In this episode of The NonProfit Nook, host Wendy Kidd interviews Ananya Nagendra, the young founder and CEO of the Letters of Light Foundation. Inspired by her mother's journey with chemotherapy, Ananya started the organization to provide cancer patients with handwritten letters of encouragement, preventive health workshops, and resources on mental wellness. With chapters across various schools and over 850 youth volunteers, the foundation partners with oncology centers to support cancer patients both mentally and emotionally. Ananya details the foundation's operations, her involvement with social workers, and the importance of mental health in cancer care. She also discusses the newly launched Books of Light program, offering literary resources to newly diagnosed patients and oncology centers. Learn how you can get involved, start a chapter, or contribute to this impactful cause.

00:00 Introduction to The NonProfit Nook

00:48 Meet Ananya Nagendra: Founder of Letters of Light

02:15 The Impact and Growth of Letters of Light

04:25 Volunteer Engagement and Success Stories

13:17 Books of Light Program

16:20 How to Get Involved and Final Thoughts

20:38 Conclusion and Call to Action

Links:

https://lettersoflight.org

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ananya-nagendra

https://www.instagram.com/joinlettersoflight/

https://hcb.hackclub.com/donations/start/letters-of-light - Donation Link

https://www.bosslevelengaged.com/services-for-nonprofits-nonprofitnook

https://thenonprofitnook.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@BossLevelEngaged

https://www.instagram.com/thenonprofitnook/

https://flodesk.com/c/G0H0UB

Mentioned in this episode:

Enji

Flodesk

So how many volunteers do you have and how often do

2

you guys send letters to people?

3

Ananya Nagendra: We currently

have about 850 youth volunteers

4

all under the age of 20.

5

And yeah, so we actually ship

to partnering oncology centers,

6

mainly through Texas, but

also in other parts of the US.

7

We currently are partnered with

friends at Dana-Farber, and we

8

ship out to Boston because of that.

9

We also ship out to other oncology

centers, through our various different

10

chapters located in different states.

11

Wendy: Welcome to The NonProfit

Nook, the podcast for nonprofit

12

leaders, board members, and community

change makers who want to build

13

stronger, smarter organizations.

14

I'm your host, Wendy Kidd, a longtime

business owner and nonprofit leader,

15

and I'm here to bring you real talk,

real tools and real stories to help

16

you thrive in the nonprofit world.

17

I'll be talking with local

nonprofit leaders, community

18

change makers and experts in

everything from board development

19

to fundraising and digital tools.

20

Sharing real stories and simple

strategies you can actually use,

21

because running a nonprofit is hard,

but you don't have to do it alone.

22

Let's get started.

23

Hi everyone and welcome

back to The Nonprofit Nook.

24

I am here today with Ananya Nagendra,

founder and CEO of the Letters of Light

25

Foundation, a nonprofit supporting

cancer patients with encouragement.

26

Resources and access to mental healthcare.

27

Inspired by her mother's chemotherapy

journey, Ananya saw how many patients

28

face treatment without support.

29

At just 15 years old, she launched

Letters of Light by connecting

30

students with patients through

handwritten letters of encouragement.

31

In just a few years, the organization

has expanded to offer preventive health

32

workshops for young people and the Books

of Light Program, which provides newly

33

diagnosed patients in minority communities

with resources on mental wellness,

34

diet and support during treatment.

35

Ananya's leadership has been recognized

by Riley's way, Chipotle, volunteer

36

McKinney, and even the Mayor of

Dallas, all before she turned 20.

37

Please welcome Ananya.

38

Ananya Nagendra: Thank you so

much for having me on here, Wendy.

39

Wendy: I'm so glad to have you.

40

You are so impressive at doing

all of that before the age of 20.

41

I mean, I know.

42

I did not do nearly as many

impressive things before I turned 20.

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And how much thought you have put into

this and how much care you have put

44

into this has really impressed me.

45

So I was really excited

when you reached out

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Ananya Nagendra: Thank you.

47

Wendy: to be on the podcast.

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'cause I really want people to know

more about it 'cause it's really cool.

49

Ananya Nagendra: Thank you.

50

Wendy: tell us a little bit more about

how you got this started and when.

51

Ananya Nagendra: Yeah, so, we officially

launched Letters of Light as a program for

52

high school students as a small club at my

53

catalyst for starting letters of light,

which was, as you mentioned, largely

54

my mom's journey with chemotherapy.

55

After I lost her to metastatic breast

cancer, I realized that, oh, I really

56

need to do something so I can help other

people who are in similar situations be

57

able to support these cancer patients as.

58

Mental health care is truly

underemphasized in cancer care and

59

we often think about the physical

aspects of helping cancer patients with

60

either driving them to appointments,

giving them meals, et cetera, but a

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lot of these patients might not have

any support at all as they go through

62

chemotherapy or other forms of treatment.

63

So we really try to bridge that

gap and offer them the support

64

that they might not have otherwise.

65

Wendy: I am so impressed by that, I mean,

you really took a tragedy in your own

66

life and turned it around to serve others.

67

And that's, mean, that just kind of makes

me wanna cry every time I think about it.

68

Like that's amazing that you're

willing to do that for others, even

69

though your mom's not still with you.

70

So kudos to you, girl, like

71

Ananya Nagendra: Thank you.

72

Wendy: I love that you've recognized this

gap in the industry about mental health.

73

I honestly, I've, I've had several

family members have cancer, but you're

74

right, I've never had anybody offer

any kind of services to help them

75

with the mental support that's needed.

76

And quite frequently, you can't even

go with them into treatment rooms.

77

You can't really be there when

they're going through, especially like

78

radiation therapy or anything like that.

79

So I think you've found that sneaky

way to get into the room with them.

80

'cause they could bring

that, that letter with them.

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That's amazing.

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Ananya Nagendra: Yeah.

83

And that's what we truly try to emphasize

from the start with our volunteers, that

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we want to be a source of encouragement

and a source of support for them, and we

85

want the letters to serve as a talisman

for them to have during treatment.

86

And it's something that they

should look forward to almost so

87

that way the treatment isn't as

burdening on their mental health

88

and doesn't cause as much stress.

89

So that's what we found in Letters

of Light to do, and I am so excited

90

to be able to do this with so

many wonderful youth volunteers.

91

Wendy: So how many volunteers

do you have and how often do

92

you guys send letters to people?

93

Ananya Nagendra: We currently

have about 850 youth volunteers

94

all under the age of 20.

95

And yeah, so we actually ship

to partnering oncology centers,

96

mainly through Texas, but

also in other parts of the us.

97

We currently are partnered with

friends at Dana-Farber, and we

98

ship out to Boston because of that.

99

We also ship out to other oncology

centers, through our various different

100

chapters located in different states.

101

And we also have a partnership with

Texas Oncology Foundation, where we're

102

currently writing letters for their

Survive and Thrive conference this summer.

103

Wendy: Wow.

104

That's, that's really cool.

105

How, how do you kind of stay in

touch with what the patients need?

106

Obviously the letters are great, but do

you get any kind of feedback from the,

107

the facilities or the patients themselves?

108

How do you keep in touch?

109

Ananya Nagendra: Yeah, so with all

of our partnering oncology centers,

110

what we do is we connect with their

social worker and their main point

111

of contact as they closely work with,

different support systems and offering

112

different resources for the patients.

113

When I first started this organization,

I realized that the best way to

114

go about partnerships is to be in

touch with the social worker at the.

115

Center or multiple social workers there.

116

So what we do is after we send out

each packet of letters, or if we send

117

over care packages, whatever we end

up doing, we have a meeting with the

118

social worker after each donation to

be able to understand, oh, is there

119

anything else we could have facilitated?

120

How did this go?

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Do we need to send more letters next time?

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Do we need to cater it to a specific

group of people who might be in stage

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four or, we have even sent it to hospice

care centers before, so, we really try

124

to work with the social workers to curate

the letters towards they are center.

125

And we also have themes for every

month for our youth volunteers

126

where we teach them about, which

cancer awareness month that is.

127

And we explain how exactly

preventative healthcare works for

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that specific cancer in that month.

129

And through going through that,

we're actually able to curate the

130

letters more, and also are a major

part of this organization that

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I feel like, might not pop up.

132

As openly, because we mainly talk about

encouraging patients, but a huge part

133

of what we do, is make sure that the

youth know early on how they're able to

134

get involved in preventive healthcare

and get that for themselves and get

135

detected early if anything's happening.

136

That's really something that I have truly

been wanting to do from the beginning of

137

Letters of Light, and I'm so grateful we

can have these sessions where we just help

138

them gain the knowledge, not only about.

139

How to be a more empathetic person through

supporting cancer patients, but also so

140

that they have all the resources to take

charge of their own health early on.

141

Wendy: Wow, I hadn't

even thought about that.

142

That is so amazing.

143

I just keep saying the word

144

Ananya Nagendra: Thank you.

145

Wendy: seriously,

146

Ananya Nagendra: Thank you.

147

Wendy: just really kind of a dual purpose,

and I had no idea that you were having

148

so much education for the volunteers.

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And how you were being so

intentional about that.

150

I think that's why I

151

Ananya Nagendra: Thank you.

152

Wendy: is it's so intentional on

every step of what you're doing.

153

Ananya Nagendra: You so much.

154

Wendy: So I, I'm sure you

get feedback from your social

155

workers and you hear stories.

156

Tell me one of your

favorite success story.

157

Ananya Nagendra: Yeah.

158

So, I have mentioned this story before at

this conference I spoke at, but one quote

159

that truly stuck with me and I sort of.

160

Think encapsulates what we do

is from the head of nursing at

161

Sammons Cancer Center in Dallas.

162

So Ms.

163

Loretta Mergerson, she made a

comment that these letters serve as.

164

A source of not only encouragement,

but excitement for the patients to

165

look forward to every time they come

to the appointments that they often

166

dread and often find so hard to even

walk into, and already having a lot

167

of physical stress on their bodies.

168

A lot of these patients truly.

169

Struggle to find the courage to keep going

through with their treatments and, the

170

nursing staff at Sammons expresses and

how the letters are something that a lot

171

of patients ask about, look forward to.

172

And even the patients from many different

centers have written back to us expressing

173

that they love the organization.

174

And some of the patients even end up

donating to the organization, which

175

is just incredibly sweet of them.

176

Wendy: Wow.

177

That's fantastic.

178

So, I'm sure you have a

lot to do in this role.

179

So what's the favorite

part of what you do?

180

Ananya Nagendra: That's

gonna be a hard one.

181

I truly enjoy everything from the

admin work to me presenting, for

182

preventive healthcare sessions.

183

But I think my favorite has got to

be talking to the social workers.

184

And the reason I think that is because.

185

Obviously me being in high school still,

when I first started this organization,

186

I knew nothing about oncology and social

work and everything that I learned is from

187

my amazing board members as well as the

partnering oncology centers where I am

188

in touch with their social workers, and

getting to talk to these social workers.

189

I have truly gained so much knowledge

about different aspects of mental

190

health care and oncology that I

wouldn't even have thought of otherwise.

191

And they make very interesting points

about how we're able to expand Letters

192

of Light and how with our letters

we can have different variations.

193

In terms of.

194

Which, youth we get involved,

like for example, certain events.

195

We have high schoolers, certain events,

we have elementary schoolers even.

196

And whenever I talk to social

workers, I always get so many new

197

inspirations on how we can oh, do this.

198

And then we're able to expand

it to another idea and it's just

199

wonderful to be able to express

my new plans for the organization

200

and they just add in great points.

201

Wendy: That is really fantastic

that they trust you and give you

202

that feedback and you guys can work

with them on such a great level.

203

Social work has gotta be so hard.

204

And I feel for them 'cause they're

on the front line, but I love that

205

they trust and work with you so well

on what is needed for their patients.

206

That's.

207

That's really needed.

208

So I appreciate that y'all

have that communication.

209

What do you wish people

understood about your organization

210

or, you know, the patients?

211

Like what's kind of the number one

thing you feel like people don't get?

212

Ananya Nagendra: I think the

biggest thing that people largely

213

underemphasize in mental health care, is.

214

The fact that a lot of these patients,

when they're going through chemo, while

215

you're able to actively give them the

support through volunteering, in a way

216

we're able to physically support them with

either driving them to appointments or

217

as I mentioned, like giving out meals or

just doing different things for them, I

218

think to a certain extent, mental health.

219

For cancer care, still happens to be very

underfunded and also very underemphasized.

220

'cause a lot of people view it as,

oh, if you're able to help them in

221

some physical manner or just able to

donate something, and help them in a

222

monetary way, you are able to sort of

cure any stress that they might have

223

as they're going through treatment or.

224

Support them to the extent where

they'll feel encouraged or feel

225

supported through that manner.

226

And while that is true, I think mental

health support is absolutely such a

227

big deal in cancer care, especially

because, this is one thing that my mom

228

really instilled in me, which is largely

rooted in the organization and it's

229

about how mental healthcare and cancer

care is as much a battle as physical

230

health when you're facing cancer.

231

So with that in mind, I, I just keep

emphasizing how much support is necessary.

232

And while we're high schoolers and we even

have elementary school volunteers, as I

233

mentioned, it's hard for us to be able

to actively go to these patients and help

234

them and sit with them and talk to them.

235

So, I founded letters of light with

the intention that we, as in our

236

age, should be able to do as much

as we can to help these patients.

237

And with that goal, I thought of letters

being the best way to go about that

238

as you're able to actually connect

with them, and just keep the letters

239

lighthearted and make sure that they

have just a fun time reading it.

240

So that's, that's sort

of why I started this.

241

Wendy: I hope that you

continue doing that because.

242

I think probably part of what you

face is a little bit of, of age bias.

243

Right.

244

Like, what could these kids do?

245

But you have proven these kids can do a

lot, they can do a lot, and they don't

246

actually have to go somewhere to do it.

247

They can provide that help from afar.

248

And I don't think people realize

how much of a resource that that is.

249

That you're harnessing

with your organization.

250

And I don't think they give

those generations the credit

251

necessarily, that they deserve.

252

So I wanna give you full kudos 'cause

253

Ananya Nagendra: Thank you.

254

Wendy: that's not something

that everybody would do.

255

And I appreciate the fact

that you're doing it.

256

And now tell me a little bit more

about the Books of Light program,

257

because I know that's something

newer that you've started.

258

Ananya Nagendra: So in Books of Light

We're currently starting out the program

259

with just a few of our oncology centers

that we're partnering with, to be able

260

to offer them a books that the patients

request that they'd like to read

261

during their chemotherapy appointments,

that they can also return through a

262

small library system, but also books

that newly diagnosed patients have

263

in terms of diet planning while going

through different forms of treatment.

264

So, and also books on mental

healthcare as well, when

265

they're going through treatment.

266

So the, the two parts that I mentioned

later on are about, specifically

267

for newly diagnosed patients.

268

So they sort of have almost care guides

to keep with them and just sort of give

269

them a little bit of comfort if they

ever feel like, they might be stressed

270

about not knowing enough information

about their newly diagnosed situation.

271

So.

272

Through Books of Light, we wanna be

able to offer, especially underfunded

273

oncology centers, these resources.

274

So through a small library system,

almost with the bookcase set up there,

275

we're able to give these patients

these books that they can freely

276

borrow and return at any point.

277

Wendy: I love reading myself, so I would

love that if my doctor's office had

278

that information that I could take home

for free and read and learn more about.

279

Do your, do your doctor's

offices participate in selecting

280

what books you put there?

281

Ananya Nagendra: So we both actually with

some of our centers, we actually work

282

with them to pick the title specifically

and also the number of books that we

283

should order for their center based

on the size of the center, et cetera.

284

Sorry, side note, I'm gonna

sidetrack a bit, but one major

285

thing that I was shocked to learn

is that every oncology center has.

286

Very, very different systems

in place for how they manage.

287

Patient interactions with nonprofits

and, what exactly they're looking for

288

in terms of what the nonprofit does and

how they can connect to the nonprofits.

289

So making these personalized plans

really helps us as well learn more about

290

oncology, social work, in general, and.

291

What we end up doing is since so many

of our oncology centers are in varying

292

sizes and have different, different

requirements, we try to either choose

293

the titles with them, or we also have

these Google forms that patients can fill

294

out anonymously, to send in their book

requests, which we try to accommodate

295

as much as possible with our funding.

296

Wendy: Oh, that's fantastic.

297

This just gets better and better,

I just love what you're doing.

298

Ananya Nagendra: You.

299

Wendy: I, you know, I've, my mother

has a, a doctor, an oncologist that

300

we see once a year to check her

numbers to see if she has cancer.

301

It's a blood cancer that her

family has, and fortunately she's

302

never had it, knock on wood.

303

But every time we go, I'm always looking

around to see, you know, what they do for

304

their patients and that kind of a thing.

305

After you and I had talked last time

I saw your business card at his office

306

and I was like, this is so cool.

307

I know her.

308

Ananya Nagendra: Yeah, that when

you told me that I was, I was so

309

happy and so excited about it.

310

Wendy: Yeah, you guys have

just grown and grown and grown.

311

It's really amazing.

312

So how can other people get involved?

313

How can people volunteer or donate?

314

Give us all the details.

315

Ananya Nagendra: Yeah.

316

So, right now what we do is we have

chapters at different high schools

317

or elementary schools or middle

schools where, either we have student

318

volunteers who are leading the chapters

or we partner with schools where.

319

The counseling staff at the schools

run the letters of light chapters and

320

we speak with them about what exactly

they wanna do with their specific

321

chapter and how we could best help them.

322

The best way to get involved for with

us right now is a always you can mail

323

over letters to our location that

should be on our website about how you

324

can, also send in care packages and

their instructions on that as well.

325

And for letters we follow our letter

guidelines, which are a set of essentially

326

rules for our letters that we follow for

every single one that gets audited to make

327

sure that we're just meeting the standards

on how we're best able to support the

328

patients with the letters we write.

329

And also going along with donating.

330

You can always donate through our portal.

331

Since we are a 501c3 nonprofit

donations are much appreciated when

332

we first started this organization.

333

One big thing that I want to emphasize

is that because we're all teenagers,

334

who run this organization, I was scared

about not being able to get enough

335

funding to be able to make care packages

or be able to donate these books.

336

So I want to start out with letters as,

they are quite effective and they're

337

just amazing to be able to connect

with the patients with, but also.

338

They're very cost friendly, so

we realized that it's a great

339

way for us to get started.

340

But now, through different grants and

to be through fundraising, we have

341

gotten the opportunity to be able to

expand Books of Light, and also have

342

care package donations, which I'm,

I'm so excited and thrilled about.

343

And, yeah, so I think the most

popular thing that our volunteers

344

tend to want to do is either.

345

Donate letters or they make care packages

themselves and they end up donating those.

346

So the best way to get involved is through

writing letters and sending them to us.

347

Wendy: That is fantastic.

348

And if they want, if somebody

wants to bring a chapter to their

349

school, do they just reach out

350

Ananya Nagendra: Mm-hmm.

351

Wendy: to your organization?

352

How does that work?

353

Ananya Nagendra: So on our website, we

actually have a form that we have linked

354

our site to and through that you're able

to start a chapter, reach out to us and we

355

email them back with sort of a toolkit on

how chapters are run for Letters of Light.

356

And we work with them one-on-one,

have a meeting to onboard

357

them to our organization, and

they're able to work with.

358

Us in terms of funding, fundraising,

as well as being able to sort of

359

tweak our traditional program to

be able to fit it better with their

360

city, their school, et cetera.

361

Wendy: Do you have any like fundraiser

events or any other kind of events that

362

people can attend and participate in?

363

Ananya Nagendra: Not right now.

364

I would love to have some sort of

Books of Light specific fundraiser

365

potentially this year or next year.

366

But as of right now, we really

just try to keep it for the youth

367

within high schools and beyond.

368

Wendy: Gotcha.

369

Gotcha.

370

Okay.

371

So how can people find out more

about your, at your organization?

372

How can they stay in touch?

373

Ananya Nagendra: The best way

is either through our Instagram,

374

which we constantly keep updating.

375

It's

376

@joinlettersoflight

377

as well as our website,

letters of light.org.

378

Wendy: I love it.

379

This is greatness.

380

Thank you so much, Ananya.

381

I really appreciate you

spending time with me today.

382

Is there anything else that

we didn't cover that you

383

wanna make sure people know?

384

Ananya Nagendra: Nothing specific,

but I just like to say if you have

385

a passion that you just want, to be

involved in and you have something that

386

you see that needs change just to get

involved in it, your age doesn't matter.

387

Your skillset doesn't matter.

388

If you have passion for something,

you'll definitely be able

389

to achieve greatness in it.

390

Wendy: That's a great one.

391

Absolutely.

392

Because if people will just step outside

of the little world and join who have

393

that same passion, you're gonna find.

394

So much rewarding for you

and for your community.

395

Thank you again for joining

me today and everybody, I

396

Ananya Nagendra: Thank you, Wendy.

397

Wendy: meeting Miss Ananya and learning

all about her organization and we'll

398

see you next time on The NonProfit Nook.

399

Thanks guys.

400

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to The NonProfit Nook.

401

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402

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