Important Update: Be the Change

Be the Change is an annu­al nation­al day of ser­vice coor­di­nat­ed to inspire and fos­ter civic engage­ment and stronger com­mu­ni­ties through vol­un­teerism and com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice. Every year thou­sands of par­tic­i­pants across the coun­try col­lec­tive­ly con­tribute numer­ous hours of com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice in the spir­it of Mahat­ma Gand­hi’s chal­lenge to “be the change you wish to see in the world.” 

Through a coor­di­nat­ed effort on a sin­gle day (around Mahat­ma Gand­hi’s birth­day), teams across the coun­try iden­ti­fy com­mu­ni­ty sites to vol­un­teer for the day.


A Be the Change Update from SAALT

As many of our local part­ners begin plan­ning their Be the Change nation­al day of ser­vice events, SAALT announces we will no longer serve as the effort’s nation­al coor­di­na­tor.  To encour­age local lead­er­ship among grass­roots South Asian orga­ni­za­tions, SAALT will no longer pro­vide ongo­ing tech­ni­cal assis­tance, mar­ket­ing, vol­un­teer out­reach, spon­sor­ship, and T‑shirt dis­tri­b­u­tion for Be The Change local plan­ning teams as in years past. His­tor­i­cal­ly, Be the Change has been an oppor­tu­ni­ty for South Asian Amer­i­cans and their allies to engage in col­lec­tive pub­lic ser­vice activ­i­ties that lead to deep­er civic engage­ment, col­lab­o­ra­tion, and uni­ty in local­ized and nation­al spaces. Par­tic­i­pants nation­wide have con­tributed thou­sands of hours of com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice annu­al­ly in the spir­it of Mahat­ma Gandhi’s famous quote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Be the Change gen­er­al­ly occurs on the first Sat­ur­day in Octo­ber to hon­or Mahat­ma Gand­hi and oth­er South Asian lead­ers who have ded­i­cat­ed their lives to pub­lic ser­vice. SAALT strong­ly encour­ages indi­vid­u­als, com­mu­ni­ty orga­ni­za­tions, and col­lege cam­pus­es across the coun­try to con­tin­ue engag­ing in local civic and vol­un­teer projects by par­tic­i­pat­ing in or coor­di­nat­ing a Be the Change event in their com­mu­ni­ties. To sup­port that engage­ment, SAALT is pro­vid­ing an exten­sive guide to coor­di­nat­ing Be the Change events to any and all inter­est­ed indi­vid­u­als via our web­site. SAALT’s step-by-step guide also includes infor­ma­tion on how to reach out to local spon­sors for poten­tial event relat­ed expenses.

Down­load the SAALT Be the Change Plan­ning Guide


Be the change presents an opportunity to...

Be Connected: Devel­op skills, build rela­tion­ships, and strength­en your com­mu­ni­ty through service.
Be Engaged
: Join South Asian advo­cates, activists, stu­dents, and allies from your area and across the U.S. to make a dif­fer­ence in your community.
Be Inspired: Learn from ener­giz­ing com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers and peers and inspire oth­ers to be agents of change.

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“Be The Change [BTC] was a great oppor­tu­ni­ty to give back, to do good togeth­er, to rise above our own needs and busy sched­ules and ded­i­cate a few hours in the ser­vice of others…To know that our effort, how­ev­er small, would maybe impact a life in some way was a hum­bling expe­ri­ence. We also enjoyed meet­ing oth­ers who were there for sim­i­lar rea­sons. We will be back for Be the Change in years to come.”

- Tara , Be the Change — Austin, TX

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