 and reviewed the performance of ABC beneficiaries and the teachers.
North East Ohio is the third TNF chapter to host YOX program. YOX program was initiated to provide a platform for Tamil speaking kids in USA to interact and collaborate with ABC students where they could exchange ideas, learn from each other and grow together.
Young members of TNF Youth LOVES group meet ABC students from Pepanayampatti over Zoom on a week end morning and spend time teaching, coaching and learning. Some of the session themes include learning about culture and country, coach to improve academic abilities, nurture extra-curricular skills such as art and music etc.,
If your child speaks Tamil and is interested in making new friendships miles away, send an email to northeastohio@tnfusa.org
With a goal of introducing volunteering to youngsters from their young age and inspire them with TNF’s cause, North East Ohio Chapter formed a youth group under “TNF Youth LOVES” initiative. Many, if not all, of our youngsters are born in USA and it is their homeland. In addition to giving back to their ancestral land, the youth group continues to take up several volunteering projects around North East Ohio and give back to their local community with their time and effort.
Interestingly, parents also join the youngsters in making a difference to the community they live in. The activities give TNF members an opportunity to stay in touch, in the context of TNF’s cause and provide an opportunity to create more awareness of TNF projects amongst the community members.
Below is a list of all activities our youth club members (Grades 1 – 12) took up so far:
| Jan 15 2022 | Jan 15 2022 Youngsters along with Parents helped Cleveland food bank’s repacking program |
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Jan 18th 2022 – Apr 18th 2022 |
NEOTNF Youth partnered with Humble Designs, an organization that helps local
families emerge from homelessness. As part of the program, the youngsters
collected books, toys, household decorations and donated. In addition, some of
the youngsters made book marks, artwork and wrote a story book for the
beneficiary children.
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Young volunteers celebrated their first successful project with an ice cream
social |
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May 8th 2022 |
TNF Youth group joined hands with Ekal Vidyalaya volunteers to manage a
water booth during Cleveland Marathon. |
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May 22nd 2022 |
Youngsters along with Parents helped Cleveland food bank’s repacking program |
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Jun 3rd 2022 |
Youngsters along with Parents helped Cleveland food bank’s repacking program |
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July 1st 2022 |
Youth volunteers and parents volunteered at India Cultural Garden to do a
summer cleaning and get it ready for the upcoming Independence Day
celebrations. |
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July 24th 2022 |
Youngsters along with Parents helped Cleveland food bank’s repacking program |
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Aug 5th 2022 |
Youngsters along with Parents helped Cleveland food bank’s repacking program |
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And the difference they make continues. Check back to learn what they are up to soon! Would you want your child to explore the exciting world of TNF Youth LOVES? Email us at northeastohio@tnfusa.org |
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Representatives from Cleveland area Tamil community gathered at the Cuyahoga County Public Library in North Royalton on April 23, 2016, for a TNF Information Session presented by Somalay Somasundaram.
Chandra Kayamboo took the initiative to organize the session and to form the North East Ohio. The Chapter, in partnership with North East Ohio Tamil Sangam and other sister organizations in the Cleveland area, will focus on supporting TNF’s educational and humanitarian initiatives in Tamil Nadu.
TNF launched the ABC project in eight schools in Sivaganga district. The project has transformed the schools, and the students, for better, in many ways. Read More
