On Saturday, Nov. 16, senior Sudisha Kumar received the City of Cupertino’s CREST Rising Star award at its inaugural Cupertino Community Service Awards and Commissioner Recognition Ceremony. The award recognizes an individual who has volunteered in the community for three years or fewer but shows great promise. Councilmember Liang Chao presented the award to Kumar, commending her for her work as a Teen Commissioner, Safe Routes to School representative and environmental advocate.
Kumar’s journey volunteering started at the Earth and Arbor Day Festival in 2022, an annual event hosted by the city to celebrate sustainability, where she promoted causes such as wildfire awareness. From there, she started interning with the mayor and participating in other opportunities, from collaborating with the Cupertino Historical Society to becoming the Lead Volunteer Coordinator of the Earth and Arbor Day Festival last year.
“I had to take the initiative to search for those opportunities because it was hard to hear about them from other people,” Kumar said. “So I had to dig a little deep and go online and try networking with people. Initially, public policy had really stood out to me, and I was interested in the idea of volunteering and getting to know other people, so that was what really started my passion.”
Kumar received the award after being nominated by several city staff members and friends. Community Outreach Specialist Kavitha Aravindhan, who helped organize logistics for the ceremony, says the award is a way for the city to commend service that has impacted the community.
“The CREST awards have been going on for more than 30 years for recognizing volunteers,” Aravindhan said. “So, this event is very important to the community. It’s a chance for all of us to come together and recognize the good work that people are doing, who don’t even ask for that recognition, who do it out of the goodness of their hearts. We as a city decide that that deserves some recognition, and so that’s why we put so much effort into coming together to recognize those people who are doing such great work for the city.”
Going forward, Kumar will continue volunteering and promoting sustainability-related issues. She hopes that MVHS students can find ways to positively impact themselves and the community.
“Cupertino has lots of opportunities, and a lot of other places either can’t or won’t offer those opportunities,” Kumar said. “So, Cupertino is special in that way. All you need to do is reach for that one opportunity. I would encourage MVHS students to look for volunteering as an opportunity for self-growth, so that they can not only impact the community, but also start to understand themselves and realize what their character traits are like. It doesn’t matter if you’re introverted or extroverted — volunteering is for everyone.”
