Our projects at NCYE are detailed below. If you have any questions or comments, please visit the Contact Us tab of this website to reach out to us!
Kalai Villa Fundraising:
A cultural event called the Kalai Villa is held in Raleigh or Charlotte North Carolina on an annual basis (switching between cities every other year). South Carolinians also attend the event. Many members of the Tamil community in NC and SC participate in this event with dances, music, and plays. NCYE has done various fundraisers at the Kalai Villas, with some fundraisers including plant selling, food sales, and sales of DVDs of the performances. The money then goes to funding education initiatives in Sri Lanka.
Skype Education Initiative:
As of August 2019, we have established a relationship with Annai Illam (under Aram Trust Fund), an education program in Sri Lanka that provides free education to low-income students and students with unfortunate family conditions. Our members now engage in Skype calls with students to help better their English speaking skills (the native language of the students is Tamil). This program allows both sides to further familiarize themselves with each other’s culture and language, therefore benefiting everyone involved.
The following pictures are screenshots and pictures of Skype calls:
Covid-19 Mask Project
To assist in the COVID-19 pandemic, NCYE made 165 cloth face-masks. These cloth face-masks were distributed to Durham Rescue Mission and BellaRose Nursing and Rehab.
Wakemed Toy Drive
In December of 2020, NCYE participated in a Toy Drive for WakeMed Hospital right before Christmas. A variety of toys were gathered from families of NCYE such as stuffed animals, puzzles, and sports balls and donated in order to be given to hospital patients.
Meals on wheels (durham) donation
NCYE donated $100 worth of items to Meals on Wheels of Durham. Pillows for seniors for their “Subaru Share the Love” event were donated, as well as snacks and nutrition shakes. These were all ordered from Amazon and shipped directly to Meals on Wheels Durham.
Battick Inspired Tie-dye Fundraiser
At North Topsail Beach, we held a fundraiser in order to raise money for other NCYE projects. We tie-dyed 70 pieces of merchandise; 15 bucket hats, 40 T-Shirts, and 15 masks. In our culture, this style is called Battick, and families in our community purchased our handmade Battick merchandise. We were able to raise $625 in total for charity.
INTERFAith Food Shuttle – Holiday Food Drive
NCYE held a Holiday Food Drive, where donations came from multiple families in the central NC area. These items were donated to the Interfaith Food Shuttle, a food bank associated with Meals on Wheels of Wake County.
Clothing Drive
NCYE donated clothes to Note in the Pocket, a non-profit organization in NC that delivers clothes to homeless families and children.
Remembrance – Sri lankan Tamil Genocide:
MulliVaikkal Food drive
In memory of the Mullivaikkal Massacre, in which 140,000 tamil lives were lost in Sri Lanka, NCYE held a food drive to help those in need. We were able to collect 405 pounds of food for the food bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. These donations helped some of the 600,000 people in the area who are food insecure.
ORHAN
NCYE completed a food donation for ORHAN, the Organization for the Rehabilitation of Handicapped Persons in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka. The food went to individuals affected by the Sri Lankan Tamil Genocide that ended in 2009.
North Carolinian Youth For Education 