Mercer County Park was home to the annual March for Babies on April 21. Represented among the many supporters of the March of Dimes was the Mercer County Chain Reaction Youth Council, led by Kushal Gandhi, a senior at High School South. The nationally recognized youth team is based in West Windsor and Plainsboro.
The council elected Gandhi, their past president, for the newly created position of March for Babies chair. Gandhi has shown exemplary leadership during his tenure with the March of Dimes Youth Group. Since middle school, he has held several positions of increasing responsibility on the chain leading to his position as a Chain President in 2012.
Under Gandhi’s leadership, the Chain Reaction youth council set a goal of raising $25,000 for the walk. He directed the team in using creative ideas of spreading awareness outside local businesses and engaging social media. The team successfully surpassed its fundraising goal by $10,000.
Born in Syracuse, New York, Gandhi moved with his family to Plainsboro 16 years ago. His father, Rajesh Gandhi, is director of pharmaceutical development at Bristol-Myers Squibb. His mother, Pallavi Gandhi, is a project management specialist in clinical supply operations at Bristol-Myers Squibb. She is also an executive committee member for the adult mentor group of the March of Dimes.
His brother, Ronak Gandhi, was the valedictorian at High School South in 2010. Also the president of the March of Dimes, Mercer County Youth Council, he currently serves on National Youth for the March of Dimes. He is a student at the Jerome Fisher Program at Wharton Business School.
“My passion for the mission of March of Dimes stems from my experience visiting a local neonatal intensive care unit, where I witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of pre-term birth on both babies and their families,” says Gandhi, who first experienced the NICU when he was in the eighth grade. “During this visit, I stared at a tight, clear container where I saw an infant, with a sea of heavy wires and tubing covering his fragile skin. I was touched with the suffering of the child and was deeply disturbed by the challenges and difficulties that the infant faced.”
“As a healthy and privileged individual, I believed that I had the responsibility to fight and advocate for the small and challenged humans who could not speak for themselves,” Gandhi says. “The NICU experience motivated me to do all that I can to help the March of Dimes — an organization that helps reduce premature birth and prevent infant mortality.”
Gandhi has also been involved in the student council, representing his high school at the Board of Education. He has competed in the Science Olympiad throughout middle and high school and has been a member of Model United Nations, Math Honor Society, and the National Honor Society. He was also on South’s varsity tennis team.
Gandhi has been fascinated with the dynamics of supply and demand and growth and value since elementary school. The price point of rare Pokemon cards, virtual goods, and Razor scooters have intrigued him.
Also captivated by computers, Gandhi has designed web pages. “Through these interests, I’ve come to realize that the link between the markets and product is paramount — the two areas are mutually interdependent and a thorough understand of each is vital for success,” says Gandhi. “I hope to pursue the intersection of business and technology to fully embrace my entrepreneurial ambitions in the areas of cloud-computing and autonomous robotics.”
“I am extremely passionate about the integration of business and engineering, and am confident that the interdisciplinary nature of the program at University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign can help me achieve the most ambitious of my aspirations,” says Gandhi.
The team began the year with fundraising door to door and by E-mail. “We knew that to be successful, new ideas had to be implemented,” says Gandhi. They decided to spread awareness and collect money outside local markets and set up at Patidar Supermarket, McCaffrey’s, and Stop & Shop. They raised more than $315.
Another idea was to have a friendly competition on council. Due to the vast number of members from High School South, they decided to create a contest between all the students from South versus all the students on council from other schools including High School North, Robbinsville High School, Princeton Day School, and Sci Core. “It was clear that the moment we decided to have such a competition, the group as a whole gained motivation,” says Gandhi.
Rangeela, a multicultural show, is the group’s major activity in the fall. The group was given a goal to raise $40,000. “I quickly realized the necessity to drastically change the structure of the program and heavily engage the youth volunteers in order to meet the fundraising and outreach goals,” says Gandhi. “I met with the committee every other week and started to plan and build the framework for the event.”
He also formed several sub committees to delegate and focus on different aspects of the show. “The team was able to tackle formidable challenges and raised more than $40,000 and attracted 700 people to the event,” he says.
When Gandhi was president last year he was involved with activities for the March of Dimes Council including the planning and execution of fundraising events, awareness initiatives, and advocacy efforts. He led meetings every other week and taught eighth graders and freshman how to approach businesses for advertisements and draft letters to secure potential sponsors. “The advertisements that I encouraged the youth to get from local businesses were placed in our advertisement journal and proved to be a significant source of revenue for the show,” says Gandhi. “Bonded together by the plight of the newborn babies, the Mercer County Chain Reaction Youth Council has become a community.”
