Novi High Students Form OneStep2Go To Fight Alzheimer's

NOVI, MI — A group of Novi High students is taking the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease to a whole new level. In less than a year, Aakash Jajoo, Vineet Atluru, Joshua Matthew, and Satvik Malapati, have raised approximately $5,300 after forming their own non-profit organization.

OneStep2Go was created last summer after Alzheimer’s caused the passing of several of the young men’s grandparents. Their aim is to raise awareness and educate people about the disease. They would like for Michigan residents to implement prevention practices now to avoid Alzheimer’s later in life.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, there are over five million Americans living with Alzheimer’s. What’s worse, is that one in three senior citizens die from the disease. Someone develops it every 66 seconds, and the disease kills more than breast and prostate cancer combined, the non-profit says.

OneStep2Go, also a Hosa Community Awareness project for the teenagers, doesn’t believe that Alzheimer’s Disease is getting the attention it deserves. “We aspire to inform the community about the
deadly disease that’s affecting a growing population throughout our nation,” the group writes on its website.

Partnering with the Alzheimer’s Association, OneStep2Go has communicated its message to more than 25,000 people thus far. The group is targeting youth, adults, and seniors in its efforts via outreach, charity events, competitions, and social media. Some of their efforts have included:

• A Tennis Tournament at Northville High School last July. During the initial rounds, the group explained the disease and its effects. The message was spread to all 200 people and the winners were so touched they donated money back to the cause.
• A Soccer Tournament at ITC Sports Park Novi was also held last July. “We held a soccer tournament with 600 participants/attendees,” OneStep2Go wrote. “We successfully communicated the disease and its implication with the help of a guest speaker during the round robin portion of the tournament.
• A Basketball Tournament at Novi Middle School was held last August with 300 attendees.
• Last October, the group did an outreach to share information about its website and social media platforms. Supporters were updated about upcoming events. The event reached more than 5,000 people via the internet.
• A FTC Robotic Qualifier Competition was held last November. at The purpose was to reach a large audience of children and adults. “We talked about the disease and its implications in front of 34 robotics teams from Southeast Michigan,” OneStep2Go wrote. “At the end of our speech, we received a thunderous round of applause and multiple donations.”
• A dodgeball tournament was held at Airtime in Novi in February. More than 1,000 people participated, including 30 teams. A whopping total of $2,400 was raised for Alzheimer’s

Photo courtesy of OneStep2Go.org Pictured left to right is Aakash Jajoo, Vineeth Atluru, Satvik Malapati, and Joshua Mathew