Bedi Family
“In our culture, selfless service, called seva in Gujarati and Punjabi, is a major tenant,” says Raji Bedi. He and his wife, Soni, are raising their three children in downtown Chicago with these values.
The Bedi family moved to Chicago in late 2020 from San Francisco. While working through isolation and feeling helpless during the pandemic, they searched for ways to give back as they did in the Bay Area.
Raji and Soni say, “we volunteered as a family when our first was only one…we’d shop for water and non-perishable goods and deliver them to the homeless as often as we could.” “It was important to continue that in Chicago.”
Finding Honeycomb through an online search, the Bedis first virtual project was making kindness cards around the holidays and dropping them off for those in need. Their first in-person event was at a nature preserve, putting down mulch around the park.
With the return of in-person Honeycomb projects in 2022, Raji, Soni, J (age 7), A (age 5) and N (2) were able to become more active in volunteering. Their favorites are outdoor projects, such as beach cleanups or GreenBee challenge.
The Bedi’s joined the Host Committee for December’s Holiday Cheer event and put together their first team. “We went around Chicago, teaching our kids to say ‘hello’ to someone they didn’t know and engage with others. My family had a great time making people smile.”
“There is a lot that we can do, it’s important to curate service with young children,” says Raji. “And it’s amazing to see Honeycomb partner up and help other nonprofits in the city.”
Raji is now the newest member of Honeycomb’s Board of Directors. “We are a family born into volunteering,” says Raji and Soni. “We love seeing our children grow and start to connect the dots…. truly seeing the impact of their work.”
The Bedi family enjoys exploring Chicago’s neighborhoods, parks, movie nights and traveling as a family. Soni is an independent consultant in Women’s Health and Raji is the Chief Product Officer of ShipBob. J loves all things sports, A is creative and theatrical and N loves to make the family laugh and dance.