SAALT is proud to present its annu­al Be the Change (BTC) around the coun­try each year. The suc­cess of this pro­gram could not be pos­si­ble with­out the con­tin­ued efforts of the com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers, vol­un­teers and SAALT staff.Be the Change orig­i­nat­ed at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan in 1997. Since 2000, SAALT has launched and coor­di­nat­ed the event annu­al­ly on a nation­al lev­el since 2000. Each year, vol­un­teers from the com­mu­ni­ty, uni­ver­si­ties, busi­ness­es, and orga­ni­za­tions con­tribute thou­sands of hours of com­mu­ni­ty service.

In the past decades, near­ly twen­ty thou­sand South Asian Amer­i­cans and their allies have vol­un­teered in their respec­tive com­mu­ni­ties for a bet­ter future. From pass­ing out work­ers rights infor­ma­tion to taxi dri­vers in New York City to work­ing with a wom­en’s domes­tic shel­ter in Chica­go, Be the Change has pro­vid­ed oppor­tu­ni­ties to strength­en our com­mu­ni­ty nation­wide by cre­at­ing ser­vice projects that ben­e­fit local com­mu­ni­ties and devel­op­ing lead­er­ship skills among emerg­ing com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers across the country.

Read more about Be the Change here:

• Be the Change 2014 Summary
• Be the Change 2013 Summary
• Be the Change 2012 Summary

Past themes of Be the Change include the following:

• Main theme as of 2012: Stand Togeth­er Serve Together
• 2011: Rise Up in Service
• 2010: Lead­ing a Movement
• 2009: Giv­ing in Action
• 2008: Sol­i­dar­i­ty in Service
• 2007: Build­ing Bridges
• 2006: Address­ing Pover­ty with­in the South Asian Community