The world is brimming with diversity: in our cultures, ethnicities, genders, perspectives, and more. Yet, these differences have warped our perception, representing division and inciting hostility within our society. For some, their identities have enabled a life of opportunity. For others, they've been used against them to cause suffering. In Race for Unity (RU), we strive to create a community that celebrates those differences.
Meet the officers
Aarthee Baskaran
A junior at UVA studying BME. Passionate about music, sustainability, and memes.
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Iksita Nallapaneni
Neha Davaluri
A sophomore at NSU for public health. Passionate about art, politics, and medicine.
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A freshman at VCU studying bioinformatics.
Passionate about horror movies, music, and mismatched fits.
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Rishika Pal
A freshman at Fordham studying finance. Passionate about dance, the markets, and Disney.
Avani Kaur
A seventh grader at the Gifted Young Scholars Academy (GYSA) at Wilder Middle School. Passionate about writing, medicine, and the community!
Bhoomika Kaur
A seventh grader at Wilder Middle School in the Gifted Young Scholars Academy (GYSA). Passionate about books, music, and health sciences!
Nitu Thoota
A sophomore at Tucker IB​. Passionate about sleeping, audiobooks, and contemporary r&b.
RU is a group organized by RVA youth, actively working to establish unity in the community. As an organization, we understand the importance of the conscious and active change required to overcome systemic inequality. RU strives to support impacted and underprivileged families with essentials, such as groceries, loans, education, and other services.
Mission Statement
We fundraise for two main services
What we do
We also run a tutoring program for high school students in this area
The second is for a loan project; we distribute hardship loans to families. After a few cycles of repayment and loans demonstrating good financial practice, we refer the families to the Essex Bank. Hereafter, the bank will help the families open checking accounts and offer financial guidance, starting the families on a path of financial stability.
One is to buy groceries, weekly, for these families. We spend, on average, about $65 for two families
To support our initiative, please Venmo @SBMS-groceryfund. Click here to find more ways to get involved!
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RU works alongside the Shrine of Black Madonna Sanctuary (SBMS) to help disadvantaged families in our locality. These families, mainly African American, have suffered the consequences of an unequal system. We strive to support the families in ways that they become self-reliant.