Three students, one shared project.

Paws For A Cause was started in 2025 by three high school students in Okemos, Michigan. We are a small group, and we do this work alongside school, classes, and everything else students are doing.

Co-founders

Who runs Paws For A Cause.

High school students who started the organization in 2025 and share the day-to-day work.

Co-founder · Operations

Tejas Valisetty

Helps coordinate partnerships, logistics for drives and events, and the day-to-day planning that keeps projects moving.

Co-founder · Records & Technology

Rithik Parthasarathy

Helps coordinate outreach, the website, volunteer communication, records, and project planning.

Co-founder · Outreach

Vaibhav Mahesha

Helps lead community outreach, social media, and conversations with partner organizations and schools.

Headshots for some co-founders are not posted yet to keep things consistent. We will update this page over time.

Volunteers

Students who help run our projects.

A growing group of student volunteers helps run supply drives, events, and outreach. We don't publish their full names here for privacy, especially because many are minors.

Want to help?

Apply to volunteer

Students of different ages can join, depending on the event and partner organization. Most volunteer roles are open to high school students; some are open to middle school students with parent or guardian permission.

Volunteer with us

Want to help lead?

Start a local chapter or volunteer group

If you're a student interested in helping start a chapter at your school or in your area, get in touch. We're still developing our chapter model, so it will be a conversation, not a sign-up.

About chapter expansion

Questions?

Want to talk to one of the co-founders?

We try to respond within 2–3 school or business days.