Welcome to our blog series, Plot Twist! Here, we'll be sharing the stories of people in the Words Alive community — stories of change, growth, and maybe a few surprising twists! We hope that through these stories, you'll get to know our community a little better and see the power of literacy come to life. This article is part of a special edition of this series as it spotlights our incredible volunteers who have been nominated for Words Alive’s 13th Annual Volunteer Appreciation Celebration!
An image of Thanvi Narapareddygari.
Our stellar Youth Volunteer of the Year, Thanvi Narapareddygari serves out of her passion and belief in the power of reading. Joining us from Tampa, Florida, she currently contributes to Words Alive in her key roles as a Pathfinder and Volunteer Engagement Analyst.
When she learned of Words Alive and its mission through VolunteerMatch, Thanvi knew that she had to sign up. As opposed to volunteering for a short time and then stopping in one-off projects like she was used to, she expressed her joy of being able to regularly hear volunteers’ stories and connect with the people we serve through her virtual roles in her day-to-day life.
As a Volunteer Engagement Analyst, Thanvi reaches out to different volunteer teams and assists in keeping track of engagement information such as volunteers’ service hours and the work they’re doing for Words Alive, which critically factors into grant reporting and more. Becoming one of our first Pathfinders later on, Thanvi crucially supports newer volunteers at the beginning stages of their Words Alive journeys as she meets with newcomers who are unsure of where they’d fit, gets to know their motivations and goals, and directs them to specific programs and roles that would best suit their volunteer interests.
Thanvi’s enthusiasm in her Words Alive roles flows from experiencing the impact of reading in her own life. Describing herself as “always [having her] head stuck in a book” since she was young, Thanvi found books to be constants for her as she traveled from place to place in her childhood. Thus, reading helped her to express herself and feel comfortable regardless of where she was.
“I feel inspired to continue reading in my own life and to appreciate how much literacy gives us in our day-to-day...sort of getting a reminder like, oh, there’s kids that are extremely excited to read that book, to turn that page—to see them and think about them sometimes keeps me going as well.”
Thanvi was reminded of her passion for books when she was invited for the first time to attend a virtual Family Literacy Program (FLP) session during her earlier volunteer days. As a new Engagement Analyst tracking FLP volunteer hours, she shared that she had not been able to witness any volunteer activities up until that point. However, observing the children in the session excitedly engage with the book they were studying together (which was also without words!) brought her back “to when [she] was little and what got [her] so excited about books in the first place and why [she] started volunteering” for Words Alive.
“I feel like I will never stop being a reader, I’ll be a lifelong reader because of this organization.”
This experience left her inspired not only to continue reading and volunteering, but also to appreciate the value and foundational role literacy plays in her future moving forward. As she prepares to into the medical field as a pre-med student, she shared that nurturing her love and excitement for reading at an earlier age motivated her during hard moments in her journey and allowed her to realize the importance of passing that gift onto others. She says, “The fact that these children are getting this opportunity through Words Alive to sort of experience the power of literacy, the power of reading at a young age and to be involved in that myself is truly amazing.”
Thanvi, thank you for your magnanimity and dedication to share the gift and power of reading with children, teens, and families! We are so appreciative of you!
Book recommendation: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
This post was created by Gabby Villadolid, Words Alive’s Storytelling Intern! Do you love writing and have an interest in helping Words Alive create this type of content? We'd love to have you on the team! Email to learn more.