Editor’s Note: This story is part of our series “Helping Hands”, which aims to spotlight Johnson Countians doing good in the background of their community. If you have an idea for someone to spotlight in a future “Helping Hands” story, email us at stories@johnsoncountypost.com.
Anmol Alva caught the helping bug young.
While still in elementary school, he would accompany his mother, Lisa Bedbak, and his brother, Arjun Alva, to the Alpha House shelter up north in their former home state of Michigan.
Some of his earliest memories are at that shelter; washing dishes, playing the shelter’s piano, and interacting with the other kids there who were his age.
He brought that spirit with him when his family moved to Johnson County last year. Now a Blue Valley North freshman, he’s managed to pursue his passion for helping people through another venture of his: writing.
He’s also looped in his fellow students to help by forming student-led volunteer group Deep Connections.
Alva helps find funds and goods for a local shelter
By going door to door, Alva collects grocery and clothes donations for Kansas City, Missouri-based Shelter KC.
Alva also found a way to scrounge up monetary donations through poetry. The blossoming poet has found joy in crafting words and sentences since elementary school. In fact, he published his first poetry book, “Rising to the Clouds”, about six years ago.
Today, he’s written three books — two poetry, one historical fiction. Alva also has another poetry book in the works, along with another historical fiction book.
The cost for each book is a donation of the purchaser’s choice, and those donations go toward Shelter KC as well.
So far, Alva has raised roughly $3,000 from selling those books. He goes door to door selling them, and no matter whether they’re giving $1 or $25, Alva said, people almost always want to help.
“It’s very inspiring, just seeing that from the community,” he said. “It kind of just (makes you) feel like everyone’s working together.”
Deep Connections is a student volunteer group
Alva initially started Deep Connections about three years ago, back in Michigan.
In addition to selling Alva’s published books, the group also undertakes volunteer projects together. For example, Deep Connections also spends the occasional weekend cleaning up trash on school grounds throughout the Blue Valley School District.
It’s a small team of Alva and a handful of fellow students right now, but he said he’s still working on growing Deep Connections at school.
Students who want to get involved with Deep Connections can do so by reaching out to Alva via email at anmolalva1@gmail.com.
The name of the group, Alva said, speaks to his mission. He doesn’t want helping his community to be a passive thing; he wants it to have a lasting impact.
“I don’t want to just volunteer and then it’s done,” he said. “I want to form connections with the people I help, and I want those (connections) to go deep.”
Alva’s reach goes beyond Johnson County
Since elementary school, Alva has also collected and sent monetary and food donations to the Satya Layam school — a school in India that serves kids living below the poverty line.
Helping people in a variety of ways is something that Alva said has been on his mind from a young age.
By teaming up with his peers to do it, he said, he’s been happy to get to meet people who share his vision.
“I just like seeing people smile, and I like building strong bonds,” he said. “I know there’s good people everywhere, and I always believe that if you try to be a good person, then you will attract good people.”
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